POWER TO HEAL shares the impressive story of how the passage of Medicare, along with the help of Civil Rights activists, forced thousands of hospitals to desegregate. As such, racial inequities improved: some were able to access care for the first time in their lives after Medicare passed.

Unfortunately, racial inequities were not eliminated. As single payer advocates, we feel compelled to finish what the Medicare movement and Civil Rights activists started 55 years ago. We advocate for Improved Medicare for All because we know healthcare is a human need and everyone should have it.

On Medicare’s 55th birthday, join us as we recall this history and reflect on our movement today. The documentary screening will be followed by a very impressive panel featuring Dr. Claudia Fegan, Dr. Margaret Flowers, and Dr. Susan Rogers.

Panelist bios:

• Dr. Claudia Fegan is the national coordinator of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP). She has appeared on national television and radio programs on behalf of PNHP and has testified before congressional committees on a wide range of health care issues. Dr. Fegan is executive medical officer for the Cook County Health and Hospital System and chief medical officer at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County. She is also president of the Chicago-based Health and Medicine Policy Research Group.

• Dr. Margaret Flowers is a pediatrician and was the chief of pediatrics at Carroll County General Hospital. She left practice in 2007 to work on healthcare reform full-time. She is the co-director of PopularResistance.org and co-founded the Health Over Profit for Everyone (HOPE) campaign and the Maryland Health Care is a Human Right campaign. She is an advisor to the board of Physicians for a National Health Program and volunteered as a congressional fellow for PNHP during the health reform process in 2009-2010.

• Dr. Susan Rogers is the president-elect of Physicians for a National Health Program. Recently retired, Dr Rogers is a volunteer attending hospitalist and internist at the John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County. She previously was co-director of medical student programs for the Department of Medicine. She is also assistant professor of medicine at Rush University, where she is active on the committee of admissions, and assistant professor of medicine at Rosalind Franklin University. She has received numerous teaching awards from Stroger Hospital, Rush University, and Rosalind Franklin University.