What Michael Moore Can Teach Us

Cross posted from The Progressive Pulse

I’m sure most of you have either seen Michael Moore’s latest release, SiCKO, or you have read the numerous reviews. It is an excellent piece of work on many different levels. Mostly, it is an indictment of the private for-profit health insurance industry. As such, he is advocating for government sponsored universal health coverage and contrasts the American healthcare system with those of Canada, England, France, and Cuba.

In my opinion, there are two aspects to this film which will help advance the cause of universal health coverage. Both of them have to do with confronting the fear of “socialized medicine.” This is important because you can be sure that the titans of the healthcare industry (including my own American Medical Association) will ratchet up the fear factor as they have always done in the past.

First, Moore accurately observes that we already have numerous respected institutions in America that are “socialized.” He specifically mentions firefighters, policemen, and postal workers (sort of). To that, I would also add our armed services. Moore asks, why not healthcare? Indeed, why not healthcare. We would never ask our fellow citizens to accept different tiers of police or fire protection based on their ability to pay, or their employer, or a “pre-existing condition.” It seems absurd that we accept this discrimination with our health care.

Second, Moore puts a human face on universal healthcare as he showcases how the system works in other countries. He interviews patients, doctors, nurses, and hospital administrators. He shows the outpatient clinics, hospital wards, and the state-of-the-art technology. He dispels myths about choosing your doctor or hospital, and about waiting lines and “rationed” care.

For American patients, I believe the biggest hurdle to overcome is being able to visualize what exactly “universal health coverage” would look like. Moore’s film lets you see and feel and hear what it would be like to be a patient in a single payer system. This is a priceless gift from Moore. As any good physician will tell you, addressing your patients fears must be the first step in their treatment.

Addendum: Really...go see the film. There are plenty of mostly minor things to quibble with (For instance, I thought Moore’s trip to Cuba with the sick 9/11 volunteers was ridiculous). The most fun for me were the numerous historical tidbits. Did you know that England’s National Health Service was instituted in 1948? The plucky Brits, bankrupt and still recovering from WW 2, had the foresight that we did not. For America, it was not a matter of money, but of priorities. America embarked on an arms race when we could have made different choices, and we haven’t stopped running yet. And while we are on the subject of documentaries, this is a good time to recommend one of my favorites: Why We Fight (2006). You will learn just how pervasive the influence of the military/industrial complex is in our government. When you think about what we as a nation could be doing if we weren’t spending $600 billion dollars annually on defense... it will SiCKEN you.