Kyodo World Service, June 27th, 2007
Documentary filmmaker and academy-award winner Michael Moore
called for reform in the American healthcare system Tuesday morning
at a press conference held on the steps of City Hall in downtown Los
Angeles.
Before an audience including Los Angeles Mayor Antonio
Villaraigosa, members of the California Nurses Association,
California labor union representatives, and other LA residents, Moore
discussed the need for immediate reform in America's healthcare
system, emphasizing how current policies are plagued by high costs,
lack of adequate coverage, and discriminatory practices that
prevented nearly 50 million Americans from getting health insurance
coverage last year.
The press conference was organized by It's OUR Healthcare!, a
coalition of organizations that represents over 9 million
Californians seeking healthcare reform, and coincides with the Los
Angeles premiere of SiCKO, Moore's newest documentary about the
failures of the American healthcare system.
SiCKO will screen on Tuesday evening at the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences in Hollywood.
During his address, Moore described how the American mentality
of ''Every man for himself'' has led to the creation of a society
that turns its back on those in need. After describing how private
insurance and pharmaceutical companies have profited immensely off of
America's sick and needy, Moore recalled that his grandfather, a
country doctor who was ''paid in eggs, milk, and chickens,'' was
motivated to practice medicine ''because he wanted to help people,
not because he wanted to make a buck.''
Comparing America's healthcare system to those of other Western
industrialized nations, among which the United States is the only
country that lacks universal healthcare coverage, Moore asked the
audience, ''Are they wrong and we're right? I don't think so.''
Moore also took a moment to send a message to California's
governor, saying, ''I would like Governor Schwarzenegger to say that
he wants the citizens of California to have the same fine universal
health coverage he got as a young man in the country of Austria.''
The event included testimonies by Americans who had suffered
because of lack of or inadequate healthcare coverage. One Los Angeles
resident named Dawnelle Keys told about how her 18-month-old
daughter, Mychelle, died in 1993 after being refused treatment at
Martin Luther King/Drew Medical Center because the hospital was not
associated with her healthcare provider, Kaiser. Keys told listeners,
''Mychelle died not because a doctor didn't know what to do, but
because of her health coverage status.'' Her story is one of several
featured in Moore's documentary.
When asked about his hopes for the film, Moore responded, ''I
hope that SiCKO ignites the spark that will lead to universal
healthcare for every U.S. citizen.''
''Why are we tolerating such lousy healthcare for so many
citizens? I don't know about you, but I refuse to live in a country
where 50 million citizens are living without healthcare,'' Moore
said. ''That is not right.''
The event was the second of six on a statewide ''Road to
Reform'' tour sponsored by the It's OUR Healthcare! campaign to
pressure California legislatures to pass meaningful legislation that
addresses the state's growing healthcare problems.
