If you are an American and haven’t seen Sicko yet, it is something that you absolutely must do. You have no idea how royally you are being screwed. In case you need a little extra prodding, if you see Sicko and aren’t moved to tears and anger, I promise to refund your movie ticket*. Here’s the trailer:
VideoLink
Having seen the movie, the most important next step is to make your voice heard so that we can rid ourselves of the parasite that is our current for-profit health care system. Luckily legislation that would do this has already been introduced, it just needs to be passed.
In 2003 John Conyers and 25 other representatives introduced a bill “to provide for comprehensive health insurance coverage for all United States residents, and for other purposes.” This bill, H.R. 676 – “United States National Health Insurance Act”, would provide universal health care for all residents of the United States with no premiums, deductibles, or enrollment exclusions. Everyone is covered for all of their health care needs. All providers of health care must be publicly owned or not-for profit. I highly recommend reading the text of this bill, it is only 25 pages and very straight-forward. It even has a provision to retrain the clerical and administrative staff of all of the HMOs that would be put out of business.
The letter I’ve sent to my senators, representative, and local newspaper:
Senators Leahy, Sanders, and Congressman Welch,
As a citizen of the State of Vermont and the United States of America, I urge you to do everything in your power to pass H.R. 676, “The United States National Health Insurance Act”. It is imperative to the continued prosperity of our state and nation that free universal health care be provided to all residents of our country.
Our current for-profit health care system not only fails to provide needed care to thousands of people and saddles us all with huge costs, but it has other failings as well: With health care provided as a benefit of employment, workers are forced to do the will of their employer as termination not only removes a paycheck, but also access to health care. Small and large businesses often cannot give full-time, stable jobs to willing workers due to the cost of providing them with health care in addition to a salary.
Sirs, please do your part to make universal, single-payer health care a reality in the United States of America.
Adam Franco
From the Sicko website you can find out more information and send letters to your congress-critters.
* Sorry world, I can only keep this promise to personal friends and family.
