MICHAEL MOORE: Thank you very much, Congressman Conyers and all the other members of Congress who are standing here.
And thank you, Dennis Kucinich, for running for President.
Each of the debates bring up this very important issue. And, requesting that our fellow Democrats state the specific positions of how we're going to bring health care to all Americans and remove the profit incentive from health care. It has to be removed, and thank you for saying that, over and over again.
And all the rest of you, for supporting Congressman Conyers's bill, HR 676.
I've been traveling the country with this film. It will open in New York this Friday. It will open around the country a week from Friday, June 29th, and I have been encouraging people to get behind HR 676.
I believe that there is going to be a groundswell of support, because you're right, Congressman Stark: the American public is ready for this. They've been waiting for the opportunity. This is an issue that affects all Americans, regardless of their political stripe.
When you get sick, sickness doesn't know Democrat or Republican. It's not a political issue. It shouldn't be made a partisan issue. We should find common ground with people across the political spectrum, because I can't imagine anyone -- I would hope, in this body, at least -- that doesn't believe that every American has a human right that, when they get sick, they have a right to go to a doctor and not have to worry about whether or not they can afford it.
So, I so appreciate the work that you are all doing with this bill, and I ask Americans across the country, who are asking me, "What can we do?" This is something we can do. Write to your Member of Congress and say, "Get behind HR 676."
[Cheers and applause from crowd.]
You know, we live in a great country. Our fellow Americans -- we know this -- they have a good heart. They have a good soul. They know right from wrong. And eventually, when they are told the truth, they do the right thing.
What's hard is getting the truth out there. Fourteen years ago, Mrs. Clinton tried to do something. She stuck her neck out there to at least put the issue on the table. It wasn't necessarily, maybe, the right plan -- that debate has been had. But what happened was, because of what happened to her, in those 14 years, few political leaders have been willing to step forward and say we need to address this. Because they were afraid of the same thing happening to them.
And so, while they were afraid to have the courage of their convictions, the American people suffered for 14 years. But what's happened is that the health insurance industry and the pharmaceutical industry, through their tactics, through their price gouging, through their denial of care to our fellow Americans, they've done the organizing for us. They've turned the American people against the private health insurance companies.
[Applause.]
You know, the very first word -- the very first American word, actually -- was "we." It's the first word in our Founding document: "We the people," not "Me the people." And this will only work when we realize that we have to operate from the "we" -- that we're all in the same boat. That we sink or swim together.
When we have companies, pharmaceutical companies, the greed that's involved here, these companies need to be regulated like a public utility. They shouldn't be allowed to get away with what they get away with.
Let me just give you a little statistic: Thirty years ago, there were 25 pharmaceutical companies working on cures and vaccines. Twenty-five of them. Today, there are five. Now, why is that? Because they realize there's no profit in finding a cure for something, because once you cure the disease, you can't sell pills for the disease for the next 30 to 40 years to that individual.
And so they've stopped working on the very things that would lead us to a place where we wouldn't have various diseases or illnesses. And we've stopped working on the environmental factors that cause a lot of these diseases and illnesses. And, as a result, now, we have a country that's told every night on the nightly news (because virtually all the ads on the nightly news are pharmaceutical ads), they're being told to take this pill, that pill, whatever. All meant to line the pockets of the Halliburtons of the pharmaceutical industry. And we need to do something about the industry and we need to regulate it.
One other thing I wanted to say while I was here. You'll see this in the movie tonight. There are hundreds of 9/11 rescue workers who ran down to Ground Zero on 9/11 to help out. They weren't city employees or state employees. Some of them were volunteer EMTs. Some of them were fire fighters from New Jersey that got across the river and came down there to help. And they ended up with very bad illnesses, ailments, diseases -- mostly respiratory -- as a result of their work down at Ground Zero.
And they are not covered. They are not covered. They've not received the medical care that they deserve. And I would hope that this Congress would somehow take up this issue and say that the heros of 9/11 deserve to be at the front of the line of the people who should be getting help. And the fact that they don't get help, and the fact that I had to take them to Guantanamo Bay to our Naval Station down there, to try to give them the same free universal care that we give the detainees at Gitmo, the irony of that, to me, was incredible.
And so I'm hoping that, perhaps, these Members and others can do something to help our 9/11 rescue workers who aren't getting the medical care that they deserve.
Finally, the last thing I want to say is that we hear a lot about the Canadian system. And you're going to hear a lot; the health insurance industry -- Dennis knows this -- they're going to be full force on me and this film in the next couple of weeks. And you're going to hear this story and that story about the Canadians...that they've got to wait; whatever.
Go to the Internet, go to my website, go to Dennis's, go to John's, go to other people's. Find out the truth about this. Because we've been told so many myths about these other systems that actually do work. Yes, they have their flaws. All human systems do. But ask a Canadian if they would trade their national health care card for your HMO card. You won't find a Canadian willing to do that. Or a Brit. Or anyone from Ireland or France...pretty much pick any Western industrialized country...because we're the last one that's willing to say that it is a human right to be able to see a doctor and not have to worry about paying for it.
So thank you very much for having me hear today.
[Cheers and applause.]
MEMBER OF CONGRESS: Michael is quite right. There was an ad in one of the papers today showing a line of little children saying, "If this happens, you'll have to wait for medical care. This is what happens in Canada."
And it's true. People do wait in Canada for medical care. But do you know who decides who waits and who goes first? Physicians. It's a clinical decision, not a pocketbook decision. We have people waiting in this country forever because they don't have the money. But in Canada the doctor decides who goes first and who goes to the head of the line. I'm more comfortable with that.
[Applause.]
MICHAEL MOORE: That's right. And there is one line in Canada that I actually wouldn't mind waiting in, if we had that line in this country. That's the line where Canadian citizens live three years longer than the average American, because there is health care for everyone. That's the line I want to be in.
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Comments: 80
United States National Health Insurance Act (or the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act) - Establishes the United States National Health Insurance (USNHI) Program (the Program) to provide all individuals residing in the United States and in U.S. territories with free health care that includes all medically necessary care, such as primary care and prevention, prescription drugs, emergency care, and mental health services.
Prohibits an institution from participating in the Program unless it is a public or nonprofit institution. Allows nonprofit health maintenance organizations (HMOs) that actually deliver care in their own facilities to participate in the Program.
Gives patients the freedom to choose from participating physicians and institutions.
Prohibits a private health insurer from selling health insurance coverage that duplicates the benefits provided under this Act. Allows such insurers to sell benefits that are not medically necessary, such as cosmetic surgery benefits.
Sets forth methods to pay hospitals and health professionals for services. Prohibits financial incentives between HMOs and physicians based on utilization.
Establishes the USNHI Trust Fund to finance the Program with amounts deposited: (1) from existing sources of Government revenues for health care; (2) by increasing personal income taxes on the top 5% income earners; (3) by instituting a progressive excise tax on payroll and self-employment income; and (4) by instituting a small tax on stock and bond transactions.
Requires the Program to give first priority in retraining and job placement and unemployment benefits to individuals whose jobs are eliminated due to reduced administration.
Establishes a National Board of Universal Quality and Access to provide advice on quality, access, and affordability.
Provides for the eventual integration of the Indian Health Service into the Program.
If moore had a head on his shoulders instead of an Ass, he would know this, but he doesn't so he is supporting it.
I hope it fails big time!
David,
No he is not stupid. He has a cash cow and he is milking in for all it is worth. The people who are stupid are the ones who believe his fabrications as gospel truth. He is an entertainer who tells half truths and has an agenda. As long as you recognize his documentaries as being entertainment and not factual you are okay.
I was originally a fan of Michael Moore when he 1st came out w/ the documentary "Roger and Me". The outline of the documentary was Director Michael Moore pursues GM CEO Roger Smith to confront him about the harm he did to Flint, Michigan with his massive downsizing. Too my shock I found out In real life Moore did meet w' CEO Roger Smith and interviewed him. However it never made the film. The documentary was much more entertaining with the elusive CEO Roger Smith being pursed by the determined Michael Moore who always manages to dodge Moore at each and every step.
I would love to see his latest documentary "Sicko" because it is does address an important issue. However, I know the film will be based on an agenda and filled w/ half truths so why bother.
Guess what? The sky really is falling and when it hits you on your head and your health insurance is cancelled, sit at home with your concussion and ask "Why?"
Sharon,
Ist, this issue transends party line. It is not YOU vs the Neocons.
It affects everyone. . If you notices FOX gave a very positive review to "Sicko". Instead of complaining about neocons (which has nothing to do w/ this issue) why not try a constructive debate about health care and the possible solutions.
I have been working on solutions - we have a movement in Ohio called SPAN, the Single Payer Actions Network that would be statewide inclusive healthcare. I've been doing work on this for quite a while - and we have enough names to get it introduced and probably passed in the fall - also worked to get state reps in office that favored these types of policies.
I wouldn't listen to FOX news if it was the last channel on my TV - and I don't watch TV very often anyway.
What do you do Mickey?
Incidentally, Michael Moore is actually quite clever as proven by his unexpected success.
You seem quite the idiot yourself with your simplistic comments...
Kucinich is part of the real Left...the only legitimate opposition to the far Right wing in this country, but he doesnt stand a chance because his politics prevent him from recruiting the kind of political backing all the other candidates and their corporate chronies are capable of...
Are there doctors who are opposed to universal health care? Yes. But there are also those that support it.
Unfortunately judging by the continual lurch to the abyss of national health care and so many of the informed comments above, we will all live to see it imposed on the nation. That is a key word, imposed. Much is made of the estimated number of uninsured, what about the others who are insured and will lose their coverage and be forced into a government insurance program. No one cares obviously.
Too bad, I only hope when this happens and you are standing in line for care or scooting to another country for care you remember your support for what you are foisting on an entire nation. After all, there is little the government does well, do you honestly think health care will be any more different than they handle it now?
Michael Moore Answering Reader Questions on Health Care
"H.R. 676 is the United States National Health Insurance Act, which currently has 75 co-sponsors. Right from the very first paragraph, this bill is a complete disaster.
SEC. 101. ELIGIBILITY AND REGISTRATION.
(a) In General- All individuals residing in the United States (including any territory of the United States) are covered under the USNHI Program entitling them to a universal, best quality standard of care. Each such individual shall receive a card with a unique number in the mail. An individual's social security number shall not be used for purposes of registration under this section.
Notice the term "All individuals" in that first paragraph? Based on this section, anyone residing in the United States, including millions here illegally will be given tax payer funded health care. Also included in this plan are territories of the United States such as Puerto Rico (whose residents do not pay federal income tax unless employed by the government), and Guam (who pay absolutely zero federal income tax).
So where will the money come from to pay for this "free" health care you ask? You do not need to be a Marxist scholar to deduce the money with come from the "rich". After all, "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" has become the new political slogan of the Democratic party with regards to health care. Here is how H.R. 676 will be funded:
Increasing personal income taxes on the top 5 percent income earners.
Instituting a modest and progressive excise tax on payroll and self-employment income.
Many of you will say, well it is only the top 5 percent of income earners being affected, they can afford to pay. This was the exact same argument used when Congress voted on the Internal Revenue Code which initially had a nominal tax rate of 1% for those earning over $3,000, with a top tax rate of 7%. Ever since the dawn of the income tax the American government has lied to the people promising them only the rich would pay, and like sheep being led to slaughter, the American people continue to push for increased spending under the premise only the rich will pay the costs.
So how would we go about lowering government costs under the universal health care plan, in an effort to avoid having the tax increases eventually trickle down to the middle class? Well one answer could be instituting a small co-payment, maybe $10-$25 per doctor's visit. This nominal fee would be enough to prevent individuals from visiting a doctor every time they sneeze, or stub their toe. Under HR 676 this is not allowed however:
Sec 102(c) No Cost-Sharing- No deductibles, co-payments, coinsurance, or other cost-sharing shall be imposed with respect to covered benefits.
I suppose a $10 co-payment would be quite a hardship on the poor, and after all that is who we are trying to help with this bill, so let's forget about that for a moment. How about mandating those in the top 10% income bracket obtain their own insurance policies as a means of lowering costs of the universal plan?
Wait, we can't do that either because Sec. 104(a) states: "In General- It is unlawful for a private health insurer to sell health insurance coverage that duplicates the benefits provided under this Act".
Anyone else find it somewhat odd that although the Democrats promise us their universal health care will be far superior, they also feel the need to outlaw competition?
So in Michael Moore's America with universal health care, we have higher taxes, longer wait times to see a doctor, and a governmental body which will decide what procedures are necessary and which are not."
1. National surveys show that the primary reason people are uninsured is the high cost of health insurance coverage.
2. Premiums for employer-based health insurance rose by 7.7 percent in 2006. Small employers saw their premiums, on average, increase 8.8 percent. Firms with less than 24 workers, experienced an increase of 10.5 percent.
3. Since 2000, employment-based health insurance premiums have increased 87 percent, compared to cumulative inflation of 18 percent and cumulative wage growth of 20 percent during the same period.
4. Health insurance expenses are the fastest growing cost component for employers.
5. In 2005 (the latest year data are available), total national health expenditures rose 6.9 percent -- two times the rate of inflation.
6. One in four Americans say their family has had a problem paying for medical care during the past year, up 7 percentage points over the past nine years. Nearly 30 percent say someone in their family has delayed medical care in the past year, a new high based on recent polling. Most say the medical condition was at least somewhat serious.
7. Every 30 seconds in the United States someone files for bankruptcy in the aftermath of a serious health problem.
People believe you can walk into any emergency room and they will not refuse you treatment. That is true to a certain existent, emergency rooms can't deny treatment for an emergency by law. If you look at what the law considers an emergency as a life threating condition. So your sick and you go to the ER they find that your kidneys have shut down and are no longer working. You don't have insurance and really can't afford health care. That is fine the ER will fix you up this time, but they tell you that you need dialysis twice a week. Dialysis is not a cure but a maintenance for kidney failure. Dialysis in not considered an emergency and that is true for many cancer treatments too. Come back at the end stage and we'll make you comfortable at the end of your life.
Emergency rooms won't deny emergencies, but what you think is one, might not be consider one by anyone else.
We pay more to help cover the cost of the indigent. The hospital has to disburse and absorb the cost of those who cannot pay.
You look for intelligent discussion and you get called names.
Just how old are you lex ,mike ????
If you think emergency room care is free , you are sadly mistaken.
They will bill you into bankruptcy in a heart beat.
Maybe the republiCONS wish they would open some debtors prisons for the poor when they can't pay their medical bills.
Mike, most ERs now give you a little "insurance interview" before they will even triage you these days. Public hospitals have average wait times of 8 hours and up. Can they throw people out for being poor? Technically, no (unless they're in California, it seems). Can they make sure your wait takes several hours, belittle your problem, and give you substandard care? They can and they will.
I'm not addressing the "comments" of Lex and Mickey. If I want to deal with semiliterates, I can go to work and get paid for it.
By squashing history into a long sentence you hope to make your point that government and taxes are evil. You neglect to note that it has been conservative politicians who have cut taxes on the rich while cutting the social programs that help the rest of us. It is not government that is hurting the American people - it is what several decades of conservative leadership has done to the country that we should find disturbing.
So whose son, whose daughter are you prepared to sacrifice? Whose father, whose mother, whose wife, whose husband? Yours? You don't want to talk about any of that, that cancer survival rates are MUCH lower in Australia, Germany, even the much-vaunted CANADA than in the US. Even if your cancer is diagnosed in time and correctly, you undergo much more pernicious drug regimens, since the new easier drugs which were approved over a DECADE ago in the US are STILL waiting in those socialized medicine countries.
So, how many would you sacrifice? But wait, it gets better. With lowered profits for companies in the US, which patents 98% of the new drugs patented in the WORLD, research on drugs for orphan diseases like ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), MS, Lupus, Hunter's Chorea, ect, would virtually dry up. The US is also responsible for over 90% of new medical techniques. Ever wonder why the US has garnered the Nobel Prize in medicine 17 of the last 20 years? Again, much of medical innovation is not funded by governments, it's done for drug companies, for PROFIT. As much as liberals hate to say it, they don't have a way to motivate better than money.
So raise your hands, liberals, who would sacrifice a family member on the altar of your agenda? Because you would have sacrificed MY father and MY wife. Both have cancer and BOTH would have died in socialized medicine countries, as the drugs that saved their lives are NOT APPROVED yet. Yes, I'm certain, it's become very important to me to know about those things. My wife writes to women in those "wonderful" socialized medicine countries and hears what it is like for them.
The issue really needs to be addressed through the insurance companies and work places which offer very little for the common person in this country.
For example, I have fibrosis in my back, for me to get insurance, it would cost me as much as a heart patient to get any, even at work. So it is hard for me to get insurance, as it cost between $300.00 to $600.00 a month more than the average single person. Cost depends on the insurance company, as Alstate cost about $450.00 more than the average smoker per month.
Having a government funded program is not the answer. Maybe a government subsidized insurance program might do it is done right, I don't know, but it does work in Australia to back up their socialized medicine.
There is a lot of answers, and instead of dumb Liberal whinning and quick fixes, more constructive ideas are what is needed.
I know two women here in the U.S.A that cannot get treatment. Why you ask? I mean they would be happy to wait six months. One has breast cancer and the other has cervical cancer. Both have no insurance and no money to pay for treatment. You cannot go to an ER and get surgery for free, you cannot get chemo for free and pills are not free either. Cancer is not consider an emergency, because while it will kill you in the long run it isn't an immediate life threatening condition. You will not be treated unless you can find a hospital and physician to take pity on you. So either one of those women would be happy to wait six months at least they would get treatment.
1. Why is it that almost everything that a wing nut says about health care is untrue?
2. Why do the president and VP use socialized medicine, when it's so horrible?
That being said, I agree that health care in the U.S. needs to be addressed. But we need to include all of the stakeholders and all of the issues.
Our government has done a less than admirable job of managing the things on its plate today. Do we really think they'll do much better with health care?
Let's have a real discussion about health care. This discussion needs to include ...
- Medical professionals (doctors, nurses, technicians, pharmacists, etc.)
- Medical facility administrators
- Insurance company managers and employees
- Current health care insurance policy holders
- Those with no health insurance
- Medicare/Medicaid recipients
- Medicare/Medicaid administrators (CMS, e.g)
- Financial experts
- Congressional leaders
We need a system that will ...
- provide necessary care for everybody
- provide pharmaceuticals
- provide apothacary
- offset the tax increase to those currently insured with savings on the cost of their insurance
We need a system that won't
- cost thousands of people their jobs
- put large companies out of business
- create a bigger mess than we have today
http://www2.kucinich.us/files/pdfs/universal_health_care.pdf
3/4 of new construction for hospitals is government funded and in return these hospitals are supposed to give free or fee reduced services. Go look through their records. I have.
You manipulate the media, you manipulate facts, you expect us the swallow the same old rhetoric whole. It won't work.
Go out in the trenches kiddies, experience the world that others live in and then see how feeble your outcries are.
This has been the case forever. Celebs and the wealthy have a higher profile, and thus have much more powerful direct access than non celebs and non-wealthy have.
"
Our government has done a less than admirable job of managing the things on its plate today."
Government did a fine job of managing the public infrastructure until the "hate government" neocons came in and started privatizing, gutting funding for, and placing corporate cronies in charge of critical programs.
Medicare costs a whopping 2% to administer, compared with 20-30% for privatized health care.
The government-managed part of the pentagon is a model of efficiency, matched by none in the in world. The privatized part of the pentagon is a colossal pillar of waste, fraud, corruption, and abuse that's admitted to "losing" a staggering $2 trillion of the taxpayer's money. I wonder how much they've "lost" that they WON'T admit "losing?"
The nation's power grid ran just fine when it was managed by the public. As soon as the ENRON's took over, the infrastructure started falling apart, supply was drastically cut, and the public was anally raped, repeatedly.
Government-managed health care plans around the world provide health care for every citizen, do so for less money per citizen, and 36 of them rank higher than the US's privatized version.
Need I go on? In case after case after case after case after case, when it comes to managing the public infrastructure, private, for-profit companies screw the public every which way possible, while public entities manage programs effectively and efficiently.
Private companies make great widgets. They suck at managing public infrastructure. Public entities make lousy widgets. They excel at managing public infrastructure. This is a no-brainer for anyone who pays attention.
Moving to a single-payer system, managed by the public, will provide every person with health care, will do so for less money than we currently pay, and the care will be better than it is today. We already know this, because we've seen it around the world.
Also, we currently have three different types of health care in this country, so we can easily compare systems side by side.
"Socialized medicine" is that which our soldiers and the president and VP receive. It's worth nothing that the primary care provided through the VA is considered to be excellent, which, I suppose, is why the president and VP so strongly favor socialized medicine for themselves.
The Walter Reed debacle was POST care treatment, which, naturally, had been outsourced to private companies. Go figure. Public infrastructure managed by private companies = disaster. Every time.
Medicare is a prime example of a single-payer system. The government underwrites the policy, and manages payments. It works brilliantly, and, as I said, costs all of 2% to administer, vs. 20-30% for privatized health care. No brainer.
Privatized medicine is all about profit. It cares not how much you are charged for insurance, or whether or not you can even afford insurance. It's really, more than anything else, a health care system for the wealthy. If you can afford insurance, if your employer can afford insurance (not likely for much longer, frankly), or if you're wealthy enough to self insure, it works fine. If not, you're screwed.
Your entire life savings, everything you own, and thousands upon thousands more can be wiped away in mere weeks or months. Do the private health insurers or hospitals care? Nope. The #1 leading cause for personal bankruptcies in this nation is medical expense.
And, it's purely a profit-driven racket. Your insurance company can drive up your rates by double digits every year, even when you're stout and healthy, drastically reduce your benefits and increase your deductibles at will, and oh, by the way, they get to decide which doctors you can see, which diseases they consider worthy of treatment, and which treatments they consider worthy of administering.
I don't know about you, but I really don't want some pencil-necked insurance geek picking my doctors for me, telling me which diseases he'll decide to treat, and what treatments HE thinks are best. I'd just as soon choose my OWN doctor, let HIM decide when I need treatment, and let HIM decide which treatment will be best for ME, not for my Goddamn insurance company. I don't give a rat's ass about what THEY think about it, for that matter. I pay them to provide coverage. That's it. They should have NO RIGHT to make these other decisions for me. Talk about socialized medicine, for Christ's sake.
Oh, and heaven help you if you happen to be unfortunate enough to have a pre-existing condition, btw. That means that your private insurance company can tell you to take a flying leap off a high bridge. You see, they're only about profit. They don't give two shits about your pre-existing illness, except that it will negatively impact their profitability. Therefore, you're jettisoned to the wind. Socialized medicine once again. Some pencil-necked insurance geek gets to decide what's best. Not for you, but for them.
On virtually every point, there simply is no rational, logical reason for continuing down the path that we already know, without any question, is an abysmal failure in virtually every regard. I've never been surprised that the neocons would reject publicly managed systems, if there were some rational reason to reject them, but honestly, there is simply no logical reason at this point to continue supporting our current failure of a system.
The one thing that should clearly sway neocons is the fact that American businesses are being crushed by our privatized system. They couldn't care less that you're suffering through it, or that it kills 18,000 people per year (too bad we couldn't point to the number of fetuses killed by it each year, huh?), but you'd THINK that they'd have compassion for businesses, wouldn't you?
The way I see it is this: We're going to have some form of national health care system one day. It's either going to come before our privatized system destroys us, or after. It's really that simple. We cannot continue on the path that we're on. Once again, private entities have proven that they simply cannot manage the public infrastructure.
Sharon makes great points. The public already funds a gigantic majority of hospital construction and pharmaceutical research. The US would have virtually nothing to offer the world in terms of medical advancement, if it were left solely to private companies. The very nature of private companies, that they exist only to produce a profit, mandates that they cannot fund their own research.
The FDA does not develop, manufacture or test drugs. Drug manufacturers submit full reports of a drug's studies so that the Center can evaluate its data. Drug manufactures pay for all research and studies. Drug companies must pay a user fee to the FDA for every drug they submit for approval.
User fees will generate about $300 million for the agency this fiscal year, and under the tentative agreement, that amount would increase by about one-third next year.
Under the proposal from the FDA, pharmaceutical companies in fiscal year 2008 would pay the agency about $393 million in user fees, compared with $305 million in FY 2007.
The idea behind user fees is to get more money to the FDA so that it can approve drugs more quickly.
The promise to conduct the process more quickly has been fulfilled. But critics worry the FDA might approve drugs it might not have approved in the past.
The drug companies are in the business to make money. They pass on these cost to the consumer.
The truth is the government doesn't pay for the research, clinical trials, pharmaceutical companies pay for their own drug studies. Look up the Prescription Drug User Fee Act.
The federal government pours MASSIVE amounts of money into research. Look into the NIH sometime.
I was talking about the drug companies.
Oh and about the FDA, otherwise known as Fraudulent Duplicitous Assholes. They are a joke and another example of right wing corporate support favoring government which underwrites corporate america by putting the stamp of approval on under performing, ineffective pharmaceuticals and treatment strategies.
If you are going to write a critique about my comments, make sure they are about my comments, or are you trying to manipulate non-existent facts once again?
The bottom line we pay in an increased cost to consumers to buy our medications. We pay in that our government is no longer protecting us. We pay in that America has 45 million uninsured Americans. We pay an increased cost in our medical care to cover those who cannot pay. We pay in that many physicians are no longer accepting Medicare or Medicaid patients. Because the reimbursement is so low and takes forever.
We The People pay, some with their lives, others with increased insurance bills, while still others out of pocket. We pay increased taxes to cover the indigent. So when people say well our government is putting all this money into such and such, well it is our money the government is using.
We have seniors who are not taking their medications because they can't afford it. We have children not getting proper treatment because their parents can't afford it.
When do we say enough is enough? The system is broken and we have to find a way to fix it.
Everyone can say American health care is great. That is until God-forbid you or someone you love needs health care and are denied because they can't afford it.
In 2005 Canadian governmnet found that Universal Healthcare was not working and allowed people to buy private healthcare instead of Universal.
NY times says government run medicaid is most mismanaged and fradudlent program. Universal healtcare will be the same. Universal healthcare will dictated when and if you get care and which doctor and which hospital you are allowed to have, nomatter how bad they are.
Irene, universal health care would not be free. But it would provide dramatic savings to most individuals, families, and businesses - all of which are facing unprecedented financial burdens due to the high cost of health care under the privatized system we have now. I would rather pay into a program that is meant to provide health care to every American than to pay outrageous prices under the current system - a system which appears to benefit no one at this point.
The bill would set up a list of standard fees that could be charged for medical services at rates that are fair to doctors. No more haggling with insurance companies for reimbursement of services.
Finally, the bill "Gives patients the freedom to choose from participating physicians and institutions." So, no, the program would not dictate what physicians and hospitals a patient could visit.
My 65-year-old stepfather had a fatal heart attack while waiting for his bypass (it was still two months away). Doctors have abandoned Canada left and right and many health facilities have closed. My mother-in-law lives in a city with a population of 350,000, but she has to drive 117 miles to another city for a CAT scan or MRI or similar test. I have many relatives in Canada who live near the US border, and they frequently come to the US for medical treatment. Luckily, they can afford it.
I am sure most Canadians prefer the system they have to no medical care at all, but they -- at least the Canadians I know -- complain vigorously about their system. So, let's go forward with tackling the problem, but without emulating our neighbor to the north.
Judy S.
I appreciate your commentary and your point of view for which many people in our country cannot. Please let me explain.
For almost twenty years I worked for a major motion picture studio. I was a Union member, but paid by the Studio. The different Unions connected to the motion picture industry are all affiliated with the Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plans (MPIPHP). The different representatives of all these Unions have automatically included in their contracts with the different union studio lots that the Studio (employer) pay into the MPIPHP (x) amount of cents for every hour this person worked. With my Union, for every 300 hours you work within a six month period, your next six months of insurance with MPIPHP, will be covered. While working for the Studio, I had no deductible and no co-pay. If I was prescribed an antibiotic or a pain reliever, I went downstairs to the MPIPHP pharmacy, and paid $10 for my antibiotic and $15 for my pain reliever. It is the motion pictures industry's main concern that you are healthy and able to return to work as soon as possible, so no surgeries are denied. This includes the coverage of your spouse, and any children of either you or your spouse 22 or younger that are students, and life-time coverage of any children of either you or your spouse that are mentally disabled. If the Motion Picture Hospital is unable to perform a surgery on their premises, then a facility is located for you and you are told when and where to report. (I know of two cases where people have convinced their doctors that their drooping eyelids were impeding upon their ability to see and their surgeries were performed by MPIPHP free of charge. They had to pay the $15 though for their pain relievers, should they have chosen to fill the prescriptions.) I fortunately have never needed surgical care. I just go every year for my annual female check-up and when I turned 40 they insisted I make an appointment annually for my Mammogram.
There is one MPIPHP hospital here in Los Angeles County, and five clinics spread throughout the L.A. area. When you first call the central line to make an appointment, the operator asks which clinic you are closest to (either your home or Studio lot) and you let her know which clinic you would like to attend. Then the operator gives you the list of names of doctors at that clinic for you to choose from. Should you not care for the doctor that you originally chose, you may choose another doctor the next time you call to schedule a visit. Only once when I had a terrible flu did I walk into the clinic unannounced and had to wait for an hour to be fit in to see a doctor and get an antibiotic prescription, which I then promptly took downstairs to the pharmacy and filled.
I and many of my piers survived three of the four buyouts of our Studio by private (non-entertainment) entities. This last buyout was by an entertainment entity which was not a Union lot. It is a subsidiary of a private corporation. This entity was forced to sharpen their pencils by their umbrella corporation, and many of us were dismissed (layed off). Some of us took early retirements (those old enough to qualify), while others were forced to look outside the entertainment industry for work where they could get health benefits. My Studio was not the only one at the time laying people off. Many people from other studios were downsized due to out-sourcing from other countries. Therefore, my Union had no positions to offer any of its members, and transfering to another department on that same or other Union lot, was not an issue either.
So many people like myself, who are not old enough to retire on our Social Security, have had to look for work outside the Studio lot. For over a year I sent out resumes to companies in private industry for positions in my field and received a stack of "thank you, but no thank you" letters. Why? Because I am over 40 years of age and have a great deal of experience in doing what I do. That means that the company is fretting over paying me close to what I am worth, and they don't want to offer me health benefits, let alone a pension. They don't have to pay younger people for their experience, and younger people feel that they are invincible, so health care and pension are not big issues for most of them.
I am working on getting around this, however. After a year, I went and got an agent, who has worked me on a few shows (enough to get by). I am almost eligible for membership into the Screen Actors' Guild (SAG); which is another union affiliated with MPIPHP. This particular guild (union) designates that its members receive $13,000 in wages per year (either in work or royalties) to keep that member's insurance in force. All I need to do is put in twenty years of service until I am able to retire.
Before I was downsized by this last Studio buyout, I became "vested" for my pension and health care starting at age 65. That means that at age 65 I will have the choice of receiving my healthcare at any one of the five clinics that MPIPHP has to offer, go to a private physician closer to where ever I decide to retire for 15% of the office visit (the MPIPHP pays 85% for non-clinic physicians), or choose a private physician closer to me that takes Medicare and what senior supplement I have chosen.
I am not describing in detail this system in order to create any animosity, but to give a good detail of what can be created in our government or in any industry. My parents both worked hard, honestly, and both made a good deal more money than I did in their work years, however, both are stuck with PPO's in combination with Medicare/senior supplement. I cannot begin to describe for you how much in health care expenses my parents pay per year. I am almost certain that by the time they pass on; that their stock funds, money market funds, CD's, etc. will be depleted. I, who did not make nearly the money they did annually and subsequently did not indulge myself as they did during their younger years, will not worry about my retirement; only how I am going to get there. Most women in this country do not have an option such as I or the VA system to fall back on (no matter how much money they made), for which I feel exceedingly blessed.
The reason that I am writing you and the others reading this blog is to explain that this industry itself; takes care of its own. The people who work for these different Studios, in these different capacities; whether they be office administration or lighting techs or cameramen or grips or production coordinators take a certain pride in their work and certainly don't want health being a factor that they cannot do something that they truly enjoy or for a company that they respect or for a product that they are proud of. I think the key word here is "pride". One needs to capture, or recapture the pride they have as an American, and the pride they have in what they do, whatever it is, because it is for the greater good. There were many great changes that occurred during the 1960's that we have to be proud of, but there also crept the evil of greed, which has reverberated throughout our political system and our culture to astronomical proportions. Those bills that were overturned due to this greed such as our immigration laws and anti-monopoly laws need to be overturned once again to what they once were and intended for so that we will once again be able to take care of our own and recapture our national pride.
MAYBE THE MANY HE INFLUENCES JUST SHOWS HOW STUPID THEY ARE.
Im with Michael Moore and Dennis Kucinich in that our health care system is being run by the big Pharma, who decide which drugs will be developed and how much we will pay. It is for profit and the whole private based insurance system exists to make a profit. They are not going to pay for anything that doesnt benefit them, especially preventive care. Think of how many people we could get to quit smoking if all smoking cessation programs were covered?!
Family Practice and primary care in general is in crisis as well because the insurance doesnt pay enough for most practitioners to survive. More and more are leaving practice. Or they are cramming more patients into appointments for 10 or 15 minutes. I hear patients complain all the time that my doctor didnt listen to me they just rushed me out...Im not surprised, what can you do in ten minutes?
There has got to be a better way. We have to put some check on BIg Pharma, find a way to distribute our limited medical resources to those who need it most. And the inconvenient truth is that those resources ARE limited. Dont let the republican fear mongers scare you into thinking they have a better idea.
If the NHS in the UK is so terrible why did my friends brother go to live in the UK since he couldnt afford a transplant in the US? He got his heart transplant and is doing well. I also know of uninsured americans who go across the border to Canada to receive health care there! So there are plenty of stories on either side.
If we can't agree on total health care lets agree on socialization of preventive care: vaccines, and preventive care, screenings for cancer like PAPs and Mammograms, and programs for smoking cessation.
What kind of world are we living in that we put any value on something a movie star or a film director thinks? Actors memorize lines and film directors put together movies. Does that make them experts on anything else? No.
Time to wake up and come out of Liberal La La Land.
Waitsel Smith
So, what's the answer?
1- If Americans took care of themselves physically, they wouldn't need to worry about medical attention. With most of our children overweight, how can you talk to me about socialized medicine? Why don't you get off your butt and take your family out jogging, instead of leaving your kids alone in their room playing video games and eating snacks?
2- If Americans started saving early in life for their medical needs, they wouldn't be turning to the government later to ask for help to make up for their own poor planning. A medical savings account is a great idea.
3- I can't remember the last time I saw a starving child in the United States. If anyone has a picture of one, I'd like to see it. Now, I've seen a lot of fat ones. So, please don't bring out the violins on that one. Until you're spending your money on the real starving children of the world, instead of spending it on every snack and bag of fast food you can stuff into your face, don't talk to me about the starving children of Appalachia or anywhere else in the US. I grew up in Appalachia and I never saw them.
4- I know there are some people out there that need medical health 24-7, but they are a tiny, tiny, tiny percentage of the population. That doesn't warrant an overhaul of an entire system. What does warrant overhauling is the legal profession and the insurance industry. Those two industries are what are causing our medical costs to skyrocket.
5- As long as there is a chance of being sued, doctors are at the mercy of the insurance industry. If you'd like to see your medical costs plummet, get Congress to pass a bill stating that patients can sign a release form with their doctor stating that they will not sue him, regardless of how a medical proceedure turns out. I guarantee medical costs would drop to a fraction of what they are now. That was how it was in the old days, and that is how it should be now. A doctor's integrity should be all the guarantee you need. Then, for those who want more of a guarantee, they don't have to sign the release form and they can pay the higher costs. That's a fair solution and one that would work.
Waitsel Smith
We had a friend who was a doctor and it seems like every other weekend they were "Sponsored" to an event for a "Conference"in an expensive resort "Explaining" the newest drug on the market.
The reason Micheal Moore or any American for that matter can produce a film documenting the condition of the medical system in this country is because we live it.
Sicko shows what is happening, now in this country. Is there problems in other country's health systems, probably. Is there a problem in this country, there is no doubt. In terms of health care we are a third world country.
Its fashionable in many circles to bash liberals. It may be because liberals care about others and are not self-centered. As far as I have seen I am proud to be a liberal, when we have Conservatives being arrested for election fraud, bribery, pedophilia, and now a representative here in Florida is arrested for soliciting homosexual prostitution in a men's room.
Conservative criminal land!!!
"1. If Americans took care of themselves physically, they wouldn't need to worry about medical attention."
Great idea, however while jogging or whatever physical activity they engage in, what if they were struck by a car or fell and broke a limb? I fell when attempting to get a photo and broke my a finger. Or if someone were to become involved in an auto accident. Smith would probably advise me and them to shake it off and go on with our lives.
2. " If Americans started saving early in life for their medical needs, they wouldn't be turning to the government later to ask for help to make up for their own poor planning." Great idea!! Tell that to the families that work two jobs and still find it hard to pay the rent and put food on the table. Businesses in this country are trying to stay ahead and many are dropping health or have never provided it to they employees. In many cases their is no money to put aside. And now companies that have been providing health care for their retired employees are going bankrupt or paying the CEOs so much in benefits and salaries that they can not longer afford to cover their retired employees. Tell them to start saving.
3. "I can't remember the last time I saw a starving child in the United States." How arrogant!!! Lets go down to the underpasses and shelters in this country and you can see a starving child and adults. Why don't you get " off your butt" and visit a large metropolitan area where the hungry are trying to survive? There are probably families in your city or town that are struggling to survive.
4. There are more people "out there" than you know. They are the elderly and the mentally unstable. The first group we ignore and the second we imprison.
5. This point must be a joke!!!! The doctor's integrity. The country doctor who would work for chickens are long gone. Most people, me included have a negative impression of doctors. They appear to me and many people I talk to as no better than drug pushers. Take this pill for what ails you and then take this pill to counteract the negative effects of the first pill. There are patients being dropped along skid row in their hospital gowns because they don't have health insurance. Trust a doctor!!! Its a joke.
I have gone the holistic route and I feel better than I ever have. And now congress is attempting to take that away as well. Americans will have to get a DOCToRS prescription for vitamins.
The FDA allows poisons in guise of harmless drugs to be given by DOCTORS. TRUST DOCTORS!!
I lift weights and visit the gym four times a week. And only see an acupuncturist. But my wife and I have to pay $800.00 a month for health insurance and still they fight not to pay any claim, as was the case with the broken finger.
Socialized medicine, I say yes and not soon enough. Perhaps the doctors then will get into the profession to be healers, not for the money.
I certainly agree that all health care should be non-profit. That includes insurance of any kind. If you have ever had a claim on your house such as a fire, then you would realize how nasty the good hands become once you really need them!
Also, I don't want to insure any illegal aliens or their so called anchor babies! I want them arrested for breaking our laws and deported yesterday! We already have a shrinking middle class due to outsourcing, and shipping jobs out of our country. Americans are already being squeezed financially from every direction, and we don't need to add to that!
I'm a baby boomer and have paid into social security for many years, but doubt it will be there for me when I need it. I think there is a lot of room for creative thinking with health care reform, but we need to approach it slowly, and eliminate corruption in our government at the same time.
To me, the very concept that insurance, our even banking should be a for profit business seems to be unconstitutional. That does not mean that employees would be paid poor salaries. I just think we need to slowly convert those types of businesses towards non-profit organizations. Sure, it would mean buying out shareholders, but it could be a win/win situation in the end. Plus, non-profit organizations have huge tax incentives!
I don't quite understand the hatred of Michael Moore by some folks. Sure, he is a fat assed loud mouth, who got filty rich off of some controversial documentaries, but he did so because Americans were interested in his subject matter. I give him a B for Roger and Me as well as bowling for Columbine...both exposed many things we already knew...we shipped our jobs overseas, and screwed our workforce here, and we have way to lax gun control laws, and some very stupid parents who own guns already. I'm not proposing we stop selling hunting guns or ammo, but stiff punishments should be handed out when the adults who purchase those weapons do not secure them from being used by their children in crimes.
I give Moore a C- for Farenheit 911 since he did not point out all of the inconsistancies that exist in the 9/11 fairytale we have all been lead to believe was perpetrated by a guy in a cave in Afghanistan, and under the nose of our government who was only to happy to embrace another Pearl Harbor!
Sorry to get off the subject, but they are all related in one way or another. It basically boils down to the fact that we let our Federal Government grow way beyond what our forefathers envisioned it to be. We let them institute the Federal Reserve, and eliminate the gold standard for our money, both of which are unConstitutional. We presently have such a massive debt, that I don't see how we can institute national health care here now...and pay for it!
RhymeCon
He is in the position to back anyone he chooses, and because he is outspoken (with some pretty good credentials), People listen to him. I do. However I have the right to vote for anyone I choose ( I think, unless umm that right was also played with, oh wait,... it was).
I am totally amazed by the openmindedness of this forum, maybe we should just go along with the way things are, and not open our mouths or stand up for what we believe. Because Gore made a statement, that has been used by the BUSH campaign about the internet ( taken totally out of context), his movie is to be taken lightly? Pay attention to whats going on in the world instead of name calling and knocking down what you don't understand.
The problem with mandating the kind of health care provided by the government to its own, is that people can ask for medications they should not have. Doctors who are in a hurry and in competition with other doctors may give the patient the demanded medication. Side effects can become a litigation matter, an expensive mess on many fronts. This issue is not cured in the British or Canadian systems. Because nationalized systems have financial challenges, hastily handing out medicines happens in Europe also. Many European countries have higher unemployment rates than we do, and depression statistics tend to go up when unemployment goes up. Smoking and drinking may go up also, with the attendant health challenges.
Personally, without best-practice standards in place, I would argue the patients and the drug companies are responsible for damage from side effects. Most package inserts tell you some of the risks, and you are supposed to read that stuff before you take something. If they knew of a risk and did not tell, some patients are going to sue and get big awards. There are some companies with substantial risk in this area right now.
I do not think Americans trust the FDA to sort this out. Right now, taxpayers are footing bills for "excess disability" caused by side effects, if the victims are in a government health insurance pool. It may be that private insurance companies will start to go after drug companies if they have excess cost because of side effects.
As for me, I think I might venture to trust doctors who have obviously prescribed diet and exercise for themselves and who have proved their maturity in other ways. Maybe a pool of doctors could be formed, doctors who volunteer to serve less-advantaged people and whose patients are willing to testify for them.
I wish this were an easy fix. Pouring more money into a thing that is corrupt and broken will just give us more corruption and harm.
An individual's response to any treatment may be unpredictable, because individual biochemistry differs. Treatments with the least side-effect risks for the most individuals should be tried first.
A system that respects individuals is going to be complicated, but possibly less expensive than the present mess, over the long-term.
Also everyone's afraid of the word socialism due to the dictator socialistic and communistic countries which were really a dictatorship or true communism not socialism
As some socialist aspects are needed in society
as here in Florida child protective services were under a crunch with to few employees to cover the rocketing Florida population growth so had some very bad press for children in bad homes which were not protected properly so the idiot governor decided to privatize it however all it did was to cut wages and destroy benefits and health care for the workers and cost 40% more
the sad thing is children are not being seen any more then they did before and there are just as many children getting lost in the system now so no improvement if anything it gotten worse
so we should have all public benefit departments as public owned and while I feel most things at that should be in public control already are in public control there are two exceptions
Healthcare and railroads as why are highways federal and not rail roads also note our interstate system is still looked at as one of the best in the world while our rail is seen as a joke as greed has killed it from ever being functional as the only time the US rail system ran efficiently was in WW2 were the tracks were nationalized for a few years
Michael Moore is an idiot so this is just what one would expect from him. And as for you self employed bleeding hearts, this is what you chose to do and if you have managed your finances correctly you should be able to buy your health coverage. And when you retire if you have paid into social security honestly, which I doube you have, you will be covered by medicare. Don't buy into the BS that social security will go broke. Never Happen. And this is as close to universal health care as I want to get.
And as for you that think this will benefit the majority, I'll place you in the same category as Mr. Moore. Yes this is still America and Michael Moore has the right to back anyone he pleases. He also has the right to put his foot in his big mouth and make a complete joke of himself which he seems to do at every given opportunity.
with throat cancer in 2002 and have had over $300,000.00 in medical expenses since then, which BCBS has paid with no problem. I pay my own premiums the same as I pay my mortgage, car notes, and any other normal living expenses. I don' t want the government paying anything for me nor telling me which doctors I can see and when, or which hospitals I have to use. When you opt for the socialized programs then big brother dictates who, when, where, and if. I can' t believe some of you morons want to give the government more control over your lives. Wake up, be responsible for your self. If you think this is such a great idea, move to Canada or Europe and PLEASE take that SICKO Moore with you.