Free viewing of Michael Moore's "Sicko." What is a single-payer health system?
Sicko was a smash hit over the weekend! Yeah, baby.
I've also posted this in 5 other communities, to stir up awareness and discussion:
http://community.livejournal.com/med_school/334822.html
http://community.livejournal.com/nursing/532538.html
http://community.livejournal.com/nurse_students/213609.html
http://community.livejournal.com/student_nurses/440053.html
http://community.livejournal.com/michaelmoore/542077.html
Oprah Winfrey has said that Sicko is the one film you MUST see this summer, and she wants to make advocacy of universal health care one of her top priorities for the year. I will do my part on LiveJournal, too.
Read some of the 100+ letters from Salon.com readers, on Sicko. See all letters. See only the best letters chosen by the editor.
What do you folks in Europe, Canada, Australia, etc. think about this movie and your own national, free health systems? I welcome all non-U.S. comments, too. Are our American fears of 1) waiting months to see a doctor, 2) inefficient or corrupt government bureaucracies running these, 3) lower paid doctor and nurses, and 4) the need to ration care...justified in any way? What is your income tax rate, and what part of it pays for national health? What are the disadvantages to a single-payer system?
Please watch Michael Moore's new documentary on the problems with our U.S. health care system, "Sicko." Someone WILL remove these videos soon, so don't wait too long! The movie opens June 29th, nationally. This weekend, certain cities are showing sneak previews of it.
Brilliant, funny, and touching, it's Moore's best film yet, and he mainly lets patients and doctors talk for themselves. He spends much time comparing our flawed system with systems in Canada, Britain, France, and even Cuba.
You may watch the movie free here---until someone removes it---or please see it in theaters June 29:
(In 4 parts)
http://www.onlinecinema.org/watch/232/Sicko---Michael-Moore/1
http://www.onlinecinema.org/watch/232/Sicko---Michael-Moore/2
http://www.onlinecinema.org/watch/232/Sicko---Michael-Moore/3
http://www.onlinecinema.org/watch/232/Sicko---Michael-Moore/4
or here:
http://movies.nabolister.com/links_page.php?movie=1933
(I realize this will reduce money for the film, but it's more important that everyone see it.)
Michael Moore, California Senator Sheila Kuehl, the American Nurses Association, California Nurses Association, and Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) all support a single-payer health system to give us universal health care.
What is a single-payer system? Please watch this animation first, done by a medical student.
Then watch this excellent 20 minute video about SB 840 (Senate Bill 840), a bill that just passed the California Senate and is now in California Assembly. Sponsored by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, it will turn California's health care into a single-payer system.
Watch video of Michael Moore on June 13, 2007, at Sen. Kuehl's legislative meeting in Sacramento.
He did a big rally there with the California Nurses Association:
Michael Moore talking (Part 1)
Michael Moore talking (Part 2)
More details on single-payer:
http://www.grahamazon.com/sp/
http://www.pnhp.org/facts/what_is_single_payer.php
http://www.pnhp.org/facts/single_payer_resources.php
Frequently Asked Questions:
http://www.healthcareforall.org/basics.html
http://www.pnhp.org/facts/singlepayer_faq.php
Information on SB 840 (California plan for a single-payer system):
http://www.onecarenow.org/sb840.htm
http://www.healthcareforall.org/faqs.html
http://www.onecarenow.org
http://www.healthcareforall.org
Nationally, Congress has the National Health Insurance Bill (HR 676) now. Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich is cosponsoring it. It will create a single-payer system for the entire nation:
http://www.pnhp.org/publications/the_national_health_insurance_bill_hr_676.php
http://www.house.gov/conyers/news_hr676_2.htm
Right now, NONE of the top 3 Democratic Presidential candidates (Clinton, Obama, and Edwards) or Gov. Schwarzenegger is proposing a single-payer system---yet:
Comparing Schwarzenegger's universal health plan with the SB 840 single-payer plan:
http://www.onecarenow.org/healthcarereformplancompare.htm
http://www.healthcareforall.org/blog/?p=266
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2007/january/comparison_between_s.php
'Sicko' leaves top Democrats ill at ease (LA Times).
Why Obama, Edwards, Hillary, Romney, Schwarzenegger Don'’t Support Single Payer?
John Edwards talks about his plan to cut health care costs.
We need to learn about, talk about, and help fight for universal health coverage and a single-payer system! It's about time we made our system as good, cheap, and as comprehensive as Canada's.
Please tell your friends and family about this. Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed SB 840 last Sept., after the California Legislature passed it. Sen. Kuehl reintroduced it. Let's hope this second time around, he changes his mind.
artela wrote me about her system in the U.K.:If the care you need is urgent, then you get it as fast as possible. Emergency care is treated as an emergency, but if you need a new hip then you'll have to wait and get by on pain meds until it's your turn in the queue. The people getting the care do not deal with the paperwork. There is some wastage in some parts of the system, but you get that in all large systems whether private or public. There is not, as far as I know, corruption in the system moneywise as it is subject to scrutiny. To us it is just another service alongside the ones you list, with the exception of the postal service---which over here is *not* a public service any longer.
If you want to see a specialist consultant for something that is non-urgent then if you want to do so through the health service it means a wait (and yes, the wait can be long, months rather than weeks). If you need to see a general practitioner then generally you ring up and are "triaged" to see how fast you need to be seen, and anyone needing a same day appointment is given one and seen and anyone less urgent can expect to see the GP within the week.
The national health service is paid for from National Insurance contributions, which is 11% of gross income once you are earning more than a set amount, and up to a ceiling amount. The employers also put in money for each employee they have. The money doesn't just pay for health care, but also for state benefits (for those not working for various reasons) and for state pensions.
Those that can afford private insurance in those non-urgent cases would be invoking their private medical insurance to be seen more quickly, but it means that those who cannot afford that will still eventually get treated for non-emergency things (this is referring to hospitals and to specialist consultants). With emergency rooms we triage over here - you do not make a patient wait if there is a danger of imminent cardiac arrest for instance! If all you have done, however, is break a bone then you can expect to wait a few hours until there is a slot between real emergencies.
With general practitioners it is very unusual to have to wait more than a few days to see them for non-emergency appointments.
National Insurance is a separate compulsory tax. The other compulsory tax against earnings is Income Tax (which pays for things like defence, the workings of government, the judicial system, etc, etc) which I believe to already have a counterpart over your side of the pond? I don't think you pay "at source" though, do you (ours is deducted from gross earnings each month by the employer so only the self-employed have to save it up, work it all out and pay it at the end of each year).
I've also posted this in 5 other communities, to stir up awareness and discussion:
http://community.livejournal.com/med_school/334822.html
http://community.livejournal.com/nursing/532538.html
http://community.livejournal.com/nurse_students/213609.html
http://community.livejournal.com/student_nurses/440053.html
http://community.livejournal.com/michaelmoore/542077.html
Oprah Winfrey has said that Sicko is the one film you MUST see this summer, and she wants to make advocacy of universal health care one of her top priorities for the year. I will do my part on LiveJournal, too.
Read some of the 100+ letters from Salon.com readers, on Sicko. See all letters. See only the best letters chosen by the editor.
What do you folks in Europe, Canada, Australia, etc. think about this movie and your own national, free health systems? I welcome all non-U.S. comments, too. Are our American fears of 1) waiting months to see a doctor, 2) inefficient or corrupt government bureaucracies running these, 3) lower paid doctor and nurses, and 4) the need to ration care...justified in any way? What is your income tax rate, and what part of it pays for national health? What are the disadvantages to a single-payer system?
Please watch Michael Moore's new documentary on the problems with our U.S. health care system, "Sicko." Someone WILL remove these videos soon, so don't wait too long! The movie opens June 29th, nationally. This weekend, certain cities are showing sneak previews of it.
Brilliant, funny, and touching, it's Moore's best film yet, and he mainly lets patients and doctors talk for themselves. He spends much time comparing our flawed system with systems in Canada, Britain, France, and even Cuba.
You may watch the movie free here---until someone removes it---or please see it in theaters June 29:
(In 4 parts)
http://www.onlinecinema.org/watch/232/Sicko---Michael-Moore/1
http://www.onlinecinema.org/watch/232/Sicko---Michael-Moore/2
http://www.onlinecinema.org/watch/232/Sicko---Michael-Moore/3
http://www.onlinecinema.org/watch/232/Sicko---Michael-Moore/4
or here:
http://movies.nabolister.com/links_page.php?movie=1933
(I realize this will reduce money for the film, but it's more important that everyone see it.)
Michael Moore, California Senator Sheila Kuehl, the American Nurses Association, California Nurses Association, and Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) all support a single-payer health system to give us universal health care.
What is a single-payer system? Please watch this animation first, done by a medical student.
Then watch this excellent 20 minute video about SB 840 (Senate Bill 840), a bill that just passed the California Senate and is now in California Assembly. Sponsored by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, it will turn California's health care into a single-payer system.
Watch video of Michael Moore on June 13, 2007, at Sen. Kuehl's legislative meeting in Sacramento.
He did a big rally there with the California Nurses Association:
Michael Moore talking (Part 1)
Michael Moore talking (Part 2)
More details on single-payer:
http://www.grahamazon.com/sp/
http://www.pnhp.org/facts/what_is_single_payer.php
http://www.pnhp.org/facts/single_payer_resources.php
Frequently Asked Questions:
http://www.healthcareforall.org/basics.html
http://www.pnhp.org/facts/singlepayer_faq.php
Information on SB 840 (California plan for a single-payer system):
http://www.onecarenow.org/sb840.htm
http://www.healthcareforall.org/faqs.html
http://www.onecarenow.org
http://www.healthcareforall.org
Nationally, Congress has the National Health Insurance Bill (HR 676) now. Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich is cosponsoring it. It will create a single-payer system for the entire nation:
http://www.pnhp.org/publications/the_national_health_insurance_bill_hr_676.php
http://www.house.gov/conyers/news_hr676_2.htm
Right now, NONE of the top 3 Democratic Presidential candidates (Clinton, Obama, and Edwards) or Gov. Schwarzenegger is proposing a single-payer system---yet:
Comparing Schwarzenegger's universal health plan with the SB 840 single-payer plan:
http://www.onecarenow.org/healthcarereformplancompare.htm
http://www.healthcareforall.org/blog/?p=266
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2007/january/comparison_between_s.php
'Sicko' leaves top Democrats ill at ease (LA Times).
Why Obama, Edwards, Hillary, Romney, Schwarzenegger Don'’t Support Single Payer?
John Edwards talks about his plan to cut health care costs.
We need to learn about, talk about, and help fight for universal health coverage and a single-payer system! It's about time we made our system as good, cheap, and as comprehensive as Canada's.
Please tell your friends and family about this. Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed SB 840 last Sept., after the California Legislature passed it. Sen. Kuehl reintroduced it. Let's hope this second time around, he changes his mind.
artela wrote me about her system in the U.K.:If the care you need is urgent, then you get it as fast as possible. Emergency care is treated as an emergency, but if you need a new hip then you'll have to wait and get by on pain meds until it's your turn in the queue. The people getting the care do not deal with the paperwork. There is some wastage in some parts of the system, but you get that in all large systems whether private or public. There is not, as far as I know, corruption in the system moneywise as it is subject to scrutiny. To us it is just another service alongside the ones you list, with the exception of the postal service---which over here is *not* a public service any longer.
If you want to see a specialist consultant for something that is non-urgent then if you want to do so through the health service it means a wait (and yes, the wait can be long, months rather than weeks). If you need to see a general practitioner then generally you ring up and are "triaged" to see how fast you need to be seen, and anyone needing a same day appointment is given one and seen and anyone less urgent can expect to see the GP within the week.
The national health service is paid for from National Insurance contributions, which is 11% of gross income once you are earning more than a set amount, and up to a ceiling amount. The employers also put in money for each employee they have. The money doesn't just pay for health care, but also for state benefits (for those not working for various reasons) and for state pensions.
Those that can afford private insurance in those non-urgent cases would be invoking their private medical insurance to be seen more quickly, but it means that those who cannot afford that will still eventually get treated for non-emergency things (this is referring to hospitals and to specialist consultants). With emergency rooms we triage over here - you do not make a patient wait if there is a danger of imminent cardiac arrest for instance! If all you have done, however, is break a bone then you can expect to wait a few hours until there is a slot between real emergencies.
With general practitioners it is very unusual to have to wait more than a few days to see them for non-emergency appointments.
National Insurance is a separate compulsory tax. The other compulsory tax against earnings is Income Tax (which pays for things like defence, the workings of government, the judicial system, etc, etc) which I believe to already have a counterpart over your side of the pond? I don't think you pay "at source" though, do you (ours is deducted from gross earnings each month by the employer so only the self-employed have to save it up, work it all out and pay it at the end of each year).