SALEM Hundreds of people from all over Oregon rallied in Salem on the first day of the legislative session to call attention to what they claim is a broken health care system and call on lawmakers to enact reforms.

An estimated 1,000 protesters, many brandishing signs and wearing red Health Care Is a Human Right T-shirts, packed the Capitol steps to hear a dozen speakers tell horror stories of out-of-control medical costs and urge support for a single-payer health care bill.

Ten buses including two from the mid-valley delivered people from as far away as La Grande and Bandon, Ashland and Prineville for the lunchtime rally, organized by Health Care for All Oregon.

Rep. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, got a hearty cheer as he took the stage to talk about his plans to reintroduce the Affordable Health Care for All Oregon Act, which foundered in the 2011 session.

This time, he said, the notion of a comprehensive taxpayer-supported health care system for all Oregonians has broader support, with 19 co-sponsors already on board, compared to 11 last time.

But he also predicted that a statewide ballot measure would ultimately be required to enact a single-payer system in Oregon. Using emotionally charged language, he exhorted the audience to work toward passing an initiative in the 2016 election.

Brothers and sisters, Dembrow said, the real work here is not going to be done inside this building. Its going to be done outside this building, in all parts of Oregon, by all of you.

Two of his co-sponsors, Reps. Jennifer Williamson of Portland and Dave Gomberg of Lincoln City, also spoke in support of the bill.

Mondays rally had a festive air, with musicians performing protest songs, a 10-foot-tall puppet dubbed Big Nurse, and activists wearing open-backed hospital gowns that exposed padded foam derrierres to illustrate what private insurance just wont cover.

The crowd, roughly six times the size of a similar gathering two years ago to support Dembrows previous single-payer bill, chanted and sang, cheered and shouted for a parade of speakers lamenting the ills of private heath insurance.

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Health care rally draws hundreds