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That was a very great, inspiring interview!

I live in Britain.

Firstly, we don't have FREE healthcare, we pay for it through high taxes. Moore needs to stop neglecting this fact and skirting around it (as he always does with all his work, when he cherry picks which information to use to support his own biased views).

Secondly, yes, we pay less than Americans do per person on average, but as they say: "you get what you pay for." We have ridiculously long waiting lists for even the simplest operations, and the statistic that Moore quotes "70% of people in Britain get to see THEIR GP that day" is simply not true. You get to see A GP the same day, and only if you beg and whine and exagerate your condition. At least when healthcare is privatised it has to deliver results or suffer financial loss.

Lastly, I do believe that a universal healthcare system is a good idea, just don't believe everything that Moore says about how good the rest of the world has it (around 30% of people here pay for private medical care as well becuase our system is not good enough); frankly he is as bad as any of the Bush administration when it comes to choosing what to believe based solely on very diluted information, and then passing it on as facts to people who are too stupid to question it.

I would agree with Emmet. It seems to me that though we should look to other countries for inspiration, advice, and maybe tips even, we should not simply believe that the grass is greener on the other side by default. Just because their system is different than ours and has really only a different pros/cons list. What we need to do is have some sort of consensus as to what WE want as Americans or or whatever. Hey what about that? A state/provincial run system, or a county system? I say scrap the whole thing, sans physical infrastructure, and design something new. Whatever happened to social innovation.

And hiney licking regardless of political or moral stance is cringe-worthy at best!

Well I live in Britain aswell.

I have never in 31 years being told that I cannot see a doctor that day. My appointment to see my GP might either have to be very late in the day or the next day but I will be able to see a doctor. I am of course talking about ringing through when the surgery opens, not phoning in at 4 o clock and being surprised when I'm told no one will see me that day. I have also never had a friend or family member tell me they couldn't get an appointment for days either, we get shafted for Tax on everything ni Britain, its a good thing that our Medical Care is comparitivley pretty good for a change.

correction: "as Americans or (whatever-state-you-livian)..."

I guess I should also add that it seems to me that we generally do hear what Michel, Keith, Bill, Bill, Stephen, Jon, etc... But how often do we really discuss it? Openly and verbally, and not just bar talk that stays lost to happy hour.

What I would like to see if a cogent discussion of just why it is that medical costs continue to rise as fast as they have been for many years. When I see, to take a small example, a hospital charging some ridiculous price (e.g., ~$8) for a single Tylenol pill, I know there is something wrong. We all know that price is used to cover some other costs. As long as costs are so obscured, there is no way to correctly identify where the biggest inefficiencies in health care are. I (all of us, I suspect) may have partial information and paranoid (but possibly correct) hypotheses as to why costs are out of control, but ratioal public analyses are in short supply.

we should look to other countries for inspiration, advice, and maybe tips even, we should not simply believe that the grass is greener on the other side by default.

What part of “37th on the list” don’t you understand? We don’t need a bit of fine tuning, we need a complete overhaul. The private sector had their chance and they have failed us miserably. You can find Europeans who complain about their systems but none who would trade what they have for our fucked up excuse for health care, and I’m talking about how we treat everyone, not just those with money or great insurance.

Moore is right: People in America need to scream bloody murder until politicians fix this problem. If they can’t do it then we can find new politicians—that’s the beauty of democracy.

emmet, you really think anyone in the world thinks british health care is free, as in incurs no cost to anyone ever? this is such a red herring. obviously medical supplies, buildings, doctors, etc dont just sprout out of nowhere. and moore doesnt say it does either, not that ive seen anyway. he talks about the specific costs per person different countries have, so obviously no country is cost-free. this is so asinine and idiotic. just because cnn is asinine and idiotic doesnt mean you have to be too.

and also, the fact that some of your citizens purchase private health care is not a downside. that is a good thing. im sure the same thing would happen here. just like there are both private and public schools. nobody uses the fact that some people choose to pay for schooling as a reason to abolish public schools. it is not relevant. if anything, it helps the system as public and private can compete.

so for the pro/con lists, british people may have to wait longer. and a couple made-up non-problems.

perhaps you dont realize how dissatisfied americans are with our healthcare. we have more than one con in our system.

Firstly, we don't have FREE healthcare, we pay for it through high taxes. Moore needs to stop neglecting this fact and skirting around it (as he always does with all his work, when he cherry picks which information to use to support his own biased views).

In Sicko Moore freely admits the French are "drowning in taxes" to pay for their generous social services. So how is saying "drowning in taxes" "neglecting the facts" as you say? Maybe you are the one neglecting the fact that Moore never said it was free in the first place.

Obviously you have not seen the film, but only seem to be reporting the "cherry-picked" facts presented by his detractors, who are in fact the ones who are playing loose with the facts.

Moore made no claim that health care is FREE in Britain or France, he merely pointed out it is free at the time you use the health care systems in these countries. And is that not true? In Britain you obviously pay high taxes for your national health service, but you are not expected at the time you use it to pay for the services rendered, nor is your ability to pay a factor in the services you shall receive, regardless of how much in taxes you paid. It's not like there's a sliding scale in the NHS where rich people who pay more taxes get different levels of services than working class Britons who pay less. Income and ability to pay are NOT factors in getting medical care in Britain.

That was the gist of Moore's argument, and if you had seen the film you would know this instead of presenting specious arguments like the one you used.

One problem that keeps bugging me about this is the insame amount of borrowing and spending that this Republican administration has engaged in. The US is going to be crippled with massive debt and the interest it creates for a long, long time to come.

I believe the health care money has already been spent, several times over to destroy Iraq and inrich a few corporations.

As world business frees itself from the US dollar, the value drops and the debt increases to reflect that drop in value.

Eventually, American taxes are going to start rising to keep up with the debt load. The aritificial ceiling Bush has put on taxes keeps Americans from thinking about what is being done in their names with their money and the next administration takes the blame for the seriousl difficulties that debt brings with it.

One of the biggest obsticles to health care in many third world countries is the tremendous amount of debt their corrupt leaders have assumed, on the backs of their people.

Welcome to the third world America. Aren't you glad you've got patriots like George Bush showing you the way?

Taxes have already risen.

http://northcoastonline.typepad.com/northcoastonline/images/revenue20growth.jpg

Can't seem to post the link.
I posted it to my blog if anyone cares.

With all do respect to the people that are pointing out that the medical system isn't free, I don't think it's big point here. The medical system IS typically free for the exact same people that can't pay for medical insurance in the USA. The bottom of the economic ladder, don't typically pay income tax and they still get to see a doctor. The big point here is that Canadians, Britons, etc believe in the general principle that the wealthy, successful people can pay higher taxes to help support the less wealthy in society.

If a society rejects the notion of social responsibility, then they would never accept universal health care.