Magic moment for health care? (PHL Daily News)

[marmar]

via MichaelMoore.com:



Magic moment for health care?
By Linda Hunt Beckman / Philadelphia Daily News

MICHAEL Moore's documentary about the crisis in American health care is opening Friday at three local theaters - the Ritz East, the Bala and the Bridge.

Moore's film, I've heard, is both heartbreaking and very funny (the latter is no surprise from the director of "Fahrenheit 9/11").

Moore contends that the answer to unaffordable premiums, insurers that try to avoid giving you the benefits you paid for, and poor-quality care is a state-run, not-for-profit health system. He wants a national plan supported by taxes, which is what every other advanced country in the world has. And so it's news that the appearance of "Sicko" coincides with a flurry of activity in the Pennsylvania state house on behalf of the Family and Business Health Care Security Act.

Rep. Kathy Manderino, who recently agreed to be the prime House sponsor of this bill, last week circulated a memo seeking co-sponsors for it. Here in our own state we could have the kind of health-care system - often tagged "Medicare for All" - that Moore is calling for, which would make us a model for the nation. If we get a state-run non-profit health system here, the national bill that's been stalled in Congress since 2005 might find itself infused with new life.

Both call for single-payer plans with comprehensive benefits: Beyond "medical" care, they offer dental, mental health, vision, chiropractic, hospice, long-term, and more health services.

"Single payer" simply means that the money for the health system comes out of a single tax-supported fund. Not all government-run systems around the world are exactly like that, but one of the things that unites all of them is that profit is NOT their objective.

We're not talking "socialized medicine." With the kind of system the Pennsylvania Healthcare Security Act and the federal bill (HR 676) would provide, you could go to any doctor or hospital you want. And there would actually be less bureaucracy than there is now. The involvement of profit-making insurance companies that act as middlemen adds costly layers of paperwork (such expenses are about 24 percent of the U.S. health-care budget) while Medicare's overhead is only 4 percent. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/news/article.php?id=9950