With Michael Moore’s SiCKO reaching more and more audiences, the traditional media have begun assessing the film’s criticisms of the collapsing US  health care system. Today the SF Chronicle joins the act with a front-page piece. While it’s far better than CNN’s disreputable hatchet job, the Chron piece still employs some framing of the discussion that leads its readers away from a single-payer solution. 

Because the media retains such a major role in shaping the way we discuss health care policy, it’s important for us to be attentive to the ways even a decent article can repeat misconceptions that might hurt the overall single-payer cause.

The article opens well, with a discussion of how health care polls as the top concern among Americans these days, as studies show that the US spends more money than other comparable countries – and yet receives worse quality in return. Victoria Colliver, the author of the piece, gets some great quotes about the “sick care system” here in the US and the staggering number of uninsured

Clearly, this suggests the public is hungry for reform – but what kind?

Moore’s film has been criticized for showing the positive side of health systems in other countries while glossing over negative aspects.

“There’s almost only positive attributes about the British, the French and Cuban system. Invariably, no system is perfect. I think this sort of detracts from his credibility on these comparisons,” said Stephen Zuckerman, health economist with the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C.

And yet the article does not detail what these supposed “negative aspects” of the French or British universal care systems are. The reader doesn’t get a chance to evaluate the pros and cons, because the cons are never really presented. One that is mentioned is wait times, but only in the context of Moore’s visit to an Ontario ER and hearing the Canadian patients saying they had no concerns about it.

Yet even this is misrepresented. The article notes that US waits for specialists or *elective* surgery (a distinction not made often enough) were the shortest in the world, along with Germany. But that is achieved only by strictly rationing who can have appointments with specialists or receive elective surgeries at all – whether it’s through the outright denial of health coverage, or by insurers keeping patients from those services. The full context of this supposedly positive aspect of US care suggests there’s nothing positive about it at all.

Colliver also repeats the flawed claim that Moore suggests socialized medicine “is free.” In reality SiCKO has a Labour MP reading from the NHS founding statement that says “this is not a charity.” She suggests that French care – whose positive aspects she does not discuss in detail – is accomplished only through crippling taxes and high unemployment.

The author does close the article with quotes from Americans living in France who praise that system. But this matter of taxes and economic activity is fundamental to the success of single-payer care in California and the US and so we should deal with it in some detail.

The impression given is that high taxes make for bad living. Unfortunately, Californians have drank deeply from this well over the last 30 years. If it was as simple as pointing out to Californians that, generally speaking, higher taxes levied in a progressive manner and spent on useful services are better for your wallet, we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in today. All too few Californians make that kind of calculation – instead they tend toward a knee-jerk “all taxes are bad” view that brings us such joys as Prop 13 and the 2/3 requirement.

Behind this view is, in part, a belief that higher taxes will always cripple economic activity. This might have been true for a few years in the late 1970s. But when it comes to health care it is far from certain. As a recommended diary on Daily Kos today notes, health insurance costs are crippling American businesses. The only way businesses can survive is to make cuts to the coverages – so even though a worker might have some health benefits on the job (and are thus not counted as uninsured) they find that many of their health needs are not included.

The costs to American business and government of private health care are becoming well-known. They eat up an ever-growing chunk of state budgets and cut into corporate profits, leading to either less coverage or less hiring or less investment. The crippling of the American economy by the lack of single-payer health care should be at the core of any discussion of health care in the US, and its absence in this article is a significant omission.

As is the lack of any discussion of the flaws of private health insurance. As those who have seen SiCKO know, one of the powerful aspects of the film is its demonstration of the ways private insurers routinely deny care to people they have insured, often fudging the rules or breaking the law in the process. It’s not just the uninsured who are upset with the US “sick care system” but those who have insurance as well, those who pay high costs and find themselves facing less and less service in return.

Victoria Colliver should be credited for writing a better article than most on the subject, and surely we cannot expect her to write an article calling for single-payer outright. But neither does an incomplete look at the US system or an incomplete comparison with other systems that lacks details provide readers with the useful information they need when judging health care reform proposals. A full airing of the facts suggests single-payer is the best answer. Someday, I hope, the media will provide it. Until they do, we will.

Today’s guaranteed healthcare roundup, cross-posted at  the National Nurses Organizing Committee/California Nurses Associations’s Breakroom Blog, as we organize to make 2007 the Year of GUARANTEED healthcare on the single-payer model.

When Iowans want ethanol, presidential candidates leap to it.  When the state’s largest paper calls for guaranteed healthcare on the single-payer model…well, we’ll just have to see how that riles up the candidates.  The Des Moines Register did just that today.  Momentum is building.  Money quote:

What we hope {Michael Moore’s “SiCKO”} does: Spur Americans, at long last, to demand a system that covers everyone, while providing greater quality and reining in costs.

The best option for doing that: a government-financed system, much like Medicare, which covers America’s senior citizens. That wouldn’t be “socialized medicine.” Under Medicare, seniors still choose their doctors, and doctors don’t work for the government.

Barack Obama is soliciting health care policy ideas.  I’m going to email him the Des Moines register editorial.

Meanwhile the Des Moines Register finds that Blue Cross/Blue Shield literally have no shame.

In today’s New York Times, {sub. req’d} Paul Krugman slams FOX News for implying national healthcare causes terrorism.  If you remember Katrina, you know that our dysfunctional healthcare system is actually a major security vulnerability for this nation.  Krugman sums it up:

The only things standing in the way of universal health care are the fear-mongering and influence-buying of interest groups. If we can’t overcome those forces here, there’s not much hope for America’s future.

The Wall St. Journal finds that state plans to require employers to provide health insurance are illegal.  They’re right.  So why are politicians in California and other states still out there pushing them?

How to make a killing in the healthcare field?  Dr. Prem Reddy found where to start: restrict patient access to care.  Scary.

We should all follow NBC News’ story on Iraq and military medicine.  The U.S. is going to be working with our soldiers for many, many years as a result of the war.

John Conyers is an American hero.

And finally..is SiCKO Psycho?

To join the fight for guaranteed healthcare (with a “Medicare for All” or SinglePayer financing), visit with GuaranteedHealthcare.org, a project of the National Nurses Organizing Committee. 

(Let’s get this conversation on the front page (and in the RSS feed) – promoted by jsw)

Michael Moore’s SiCKO has now been out almost two weeks, and I’m beginning to find that for a number of us, it’s been a seminal event that has motivated people who were not previously involved in the issue to actually get up and raise some hell.

I like raising hell.  Don’t get me wrong, I really do.  But in cases like this, I like to win too.  And we need to win this one.

There are things we can learn from recent victories we’ve had that can be applied to the single payer health care fight.  On the flip, I’ll mention a few.

First, a few parameters for our discussion here.  There is a lot that traditional advocacy organizations and the unions have been doing, and should continue doing.  In particular, I am in awe of the California Nurses Association and its activities over the last month.  I’m going to assume that they will continue to do what they’re doing, and won’t discuss them much further.  I am much more interested in how we can harness the large progressive blogs and the new-wave net based organizations like DFA and MoveOn.

Second, I am both an activist and a technologist, and am most interested in what we will call “tech assisted local activism”.  The prototype of this was MeetUp: using web sites and related techniques to get people doing things in the real world with real people. We beat Pombo with tools like this.  I want a better understanding of what we did there that we can transfer to a more issue based campaign like this one.

Third, a lot of what we need to do I see already.  There are diaries just about every day on Kos and MyDD — typically, more than one.  I know for a fact that the many of the people who write them read Calitics.  On the whole, none of these diaries are getting the play I’d like to see them have.  Based upon things I’ve seen done by folks like Eden out of McNerney’s people, I know that it’s possible to get a lot more bang from our diaries than what we’ve been getting.  I’d like to see the group of us working together more closely to make that happen.

Forth, we need to get this going before the presidential silly season sucks all of the oxygen out of the issue, and while SiCKO is still drawing crowds.  That means training, and it probably also means making sure some of us start meeting with one another on a regular basis, and soon.

Those are the terms of reference, folks.  Now, what should we be doing about this?

My grandmother was just released from the hospital this morning. She nearly collapsed in the bathroom on Wednesday morning, and she’s had to spend the last two days in the hospital. She was severely dehydrated. She had diarrhea. She couldn’t eat. She was extremely weak. Basically, this is what happens to a ninety-two year old diabetic woman all too often.

So we had to drive Grandma to the hospital. We got a bed for her in the emergency room pretty quickly, but then we had to wait forever in the emergency room until the hospital finally had a room ready for her. Grandma finally got her room, she was able to sleep, and she was able to recover over the next 36 hours.

Thank goodness we caught Grandma in time, before she lost consciousness. Thank goodness Grandma’s feeling better. And thank goodness she has good health insurance. What would have happened if things weren’t as good for us?

Follow me after the flip for more…

My aunt and I stayed with Grandma overnight on Wednesday. We just couldn’t bare the thought of having her stay in the hospital alone. She doesn’t like sleeping in a strange bed in a strange location, so we didn’t want Grandma to be alone. She was able to fall asleep, though we couldn’t (we had to “sleep” on cheap, uncomfortable chairs). We were there withe Grandma, she didn’t have to be alone, and she was at ease.

Earlier in the day, my dad paid the hospital $50 so that Grandma could stay in the hospital. Her insurance covered the rest. I guess I should consider my family lucky. Other seniors go into debt to cover their health care costs. I don’t imagine how they could ever be at ease.

Yesterday, Grandma was starting to feel better. She was starting to eat again. She was hydrated again. But we had something scarier to worry about. The hospital wanted to send a therapist in to help Grandma walk again! Ahhh! Scary! Another $300 tacked onto our bill! No!

OK, so we also really didn’t need the therapist. We can help Grandma walk. My dad used to work in a hospital, after all. But what if we did actually need the therapist? And what if we really didn’t have the money to pay for the physical therapy? Why should we have to turn that down for Grandma, just because we couldn’t afford it?

Many seniors in California face exactly that problem every day. They must go without the prescription drugs that they need. Yep, over one-third of California seniors have no prescription drug coverage. They have to worry about being “burdens” to their children. As more and more people become caregivers for their elderly parents, they don’t get the support they need to afford the financial burden of being a caregiver. To be honest, that’s what my family DOES have to worry about right now.

As soon as we got to the hospital this morning, we had some frightening news waiting for us. Grandma’s blood sugar was down, so I suddenly began to worry. Will she have to stay in the hospital longer? Is her condition worsening? What will happen next?

Well, I got some reassurance from the doctor. The doctor said that Grandma should be released today. And after a few more hours, a couple more blood tests, and another hospital meal, we were finally able to take Grandma home. We’re back at the house now, and Grandma is so happy to be home.

However, my dad isn’t happy that he has to go to the pharmacy to get Grandma’s new prescriptions. She has a new pill to take for her Diabetes, and another pill to take for her diarrhea. We’re not quite happy about another trip to the pharmacy for more drugs with more co-payments. However, I guess we should be happy that Grandma’s not one of those people who can’t even afford her prescription drugs.

Now that I’ve seen a little more of our crazy health care system in person at Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center, maybe I need to learn some more about our dysfunctional health care system and what we can do about it. I know Michael Moore’s new documentary, “SiCKO“, is opening tonight. Maybe I should see that this weekend. I know that SB 840 will be voted on in the Assembly soon. Maybe I should contact my Assembly Member soon, and ask my Assembly Member to vote for real universal health care that covers not just all our seniors, but all Californians.

These past two days, I’ve been in an emotional inferno as I’ve been monitoring Grandma’s condition. However, I know that many more families undergo much worse every day as they worry over whether their elderly relatives get ANY care. This is just another reason why we need real action on health care, and why we need it now.

(Events of the weekend… – promoted by Brian Leubitz)

Think that SiCKO isn’t already changing healthcare politics in this country?

Just through the California Nurses Association & National Nurses Organizing Committee, 15,000 nurses from across the country have signed up to help organize on the opening night of SiCKO, as part of the “Scrubs for Sicko” campaign to drive one million nurses to see the film.  .  More are signing up every day.  Even more caregivers and patients have mobilized through Healthcare Now, Physicians for a National Health Program, the Massachusetts Nurses Association, and an unprecedented coalition of activist nurse groups from around the country.  Real energy on behalf of guaranteeing healthcare on the single-payer model.

We’ll take a look, below, at what it all means.  But first, we need you to  Go here, download some flyers, and hit your theater Friday night (warning: pdf).  Say hi if you see any nurses in their red “Scrubs for Sicko” scrubs.

Cross-posted at GuaranteedHealthcare Blog.

*Update*  As of this morning, 17,000 nurses are volunteering at the SiCKO opening night, and pledging to help us reach our million nurse goal.

Here’s how SiCKO is changing our country:

1. The healthcare movement finally is a mass, on-the-ground movement  Not since the days of Act Up have we actually had a critical mass of healthcare activists on the ground, working for change.  Now we do: tens of thousands of activists talking to hundreds of thousands of people.  Powerful.

2. Caregivers finally have a voice.  For years, groups such as the American Medical Association purported to be the voice of caregivers.  Unfortunately, they have been all too willing to throw patient interests under the bus so they can line their own pockets.  Now with the rise of the nurses’ movement, allied with PNHP docs, we finally have healthcare providers taking their patient advocacy to the streets…and the statehouse.

3. The media finally has to cover the issue of guaranteeing healthcare—and force political leaders to do the same.  Take a look at some examples below here.

And now to the SiCKO/Guaranteed Healthcare Update

*The Nation notes the nurse uprising and, like us, wonders what happens after SiCKO.

(In the same issue, Liza Featherstone looks at the movement by nurses for guaranteeing healthcare on the single-payer model, despite those looking to compromise with the insurance industry.}

*Clarence Page at the Chicago Tribune lays out the new conventional wisdom: America’s got a terrific health care system, as long as you don’t get sick.  That much, at least, seems to be conceded even by lobbyists for the nation’s health insurance industry.

*Last night Bill O’Reilly was in the unenviable position of debating a kids’ cancer nurse.  The point is—when was the last time O’Reilly did a segment on whether we should move to guaranteed healthcare on the single-payer model?  (And ended up kind of having to agree…)

*Coverage like this Washington Post story reminds us about what’s really happening out there:

As for government-funded health insurance, it would be enlightening if those who so reflexively assert that the public has already rejected it would just ask—well—the public. In a May CNN poll, 64 percent said they thought the government should “provide a national health insurance program for all Americans, even if this would require higher taxes.”

*Health Insurance companies are running scared.

The natural next question is, what now?  How do we extend the impact of SiCKO?  At a minimum level, nurses will continue to put pressure on politicians to answer one question: are you with patients—or insurance companies?  At the same time, we are on the verge of announcing a strategy to pressure health insurance corporations themselves.

But what else? It’s a movement in development.  Your thoughts are needed.

(cross-posted from Working Californians, also in Orange)

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending a sneak peek screening of Michael Moore’s new film SiCKO.  Several blogger reviews are already out, Brian Leubitz, nyceve, Randy Bayne and fnpople.  Instead of another review, what I would like to talk about is the political message of SiCKO, as it relates to the California health care debate.  Two years ago, Michael Moore set out to make a documentary on America’s health care system.  He could have focused on any number of topics, including big PhRMA, or the millions of uninsured, but settled on the failure of private health insurance.

In the end, the film is one big fantastic advertisement for single payer health care.  Naturally, Moore teamed up with CNA here in California for a series of events.  Moore is not shy about his goals.  He wants to start massive grassroots movement to institute a national single payer system and use this film to do it.  However, Moore went out of his way to support Fabian Nunez and his efforts to reform the current system, holding both a press conference and the screening for legislators and other guests like yours truly.  Moore recognizes the current political atmosphere here in California.  It is what he is trying to change by making this film, promoting it and framing the discussion of the film politically.  If millions of Americans watch this movie, their political outlook on health care policy will change.  SiCKO is that powerful.

Right now single payer is lacking a lot of necessary support to truly be viable in California.  Arnold Schwarzenegger has already vetoed SB 840 once and will again this year.  Even if he were to pass it, there is still another hurdle to get over.  SB 840 is simply a framework bill.  The billions of dollars to fund the program would have to be passed separately, something that would require the support of 2/3rds of the legislature, something that is not in the current realm of possibility.  Just check out the Republican rhetoric around SiCKO.  This is an excerpt from a CA Republican press release.  (Someone needs to teach the Republicans about run-on sentences.)

[Yesterday] Sacramento Democrats left no doubt where they really stand in the debate over strengthening California’s healthcare future. Literally rolling out the red carpet to welcome  Michael Moore, the discredited filmmaker, to the State Capitol, the Democrats warmly embraced the Soviet-style healthcare he showcases in his new propaganda reel, “Sicko.”

Oh no the REDS!!  Moore actually treats the great Communist scare tactics of the Republicans with some biting sarcastic humor in the film.  It is amazing that in the 21st century that the Republicans are still trying to use that as a fear card.  Moore retorted:

“They’re going to fight this, and they’re going to scare people,” he told legislators. “Ooh, socialized medicine: bad. Really? Isn’t that what our police departments are? Socialized? Run by the government? Free service? You think anybody would ever ask if the fire department should have to post a profit?”

Frankly, this is a logical argument, but not one Americans are used to hearing.  The private industry of health care is so ingrained in our way of thinking that such arguments sound very strange.  But Moore is right here.  He relayed the story last night of firefighters in England, back when you used to have to purchase fire fighting insurance.  Those houses that were insured had placards on the front of their homes.  Responding firefighters would only put out fires for those who had those in place.  Tough luck for the neighbors of the uninsured, who would face the consequences of the inaction by the firefighters.

More from the Republican press release:

Moore spoke of his desire to see health providers criminally prosecuted for following free market principles in trying to make healthcare more efficient and affordable… Californians have seen this bad movie of record tax increases and bloated government-run healthcare directed by Sacramento Democrats and they continue to give it two thumbs down. If Democrats strike box office gold in the Legislature and succeed in pushing through their massive, government-run healthcare scheme that will force all Californians to endure long waits and rationed care, hard-working taxpayers and small business owners will be at the top of the casting list to star in the sequel to Moore’s film, “Sicko II: The Death of California’s Economy.”

They are trying to scare you.  Michael Moore’s favorite line in the movie was from an American living in France who said: “The Americans fear the government, but in France, the government fears the people.”  She said it trying to explain why the government works so hard for betterment of the French citizens not other motives.  The Republicans are intentionally trying to increase Americans’ fear of the government with this language about single payer.  They are playing up the fear of the unknown and obscuring the reality in most developed countries with national health care plans.  Those countries generally pay less and get more out of their health systems than our inefficient system, where the primary motive is profit not care.

Until there is greater education on the issue, there will not be the necessary public support and thus political will to pass single payer in California or nationally.  SiCKO will be one important tool in that path towards better legislation.  It is important that we promote and encourage other to see this film in an attempt to change public perception.  However, SiCKO is not a panacea.  It is unreasonable to assume that a public shift will occur overnight, to make single payer viable politically.

Meanwhile, 800,000 children in California go without health care.  Over 5.8 million adults have no coverage.  Bottom line is that the private health care industry is a mess, but there are reforms we can enact to solve many of the problems Moore powerfully brought to light in SiCKO.  The California legislature can stop the hospital dumping of patients on skid row in LA.  We can get coverage to many if not all of the uninsured and we can improve the quality of the insurance for those already enrolled in plans.  It will not be perfect.  Heck it may not even be great, but it will be better than what we have got now.

Passing health care reform this year that is not single payer does not eliminate the possibility of passing single payer in the relatively near future.  Until we get there publicly and politically, legislative negotiations need to be supported.

So let’s support SiCKO.  Take our friends and family to see the film.  Praise people like Oprah for using the film as a springboard for talking about our health care industry.  Press the presidential contenders to detail their health care plans.  Push the California legislature to pass the best possible bill.  Keep the ball moving forward.

Watch Moore on Oprah, which has several clips from the film that are not in the previews.  This is part one.  Part two is here.

Yes I timed it.

After yesterday’s national debut of SiCKO, 1,000 nurses from the California Nurses Association and across the country rose as one, roared, and continued roaring for 8 full minutes.  I had goosebumps and tears in my eyes at the same time, and so did everyone else in the theater.

It was an emotional conclusion to a historic day: the campaign kick off for an extraordinary month of health care activism that aims to cure our nation of the health insurance corporations who are doing so much damage to all of us. 

The media, nurses and doctors, Moore, and healthcare activists gathered together because this—-this-—is our opportunity to finally change the healthcare system in this country.  We’ll recap what happened and plans going forward below…

Cross-posted at the National Nurses Organizing Committee’s Breakroom Blog, as we organize to make 2007 the Year of GUARANTEED Healthcare–thanks to SiCKO.

I won’t review the film here—nyceve, among others, has already done a better job than I could.

But this film is a masterpiece—and one told from the nurses’ point of view.  Those of us who aren’t RNs tend to think of the healthcare crisis in terms of numbers: infant mortality, deaths of uninsured, murder by insurance, record insurance industry profits, etc.  Nurses, however, are on the front lines fighting the “denial of care” industry (alias: private insurance corporations) and are used to seeing the tragic stories SiCKO uncovers.

That’s why yesterday was so exciting for them.  CNN, CNBC, USA Today, AP, The Wall St. Journal were all there, doing live stand-ups, shouting out questions, finally giving the silent genocide that is our healthcare system the attention it deserves.  Already Moore has changed everything—and we need to keep that change rolling. 

The day opened with a press conference with California Speaker Fabian Nunez.  Nunez is the perfect candidate to see the film: he has taken tens of thousands of dollars from the insurance corporations, and is carrying their water with bills to expand their customer base (and customer abuse).  He is emblematic of weak-kneed politicians across the country who won’t do the right thing—and who must be forced to. 

Michael Moore then went under the dome of the California Senate, and gave a rip-roaring defense of him film.  “I believe these insurance companies are an illegal racket and should be forced out of business.”  High drama.

From there Moore proceeded to rally the troops of 1,000 nurses and doctors outside, who gave him a hero’s welcome.  Finally, a media star who uses his celebrity to make a difference!

The nurses escorted him to the film’s screening in a sea of red scrubs, an image that appeared on the front pages of papers across California.  During the film, nurses alternated between laughing and crying, shock, horror and hope as the story of their battles was unfolded on the big screen.

There was much discussion afterwards about how to help this movie have the maximum impact.  Moore stressed that we must have a great opening week so that more theaters across the country will pick it up.  He also gave everyone blanket permission to call up local theaters, say they are close personal friends of his, and ask for help in setting up a discussion or handing out literature.  If you’re unsure if you can talk to the audience as they leave this film in tears ready for action, use this rule of thumb: it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission.

And of course—calling all nurses, doctors, and other healthcare professionals.  We need you to join the “Scrubs for SiCKO” campaign.  Sign up with us, we’ll send you literature to hand out opening night June 29th.  Bring a buddy, and help solve this healthcare crisis by advocating for guaranteed healthcare on the single-payer model.

Please post additional suggestions on how to maximize SiCKO’s impact in the comments.

And now, let’s check out the SiCKO coverage from yesterday:

Great San Francisco Chronicle article here.

Fun stuff from CNN.

Here’s a nice Huffington Post.

And the AP did their usual good work.

To join the fight for guaranteed healthcare (with a “Medicare for All” or SinglePayer financing), visit with GuaranteedHealthcare.org, a project of the National Nurses Organizing Committee. 

(Please read this review and make friends with your friends and family to attend the movie when it opens and support SB 840 – promoted by blogswarm)

Well, we went to SiCKO last night, and since we didn’t get back until after 1AM, I didn’t write a review then.  You can check out my Flickr set by clicking the photo.

Few movies were better titled. Now, I’m not sure if Moore intended the title as in “make you sicko” or “treating the sicko” but either way, it works.  I’m not what you would call a Michael Moore fanboy. I mean, his tactics can be grating and more than a little annoying. But, I think this movie makes his strongest statement yet. To put it shortly, this movie made me sad and frustrated, yet I feel more determined to work for change than ever.

The movie specifically disclaims those who are uninsured, as the opening credits roll, Moore states that the movie is not about those who do their own sutures at home, or those who die waiting for assistance at the few public hospitals. Rather the movie is about the weakest link in our health care delivery system, the insurance companies.  Follow me over the flip…

I’m no movie critic, so forgive me my lack of Roger Ebert polish.  Now, that out of the way, let me say that the movie was stunning throughout, yet had a few occasions of well, too longness.  And occasionally, it felt like an ad for France.  Hey, I like France as much as the next guy (well probably more than many GOP next guys), but the Francophile bit seemed a bit long.  But with much of his comparisons to other country, he makes one grand point:

We, not me.

Let me repeat that: We, not me. It’s a simple, yet powerful refrain. For too long, Reaganists have pushed us to fear the government. As one line in the movie said, roughly paraphrased, “The Americans fear the government, but in France, the government fears the people.” You see, we have lived to long in a state of fear, constantly running from one crisis to the next, never wondering why we have such crises. Or how we could prevent ourselves from reaching the levels of poverty that we have achieved in what is supposed to be the richest nation EVER.

So, when Moore goes all Cuba-loving, Franco-philiac and what not, he does it because in those nations he sees the underlying community responsibility.  Or to put it another way, Moore is trying to speak of the commitment that we all make to one another as a neighborhood, a community, a state, and a nation, not to mention our duty to the human race in general.

But the movie doesn’t deal only in generalities. It tells stories so horrifying and so pathetic, that it just screams insanity.  Like the story of a mother who lost her toddler due to Kaiser’s reluctance to pay an out-of-network, or the 50somethings who have to move into their daughter’s basement after co-pays forced them to sell their house. Or the man who found a perfect bone marrow donor, but the health group said the transplant was “expiremental”. No, it was abundantly clear that insurance companies are becoming the weak link in our health care delivery, if not the thief in the night. They seek to deny care. That is their job, not to ensure a healthy population, not to “thrive”, but to keep their “medical losses” to a minimum.

This movie was powerful, and should be considered on the order of Inconvenient Truth. It should make people stop, think, and wonder if they are next. Or your mother, or your toddler. How many more people will be dumped on the Skid Row, or die for lack of care before we just finally decide that enough is enough. Before we finally decide that we are just plain SiCK of the profit motive in our health care industry, or until we are just SiCKOs.

(cross-posted from Working Californians)

The legislature really aught to have issued a proclamation making today Michael Moore day to celebrate the California release of his new film Sicko.  The Capitol is practically ringed by satellite news trucks, in town to cover an almost constant schedule of press conferences, rallies, photo-ops and screenings.  I stopped by to pick up my ticket for tonight’s screening hosted by Fabian Nunez and snuck into the press conference he was holding with Moore.

Moore supports single payer health care to cover all Americans and get the profit motive out of the equation with regards to health insurance companies.  To this end he is holding a rally with CNA and press conferences with Sen. Kuehl today.  However, during the press conference with Nunez, he was supportive of legislative efforts to revise the current private industry model.  They did joke about Arnold’s current opposition to SB 840, with Nunez saying “Who knows, maybe he watches and…” Moore quipped “Well, he likes movies.”  Moore is looking for California to lead the way on the issue, as we have done on issues like the minimum wage and the environment.  He sees his film working on concert with legislative efforts.

Moore addressed the current Blue Cross campaign to destroy reform efforts, expressing his concern about the advertising campaign that they had already begun.  It his goal, with the release of the film, to aide a grassroots campaign to reform health care.  That is why he is spending so much time in Sacramento, to tie in his movie promotional efforts with a legislative push in California.  He wants reform, not just movie ticket sales.  Documentary activism.

The press conference covered a great deal of ground, despite the limited question time.  One of the more interesting tidbits was about Moore’s insurance costs for the film itself.  He paid about $40,000 for what I believe is libel insurance for Fahrenheit 9/11, but had to shell-out $800,000 for Sicko.  The pharmaceutical firms were the biggest trouble.  They were on red alert, warning all of their employees to not talk to him and Pfizer even created a toll-free number for staff to inform management if they were contacted by Moore.  Of course, Moore was forwarded all kinds of emails and documents from the companies by their employees.

Evidently, Sicko has footage of some of the LA hospital dumpings that have made the news here.  I am looking forward to tonight’s screening, as the progressive Sacramento elite all gathers in one room.  Check back tomorrow for a write-up of the premiere.

(picture is from my cell)

Awesome.  The Speaker’s office got video up from the press conference.  Here is the Q & A, which I thought was the most interesting bit.  Also up are Nunez’s comments and Moore’s.