Amy Glass knows firsthand about the shortcomings of the health care system and the price people pay that can’t afford treatment.

The Manteca nurse is among those organizing a canvas this Saturday as part of a bid to promote Medicare for All. It starts with a gathering at 2 p.m. at her home at 1473 Hearthsong Drive in southwest Manteca where talking points about the plan supported by National Nurses United will be shared with volunteers.

They will then canvas Glass’ neighborhood in a bid to engage people in face-to-face, neighbor-to-neighbor conservations about the healthcare system and the proposed Medicare for All fix. The goal is to enlist people in the movement for national healthcare. Future canvases of Manteca neighborhoods are also being planned.

Glass said she has worked with a number of patients who avoid seeking care until their conditions got so bad that they could no longer put off seeking medical assistance. In virtually all cases they indicated they simply could not afford the cost of seeking treatment.

Glass said as a nurse she has grown frustrated with a system where insurance companies and not health care professionals that deal directly with patients often dictate care.

A flyer promoting Saturday’s canvas states “the U.S. health care system is cruel, broken, and needlessly expensive. Insurance companies rake in billions while too many people in America go without health care they need. It’s time we have a system that acknowledges health care as a human right — and that system is Medicare for All.”

Glass and others are participating as well in a vigil on Wednesday, March 27, at 6 p.m. at the Kaiser Medical Complex at 7373 West Lane in Stockton for a nurse with serious cardiology issues — Edith Fillon — has been denied treatment by her insurance based on a technicality.

Additional information on Medicare for All can be found at www.MedicareForAll.org. Glass can be reached at (209) 570-8797 for more details on Saturday’s canvas.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com