Michael Moore: ‘It's Absolutely a Good Thing’ to Drive Private Health Insurance Out of Business

[Hissyspit]

This is a hack right-wing news site interview with Moore, but great comments from Michael... - H'spit

Michael Moore: ‘It's Absolutely a Good Thing’ for Government to Drive Private Health Insurance Out of Business

Monday, October 05, 2009
By Nicholas Ballasy, Video Reporter

(CNSNews.com) - Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Michael Moore told CNSNews.com "it's absolutely a good thing” for government to drive private health insurance companies out of business and replace them with a single-payer system.

President Obama, Moore said, should stop trying to sneak a single-payer health care system through the “backdoor” and come straight at it instead. Moore said he would advise the president to tell the American people: “Look, we should be like every other Western Democracy and have a single-payer health care system. Pure and simple.”

CNSNews.com spoke with Moore on the red carpet at the Uptown Theatre in Washington, D.C., last Tuesday night before the premiere of his documentary, “Capitalism: A Love Story."

CNSNews.com asked Moore about comments he made to Rolling Stone in August.

Moore told the magazine: “If a true public option is enacted--and Obama knows this--it will eventually bring about a single-payer system, because the profit-making insurance companies won't be able to compete with a government-run plan and make the profits they want to make. I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but I’m counting on the fact that Republicans won’t be reading Rolling Stone.”

CNSNews.com asked Moore if he stood by his comment that creating a government-run health insurance provider—the “public option”--would eventually lead to a single-payer health care system.

“I think that’s probably true,” Moore said. “But what I would say to President Obama is: ‘Why backdoor this thing? Why not just come at it full force, right in front of them and say, “Look, we should be like every other Western Democracy and have a single-payer health care system. Pure and simple.’”

MORE INCLUDING VIDEO AT LINK

Comment from the Comments Section (that I have posted as a separate post):

From my perspective as a family doctor I have not seen that insurance companies offer anything of value to our health care system. At least the pharmaceutical companies provide us with drugs which treat disease! Read my take on the role of insurance in health care here: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/10/5/11453/1617

[cbdo2007]

1. Of course he thinks so - he's a multi-multi-millionaire so he'll be fine regardless of the plan

[Hissyspit]

6. Speaking as someone who has shitty insurance and is not a multi-millionaire, I agree with him.

So I think there is a problem with your theory.

[bobbolink]

10. As Michael Moore asked... WHOSE side are you on?

[wroberts189]

37. +1 and also knr to the OP. nt

[Overseas]

11. And of course, anyone who benefits from a system should never complain about it.

:crazy:

Mr. Buffett compiled a data sheet of the men and women who work in his office. He had each of them make a fraction; the numerator was how much they paid in federal income tax and in payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare, and the denominator was their taxable income. The people in his office were mostly secretaries and clerks, though not all.

It turned out that Mr. Buffett, with immense income from dividends and capital gains, paid far, far less as a fraction of his income than the secretaries or the clerks or anyone else in his office. Further, in conversation it came up that Mr. Buffett doesn’t use any tax planning at all. He just pays as the Internal Revenue Code requires. “How can this be fair?” he asked of how little he pays relative to his employees. “How can this be right?”

Even though I agreed with him, I warned that whenever someone tried to raise the issue, he or she was accused of fomenting class warfare.

“There’s class warfare, all right,” Mr. Buffett said, “but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/business/yourmoney/26every.html

[omega minimo]

14. He saved his money so he can be independent of the industry goons. You gotta problem with that?

[valerief]

16. And YET he's still thinking of all of us who DESERVE single-payer.

He could sit on his millions and hunger for more, like the other greeders. Instead, he puts himself out there to say what needs to be said. Bravo, Mikey!

[LaPera]

20. So is Limbaugh a "multi-millionaire" and pigman loves the insurance corporations....you think that's

Moore's motive is selfishness?

We certainly don't need health insurance corporations, Moore is correct....You seem to agree with the pigman...Let the insurance corporation continue to do as they please!

[Selatius]

27. Either you want health care reform, or you fucking don't. Michael Moore is beside the point. nt

[debbierlus]

29. What on earth are you talking about?

[mike_c]

31. Michael Moore speaks for me....

eom

[baldguy]

33. -1

Stop regurgitating RW talking points.

[Sebastian Doyle]

34. Pizza says what?

:wtf:

[marmar]

35. How original.....

:freak:

[sabrina 1]

38. And yet, here he is worrying about everyone else

instead of just enjoying being a Millionaire.

How awful that a millionaire like him would spend his time worrying about those who can't afford what he can! He should being selfish like our Congressional Republicans, enjoying his millions and fighting to make sure the masses don't get what he has!

How dare he not be selfish like them!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

55. Hmm, I suspect #1 has been at the Kool-Aid

The great thing about single payer countries is that paupers and multimillionaires get the SAME health care--at a middle class level.

[joeycola]

2. But Obama and Congress plan on FEEDING the insurance companies!!

[defendandprotect]

3. k

[CakeGrrl]

4. While it's a great theory,

there's a little problem with striding in and telling an entrenched and massive power structure that you're just gonna take 'em down: Maybe the man would like to live to raise his daughters. I'm not exaggerating.

In Oliver Stone's movie, the crux of the theory behind JFK's assassination was that he was taken out before he could shake the foundations of the military-industrial complex by dismantling the CIA and pushing to end the Vietnam war.

The past is prologue: Here we are in Iraq and Afghanistan courtesy of former CIA director George H.W. Bush's son, having set up fat contracts for the industries that feed the war machine.

While healthcare/health insurance is a different industry, I think the same applies no matter what power structure one seeks to change: If you're messing with enough ridiculously massive income streams, you will be challenged not to succeed. What form those "challenges" may take doesn't require a big stretch of the imagination.

[omega minimo]

8. and dismantling it now would harm efforts to privatize public schools and the public water supply

Can't have that. :evilfrown:

[Okota]

49. "Taking them down

were not going to take them down, There going to take themselves down. All were going to do is offer a reasonable health care option, and if they don't offer the same they go down by themselves.

[omega minimo]

5. As Hartmann points out, the role of middleman skimmers is ILLEGAL in countries w/ healthcare for all

[Nederland]

22. I'm pretty sure that's not true

I know for a fact that a majority of people in Canada have some form of supplementary private health insurance.

[omega minimo]

36. Is there profiteering b/w the doctor and patient? That's what he's referring to.

[Spazito]

47. Private Insurance is only able to offer 'extended benefits' meaning...

dental and vision care, upgrade to private hospital rooms, etc. For basic health care the coverage is not through private insurers.

[Lucy Goosey]

56. Most employer-provided supplemental insurance in Canada is non-profit.

And it doesn't cover things that Medicare covers - my(Canadian) plan, for which I pay $5.51 per month, covers prescription glasses, dental care, psychology, chiropractic, massage therapy, orthotics, hearing aids, medical devices (like insulin pumps), etc., etc. (Note that all of that except the dental have to be prescribed by a physician.)

I am in a gooood union.

[Raineyb]

60. Supplementary insurance doesn't cover primary care

and it's the profit taking in primary care that's illegal.

It is true.

[ShortnFiery]

7. Amen! :-) eom

[Overseas]

9. I agree. Open up Medicare as the public option.

That's best. Easy to explain-- "Ask your grandparents." Has lower overhead and patient satisfaction. Mixture of public and private elements-- Medical services privately delivered, between you & your doctors; payments and cost controls publicly administered, accountable to us all.

[Blue State Blues]

12. The doctor post in the comments link merits a post of its own

It's an insightful piece. And I'm not just saying that because I agree with him.

[Hissyspit]

15. Already Done:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6702854&mesg_id=6702854

[Blue State Blues]

21. Thanks! I missed it.

[GreenTea]

13. Health care for profit, fuck YES - PREYING on the sick, the helpless, fuck YES - Charging people

and bankrupting them because of terminal illnesses so they have to sell their home & assets, so the thousands of insurance executives can fly in their private jets & buy their eight home somewhere in the world, fuck YES - Not insuring people with who are sick, throwing people off insurance for some bullshit reasons because it hurts their profits, not insuring people who are too poor to afford their outrageous rates, finding ways to prolong not paying for people's coverage through the insurance corporations purposely endless paper channels until the sick people are finally are dead, fuck YES!!!!

Drive these predatory insurance corporations leeches out of business - these same insurance corporations who receive billions of OUR tax dollars every year to add to their profits, YES drive them out of fucking business!!

[slipslidingaway]

17. knr - MM has been told to back off from his comments about Dodd. n/t

[Raineyb]

18. He's absolutely right.

Relegate those bastards to extras like cosmetic surgery and private hospital suites. They have no business taking money off the top merely to pay the person who's working to keep you healthy.

[Solly Mack]

19. K&R

Yes

[DonCoquixote]

23. Hey Mike

What will do you when someone says "Not every western democracy has single player, especially not the Germans and French!"

[LaPera]

24. And what the fuck do you think he'll do? Is Moore the problem or the greedy insurance corporations?

Are you just another who enjoys bringing down any little aspect of Moore you can possible find? Have you even see his film, if so what do you want to pick apart?....You think the pigman Limbaugh speaks for whom, the people & the workers, or the wealthy & the corporations?

And what is it exactly that you despise about Moore, because he's rich and a progressive? He's certainly worked hard, took a lot of shit, was creative & clever, took a chance spent a lot of his own time & money to get there, so he should be penalized for that?

Moore has exposed many lies and greed and corruptions by the republicans...Moore gives his time & MONEY for progressive causes but that's not enough for you....who does more?

[DonCoquixote]

61. You said

"Are you just another who enjoys bringing down any little aspect of Moore you can possible find?"

NO, I mean that I would like Mr. Moore to bring up an answer to that question because many, including the New York Times, are trying to bring up that fact to KILL SINGLE PAYER. Find ONE word in that message that implies any hate for Moore, or whatever thought crime you seem ready to attack me for.

I asked the question hoping that perhaps some readers could actually give answers, maybe the french posters here could say "well, actually fact a means result b" which is the real glory of this board, but no, we have to be knee jerk, making sure that whenever anybody steps out of line, we try to send him to the thought Gulag.

[Hissyspit]

32. Moore knows exactly what kind of system the French have. He made a movie about it. It's called

"SiCKO"

Duh.

[BrklynLiberal]

57. ROTFLMAO!!!

[vinylsolution]

25. Moore speaks truth to power....

.... which is what makes them squirm.

Mikey's a national treasure.

[Swamp Rat]

26. k&r

[branders seine]

28. he is right

[debbierlus]

30. FUCK the insurance companies

[jtrockville]

39. I disagree. I think we should let them prey on the sick.

If they only want to "insure" healthy people, fine.
If they want to "drop" you as soon as you become ill, fine.
If they want to charge outrageous premiums and exclude essentials like dental, vision, mental, etc., fine.

BUT we should have an alternative. We should build our health care delivery system around such obstacles. We shoudn't use these absurd obstacles as the foundation of our health care delivery system.

[RoccoR5955]

40. Screw the Insurance Companies

They are merely sharks. All they are in it for, is to rip people off. Moore is correct when he states that there should be more effort in getting a publicly run option for health care, than having these rippers-off control it.

[polly7]

41. See, that's what I've been saying all along

Why the heck is there a need for a middle-man??? There isn't, period. Many if not most of the employees can get jobs with the new gov't agencies that will be needed to handle a new system, the CEO's and lobbyists can just retire with their billions and pretend they did something good for the health of the people they spent their careers trying to deny or limit care for. Easy peasy.

[hunter]

42. I'd take it a bit further than Moore.

Let's bring charges of manslaughter and fraud against a few high level health insurance industry executives. I'm certain we could throw a few in prison and seize their ill-gotten assets to compensate at least a few of their victims.

We need to shine a light on this industry, grab internal documents, and generally make these unethical health insurance "business" leaders uncomfortable and nervous enough to squeal on one another. I want to see them tossing and turning and waking up at night in cold sweats knowing that if they don't turn State's Evidence they might lose everything.

I want to see a full force Department of Justice smackdown of these leeches on our general Welfare and implement a Single Payer Plan to put out of business.

[bobbolink]

52. I REALLY like this! Class Action Suits against the suits!

:applause:

[Echo In Light]

43. God speed

[Bette Noir]

44. Michael Moore is not my favorite, but he's 100% right.

Speaking as a nurse who battled the insurance establishment throughout my career, I can think of no single thing that would improve this country more than putting it out of business. More Americans die of lack of health insurance-- or health insurance that welshes on its obligations-- than of any other cause I can think of offhand.

For the record, I retired with a work-related back injury several years ago. I'm finally getting treatment, which is not covered under my husband's "Cadillac" health insurance plan. $15,000 out of pocket.

[harun]

45. Damn right it is.

[TheKentuckian]

46. I agree with his sentiments

but I do believe many on our side underestimate the craziness of the electorate and how entrenched the interests are. Certainly, any talk that counters American exceptionalism creates a shitstorm of howling and the most direct line calculation is that there is no way to get the votes in the Senate and 50/50 at best in the House.

In order to make a change of this magnitude it almost always has to be in the public discourse for sometime. We've not done the leadwork for single payer and any remotely honest person would have to admit that. We need to get their and quite possibly to actual socialized medicine but you don't get there by doing all your precursory work in pushing more or less what is in the Baucus plan. The beginnings of a real single payer discussion pretty much began after the election even in Democratic circles, probably because centrists have been running the show for 15-20 years but that's still where it is.

I think we know good and well at least at a gut level that we have some very serious obstacles to wholesale change or we could seriously entertain making insurance like a utility and compare and contrast it to a single payer plan. The truth is we haven't had the power or ability to move the conversation to what sort of system should we move to because we have to tip toe around modifying what we have still.

[swilton]

48. It's required to have a STRONG public option

Not one of these lipstick on a pig deals

[MasonJar]

50. Another American hero! Michael Moore and Max Cleland head my list

[diane in sf]

51. I agree, they only exist to kill people for money as they are structured now.

Civilized countries do not have them controlling access to health care for profit.

[Piewhacket]

53. We just want then to join hands with us and sing Kumbaya.

then, when the singings done,
we jump 'em
(finger drawn across the throat..)

[FiveGoodMen]

54. A-fucking-men!

[BrklynLiberal]

58. I certainly would shed no tears if the health insurance companies went the way of the dodo.

[alfredo]

59. I agree! I just saw "Capitalism, a Love Story." They need to go, and so

does a lot of the mega banks. Either we stop them now, or resign ourselves to being serfs.

[Poiuyt]

62. Is it accurate to say that every other Western Democracy has a single-payer health care system?m

I thought there were some good ones that had private insurance that was heavily regulated, like a utility.