Hey everybody. Welcome to the webchat. Michael is just getting out of Larry King Live and will be with you shortly. Sorry for the delay. Thanks so much.
Okay, here we go:
Michelle in Phoenix, AZ: In regard to the statement Dr. Sanjay Gupta made if the American people of this country would rather be in Canada or in the US awaiting a specific heart procedure, would that be if I was Insured or Uninsured? Because if I was uninsured I certainly would not want to be in the US because I know I would be DEAD without insurance! At least in Canada being placed on a waiting list I would have a fighting chance to Survive! THANK YOU SO MUCH MR. MOORE !
Michael Moore: As Americans, we should never have to answer such a ridiculous question. We live in the richest country on earth. Each citizen should be able to see a doctor on time, and not have to worry about paying for it.
Calvin: would healthcare for children up to the age of 18 be a good way to get the ball rolling? preventative medicine in those early years would catch a lot of stuff that would end up costing a lot to fix and possibly even killing the person. find out what works and then apply it to adults later. and who could be against healthcare for kids? it's a campaign killer.
MM: What good does it do to cover kids when the parents get sick and can't get help? Sick parents can't take care of well kids.
Jonathan in Los Angeles: I would like to ask Mr. Moore... Have you ever thought about running for president?
MM: No. I would like to live.
Michelle in Manchester, NH: What can we do to move this from a fact-check argument to a real discussion about healthcare? Why do you think we cannot seem to move past this?
MM: I can start by refusing to have any more of distracting discussions on these shows like that, which are designed to keep me from talking about the real issues. The opposition has always thrown that at me. But now, thanks to the Internet, we can show that it is they who are telling the lies by simply posting the facts and the evidence on my website.
Jeff in Havertown, PA: What do you think the likelihood is that your proposals will be embraced by the politicians, even if they are embraced by the people? We need a Canada style systems desperately, but I'm worried those who are bought will stay
bought.
Thanks for all your efforts Mike, and I miss the hat and beard.
MM: My proposals will be embraced by some politicians (over 70 members of congress now support the universal health care bill HR 676). The rest will get on board when the people demand it.
Jenny: Thanks for bringing attention to this issue. Did Gupta say the only affiliation the "expert" had was to Vanderbilt U. Where can we go to verify this?
MM: Thats what Dr. Gupta said, and unfortunately it wasn't the whole truth.
Here's the real scoop on the only expert he chose to consult in his hit
piece.
Here's his bio page at Deloitte Center for Health Solutions:
Tommy Thompson, former Bush Administration Health and Human Services
Secretary and architect of Medicare Part D, here.
Oh, and he's a big GOP donor.
PJ: Do you think this will change anything as me for no healthcare myself, or will Bush just do what he always wants to do. We put these people in office and they do nothing for us but get richer themselves.
MM: That wasn't the way it used to be. I don't think that's the way Abraham Lincoln behaved, I don't think FDR behaved like that for four terms in the White House. We're just all demoralized by how pathetic recent leadership has been.
Steve in Los Angeles: Michael,
Can you please explain to Dr. Gupta that in the world that most Americans live in, we're not looking for "Health Care Utopia", and having to wait in a doctors office to be seen is something of a luxury many of us can no longer afford. His comment that in countries with free health care there is a long wait-time to see a doctor and it takes months to schedule elective surgery is laughable. That's like telling a starving person "don't bother with the free food, there's a line to get in and service is just awful." Are you joking?
I'm a self employed carpenter with no health insurance. None. I can't afford it. I go to work everyday knowing that one slip of the saw, and I could be choosing my fingers or sewing up my own leg. That's my reality. Everyday I go to work and listen to the cartilage in my knee CRUNCH when I climb a ladder, and the only thing I can do is pray it holds out for just a couple more years. Everyday, I am one misstep away from bankruptcy.
I've been living with a degenerating knee injury for YEARS because I can't afford to do a god damn thing about it, and you think having to wait in a Doctor's office for free treatment is something I care about? If I could schedule a simple arthroscopy, free of charge but it's going to have to be in September, do you honestly think I'm going to say "no, I'd rather wait until arthritis completely debilitates me and I can no longer work?"
Come live in our world for a while, Doctor, then talk to me about "wait-time".
Thanks Michael.
MM: I will pass this along to him the next time I see him. Please hang in there... the time for real change has come.
Patricia in Exton, PA: Michael, I have been spreading the slogan "Move from me to we" wherever I can including my congressional reps. Why do you think Gupta does not get it?
MM: I can't begin to imagine what Doctor Gupta begins to get or doesn't get. One thing's clear - he doesn't get his own facts straight. It seems that the things he said, he kept harping on how horrible it would be if medical care was free in this country. As a doctor and correspondent for CNN, I'm sure he does quite well. I don't understand why it bothered him so much, that those who do far less well than he does would get a break.
Theresa in Stone Ridge, NY: Hi Mike, love your work since TV Nation.
As a former customer service representative with United Health Care, I was quite astonished at their "Too bad, So sad" mentality when turning down claims. And yes, that was a quote I heard quite frequently from the smirking mouths of those in charge. I feel you've been more patriotic, more humane, more resolute (to use Bush's one word) than any political or religious leader we have today. Thank you for all you've done and continue to do.
My question: Do you feel your Christian upbringing has played a role in the issues you've attempted to shine a light on?
MM: I haven't forgotten the lessons I learned when I was young...that we will be judged by how we treat the least among us and that the first shall be last and the last shall be first. I try to live my life by these lessons and I hope it comes through in my filmmaking.
realPatriotsQuestion: It looked like Dr. Gupta was grasping at straws. Looking for any excuse to be able to say that Moore "fudged" any fact. Why would Moore use BBC statistics when he could use governmental statistics?
MM: I did not use BBC statistics when I said Cuba's health care spending per capita was$251. I used statistics from the United Nations, which are posted on my website and are also viewable here.
R. and M. B. in Milwaukee, WI: We have have been married for nearly 27 years and until 2006, we'd never submitted an insurance claim more complicated than health maintenance checkups, two normal live births, orthodontia, dental checks/cleanings and monthly hypertension medication refills (beginning in 1997). Then last year it all hit the fan... three hospitalizations, two ambulance transports, intensive mental health care for one of our children, chronic debilitating (but not life-threatening) illnesses (3 of them), and, depressingly, the list goes on. We make a decent living (higher than the average per capita) and were prudent with savings and college investments for our kids, yet these past two years have nearly done us in
financially.
So yah, with our eyes wide open, we stand with you 100%. Something has to give, and soon. But how to go about it? How do you see this country converting from our current, failed health care system to universal coverage? And where to start? You don't happen to have a flow-chart on you, do ya? I think visual aids would be helpful in getting the population on-board.
Something colorful and Reagan-y.
Thank you for everything.
MM: No, thank you. And thanks to everyone for signing on. No flow charts yet, but there is more you can do here:
And here:
And if you are truly interested in the facts, you can find them here:
But don't be distracted from the big picture which is making sure that every resident of the United States has free, universal health care for life.
Thanks again for checking in. See you soon.