Health Care Discussion Follows Documentary Screening

Members of the Universal Health Care advocacy group Rochester for HR 676 met at the Cinema Theater Monday December 7 for a showing of Michael Moore's 2007 documentary Sicko followed by discussion. About 50 people attended. Despite the election of President Obama and Democrats to Congress, little has been done to address health care problems. There are several proposals in Congress but they range from too little too late to worse than nothing. One bill, originally introduced by Rep John Conyers (D-MI), HR 676 would simply extend Medicare to all Americans. That bill is not even being debated. Locally only Rep Eric Massa (D-29) supports the bill.

The United States is the only industrialized country that does not have a public health care program. Even tiny impoverished Cuba has better care than the US. Canadians live an average of four years longer than Americans despite the fact that they smoke more, drink more alcohol and eat more red meat. The French live even longer despite their liking of cigarettes and fatty foods. Both countries have public universal health care programs.

One egregious practice depicted in the film was patient dumping. Hospitals take a patients who can no longer pay their bills, or whose benefits run out, put them in a taxi and leave them, usually in a poor neighborhood. These patients are still ill and may only be wearing hospital clothing. After the film, there were reports of patient dumping being observed in Rochester. It comes down to we must ask ourselves "what kind of people are we?" Do we care so little about each other that we put profit before people?

The US is the only country with a for-profit health care industry, and years of overcharging has made it very wealthy and powerful. The industry is in on all of the bad bills currently before Congress. While Congress claims they want to pass legislation before the end of the year, it is not worth legislating for the sake of change if it doesn't do something positive.

Concern over cost and the adding to the deficit is often used as an excuse to block health care reform. According to Eric Massa's office, the health care bill recently passed by the House of Representatives will cost less than half of what the US proposes to spend in Afghanistan. That bill is one of the more expensive options because it preserves and subsidizes private insurance. HR 676 would cost considerably less by eliminating the profiteers.

The President needs to show leadership on this issue. The people need to resist the notion of helplessness and stop being afraid of government. Congress needs to pass laws reflecting what the people want, not what the corporations want. If we assume that we can just sit and wait for single-payer to happen, it's not going to happen. Ultimately what we need are campaign and media reform. There are currently five health care lobbyists for every Congress member. Industry groups finance re-election campaigns. Media outlets broadcast fear of "death panels" while neglecting to report that insurance companies are routinely denying patients medical treatment. The people need to stop being manipulated and doing what they're told. We need to build opposition from the bottom up.

For more information email rochesterforhr676@yahoo.com