Health-care-reform advocates rally for HR 676

"I appeared in Michael Moore's movie not because our story was unique, but because it was not unique," she said.

Smith's experiences encouraged her to found American Patients for Universal Health Care, and she urged those in attendance at the Rochester rally not to be led astray by people who refer to single-payer health-care systems as "leftist" or "communist."

"Don't let the scare tactics scare you off. That's all they are is scare tactics," she said. "Single payer is a simple concept. It takes one of the best ideas of the left, which is public financing, and one of the best ideas from the right, which is freedom to choose health care, and combines them."