Michael Moore's health care film that he's been working on at least since i saw him speak at UW Madison 2 years ago is finally coming out.
on his site, he also has a proposal for american health care:
- Every American must have full, uninterrupted health care coverage for life.
- Private, for-profit health insurance companies must be abolished.
- Profits of pharmaceutical companies must be strictly regulated like a public utility.
Which is sure to infuriate republicans and misguided capitalists everywhere. last time i was thinking about this, i came up with my own version, that's a little less extreme, and requires less gutting of the existing system:
- Make it illegal to hire anyone for a permanent position without providing health insurance.
I think coupled with moore's third law up there, and regulation as to what's acceptable behaviour by insurance companies, we could get better health care without the dreaded 'S' word. Then again, i am a dirty hippy who's wished for socialism before.
h/t: et cetera
8 Comments
I believe your addition is a a sound and sane one. I also believe that most people would support it’s inclusion along with Michael Moore’s 3 proposals.
thanks. i think his number 1 and my number 1 are different paths to the same goal, so i’m not sure they would get along. i really wish that people would support something like this, but every time i talk to anyone who’s not as bleeding-heart-liberal as i am, “guaranteed health care” just throws up their “moral hazard” flags, and the conversation goes dead in the water.
The anti-socialism stance of brainwashed republican Americans never ceases to amaze me. American is the among the most wealthy nations in the world. Universal access to healthcare ought to be a must.
First I want to say, I love the new theme! And second, I honestly don’t know where I stand on this issue and I would really like to see this film. Right now I can really see both sides, but then again this is not an issue I have really looked into.
I would suggest
1. yes - but then every American has to be willing to pay for it. Through taxation.Quite a bit of taxation. There is no free health care. Not even in England. Or France. Or Canada
2.If they co-existed alongside properly publicly funded health options I think they can co-exist.
3. The thought of the meddling government being able to redirect monies into the hands of their cronies (which they will) isn’t a comforting thought. Not sure it’s possible to regulate profits in a society like America, they’d become moribund, sorry Socialist - like France.But they could insist on having more of their profits being directed into research…
1. - yours - You’d need to have (1) above for this to work…but I agree this is a very good idea …
@nick -
i’ve refused to see his other films because i don’t like being preached at. but i’m unsure/uneducated about this, so it’d be interesting to see where he stands.
@thebritgirl -
no doubt. i have trouble thinking of his solution as realistic, because that sort of taxation never goes over well. my #1 puts the burden on SMB’s (with the assumption that there will be credits down the road, supported by another tax, to be sure).
and as for #2, you’re right. in his defense, i think mr. moore knows he’s calling for a
regimesea change. while in the current state regulation would almost certainly equal corruption, in the current state, socialism would be nearly impossible.They are the very ones who often wriggle out of providing health care for their workers, so there should be some way to make them contribute. The state should pay some (maybe as a credit) and taxation would have to pay the rest. Fact is, in the UK, we have the National Health System, which is funded mostly through our taxes - including corporate tax. It is still one of the best in the world even with all its cracks. So that’s why businesses don’t have to provide benefits, and I believe it is the same in Canada.
One other thing is that the higher income earners in America will resist with all their being universal health care - because they can afford private and they’d pay the highest towards “subsidizing” lower income earners. Add to them private health providers (who are the providers now, only for profit) and I think Michael Moore might find pushing water uphill is a lot easier!
indeed. somewhere along the way, entrepreneurship stopped being about the american dream, and started being about screwing everyone to advance your own get rich quick scheme.
[/jaded rant]
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28 Jun 2007 at 12:01 am
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