1 00:00:24,396 --> 00:00:27,388 (applause and cheering) 2 00:00:31,603 --> 00:00:33,867 We got issue in America. 3 00:00:33,939 --> 00:00:36,874 Too many good docks are getting out of business. 4 00:00:36,942 --> 00:00:42,539 Too many ob-gyns aren't able to practice their love with women across this country. 5 00:00:50,522 --> 00:00:55,721 I don't have a job. I don't want to have any more debt out to anybody else. 6 00:00:55,794 --> 00:00:57,887 I'm flushing the wound. 7 00:00:58,497 --> 00:01:00,988 (man) This is Adam. 8 00:01:13,178 --> 00:01:15,669 He had an accident. 9 00:01:26,692 --> 00:01:32,494 He's one of nearly 50 million Americans with no health insurance. 10 00:01:44,910 --> 00:01:47,504 But this film isn't about Adam. 11 00:01:51,717 --> 00:01:55,209 So this is the table saw. It was spinning that way... 12 00:01:55,287 --> 00:01:57,278 (man) This is Rick. 13 00:02:00,592 --> 00:02:03,993 I was gripping a piece of wood and I grabbed it here and it hit a knot... 14 00:02:04,062 --> 00:02:08,362 (man) He sawed off the tops of two of his fingers. 15 00:02:08,434 --> 00:02:10,595 ...and it was that quick. 16 00:02:13,071 --> 00:02:16,097 - (man) His first thought? - I don't have insurance. 17 00:02:16,175 --> 00:02:19,440 Am I gonna have to pay cash for this? $ 2,000, $3,000 or more? 18 00:02:19,511 --> 00:02:22,810 Does that mean we're not gonna get a car? 19 00:02:23,949 --> 00:02:26,543 (man) Rick also doesn't have health coverage. 20 00:02:26,618 --> 00:02:28,882 So the hospital gave him a choice. 21 00:02:28,954 --> 00:02:32,685 Reattach the middle finger for $60.000. 22 00:02:32,758 --> 00:02:36,250 Or do the ring finger for 12.000. 23 00:02:36,328 --> 00:02:41,595 It's an awful feeling to just try to put a value on your body. 24 00:02:46,038 --> 00:02:50,202 (man) Being a hopeless romantic. Rick chose the ring finger. 25 00:02:50,275 --> 00:02:53,210 For the bargain price of 12 grand. 26 00:02:53,278 --> 00:02:59,183 The top of his middle finger now enjoys its new home in an Oregon landfill. 27 00:03:06,658 --> 00:03:11,527 I can do that thing where, you know, the old man used to pull the finger off. 28 00:03:17,002 --> 00:03:20,301 (man) This movie isn't about Rick either. 29 00:03:20,372 --> 00:03:24,502 Yes. There are nearly 50 million Americans with no health insurance. 30 00:03:24,576 --> 00:03:27,204 They pray every day they don't get sick. 31 00:03:27,279 --> 00:03:30,271 Because 18.000 of them will die this year. 32 00:03:30,349 --> 00:03:32,840 Simply because they're uninsured. 33 00:03:35,020 --> 00:03:37,648 But this movie isn't about them. 34 00:03:37,723 --> 00:03:42,820 It's about the 250 million of you who have health insurance. 35 00:03:42,895 --> 00:03:47,127 Those of you who are living the American Dream. 36 00:03:57,009 --> 00:04:02,003 It's moving day for Larry and Donna Smith. 37 00:04:06,118 --> 00:04:10,646 They've packed everything they own in these two cars. 38 00:04:12,057 --> 00:04:15,754 And are driving to Denver. Colorado. 39 00:04:16,762 --> 00:04:19,060 To their new home... 40 00:04:19,131 --> 00:04:21,122 - Hi. - Hello. 41 00:04:22,134 --> 00:04:24,295 ...in their daughter's storage room. 42 00:04:24,369 --> 00:04:26,564 This is home, sweet home. 43 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:32,308 - Look at all that stuff. - We'll get everything organized. 44 00:04:32,377 --> 00:04:35,005 - We will. - What do we do with the computer? 45 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:37,241 - It stays. - It stays there. 46 00:04:38,050 --> 00:04:42,885 So this is where Heather talked about we might have to put bunk beds. 47 00:04:42,955 --> 00:04:45,788 I see what she's talking about. 48 00:04:46,725 --> 00:04:51,185 (man) It wasn't supposed to end up like this for Larry and Donna. 49 00:04:51,263 --> 00:04:53,629 They both had good jobs. 50 00:04:54,633 --> 00:04:57,431 She was a newspaper editor. 51 00:04:57,502 --> 00:05:00,096 And he was a union machinist. 52 00:05:00,906 --> 00:05:07,334 They raised six kids who all went to fine schools like the University of Chicago. 53 00:05:07,412 --> 00:05:10,074 But Larry had a heart attack. 54 00:05:10,148 --> 00:05:12,514 And then another one. 55 00:05:12,751 --> 00:05:14,912 And then another one. 56 00:05:16,321 --> 00:05:18,812 And then Donna got cancer. 57 00:05:20,592 --> 00:05:23,186 And even though they had health insurance. 58 00:05:23,261 --> 00:05:26,890 The copays and deductibles soon added up 59 00:05:26,965 --> 00:05:30,958 to the point where they could no longer afford to keep their home. 60 00:05:31,036 --> 00:05:35,666 If somebody told me ten years ago this was gonna happen to us because of healthcare, 61 00:05:35,741 --> 00:05:38,141 I would have said, "It's not possible." 62 00:05:38,210 --> 00:05:43,739 "Not in the United States. We wouldn't let that happen to people." 63 00:05:47,586 --> 00:05:50,077 - (Larry) Are we gonna quit? - No. 64 00:05:50,989 --> 00:05:52,980 It's just hard. 65 00:05:53,792 --> 00:05:56,659 (man) They were bankrupt. 66 00:05:56,728 --> 00:05:59,253 So they moved in with their daughter. 67 00:05:59,331 --> 00:06:01,731 We'll get it all figured out. 68 00:06:02,601 --> 00:06:04,592 We emptied the dresser so you have a spot. 69 00:06:04,670 --> 00:06:06,535 Nice, very nice. 70 00:06:09,541 --> 00:06:12,669 (man) Even their son Danny popped in from across town 71 00:06:12,744 --> 00:06:14,939 to welcome them to Denver. 72 00:06:15,013 --> 00:06:18,642 - What do we do about people like you? - I don't know, that's a good question. 73 00:06:18,717 --> 00:06:23,654 You're supposed to pay a deductible for $9,000, I understand. That's healthcare. 74 00:06:23,722 --> 00:06:26,691 What about people like Kathy and I that have to come up there 75 00:06:26,758 --> 00:06:29,852 and move you every five years, every two years, every year, 76 00:06:29,928 --> 00:06:33,295 - 'cause you don't have enough money? - That's what Russell says too. 77 00:06:33,365 --> 00:06:37,301 I'm sorry. It's not what we wanted to have happen in life. 78 00:06:37,369 --> 00:06:40,304 And we're doing what we can to make the change. 79 00:06:40,372 --> 00:06:45,241 You don't know what that feels like inside at 50-some years old, 80 00:06:45,310 --> 00:06:48,871 to have to reach out to my 20-something-year-old for help. 81 00:06:48,947 --> 00:06:53,850 It's gonna be hard for four, five, six, seven months, it's gonna be hard. 82 00:06:53,919 --> 00:07:00,051 I have a feeling of you bring your problems with you no matter where you go. 83 00:07:00,125 --> 00:07:02,355 Yeah. 84 00:07:02,427 --> 00:07:04,918 But I don't know what to do about that. 85 00:07:09,768 --> 00:07:12,931 (man) By sheer coincidence. Their daughter's husband. Paul. 86 00:07:13,004 --> 00:07:17,236 Was leaving on a job the very same day they arrived. 87 00:07:19,044 --> 00:07:22,878 Paul was a contractor. But there weren't many jobs lately. 88 00:07:22,948 --> 00:07:25,178 So he found work out of town. 89 00:07:25,250 --> 00:07:29,209 I'm sure you'll keep a telephone conversation. 90 00:07:29,287 --> 00:07:31,278 Email you. 91 00:07:35,694 --> 00:07:39,460 (Donna) You're gonna be just fine, lovies. 92 00:07:43,068 --> 00:07:45,059 Weird situation, isn't it? 93 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:52,669 - (man) Tell me where Daddy's going. - Iraq. 94 00:07:53,478 --> 00:07:55,742 Why is Daddy going to Iraq? 95 00:07:55,814 --> 00:07:57,975 To do some plumbing. 96 00:08:03,522 --> 00:08:05,820 Oh, boy. 97 00:08:07,225 --> 00:08:11,924 This I do early in the morning. The first thing I do is I clean here. 98 00:08:13,865 --> 00:08:19,132 (man) At age 79. Frank Cardile should be kicking back on a beach somewhere. 99 00:08:19,204 --> 00:08:22,298 But even though he's insured by Medicare. 100 00:08:22,374 --> 00:08:27,903 It doesn't cover all the cost of the drugs that he and his wife need. 101 00:08:30,682 --> 00:08:34,812 (Frank) Being that I'm an employee here, my medicine is for free. 102 00:08:34,886 --> 00:08:40,222 So that's why I gotta keep working. Until I die. 103 00:08:40,292 --> 00:08:42,658 There is nothing wrong with that. 104 00:08:42,727 --> 00:08:44,524 OK. 105 00:08:44,596 --> 00:08:48,430 I always gotta keep my ears open because there's always spillages. 106 00:08:48,500 --> 00:08:51,162 Sometimes you get a gallon of milk. 107 00:08:51,236 --> 00:08:57,641 Tomato sauce - oh, you're in trouble. It'll take a half-hour to clean that up. 108 00:08:57,709 --> 00:09:00,371 And I look up on every aisle so as everything is clean. 109 00:09:00,445 --> 00:09:05,212 If I see something I pick it up, whether it's paper or garbage. 110 00:09:06,651 --> 00:09:10,712 One day I had the keys in my hand and they went in there. 111 00:09:10,789 --> 00:09:14,122 And I had to climb in there to get the keys out. 112 00:09:17,629 --> 00:09:20,393 It's a sad situation. 113 00:09:21,299 --> 00:09:26,635 If there are golden years, I can't find 'em, I'll tell you that. 114 00:09:28,974 --> 00:09:31,340 She had a painkiller for her hip. 115 00:09:31,409 --> 00:09:36,142 The girl said, "Frank, this is $ 213." "What, for a painkiller?" 116 00:09:36,214 --> 00:09:40,241 - I didn't take it. - I backed off. I said, "I gotta come back." 117 00:09:40,318 --> 00:09:44,015 What's in them? What's in these new drugs that they distribute? 118 00:09:44,089 --> 00:09:46,853 I don't believe you need half of the things they tell you. 119 00:09:46,925 --> 00:09:51,123 I have never taken medication now, as I'm getting older. 120 00:09:51,196 --> 00:09:53,528 I don't even like to take an aspirin. 121 00:09:53,598 --> 00:09:55,759 I do like a little brandy. 122 00:10:00,972 --> 00:10:06,638 I don't really know how this happened, but the trunk came forward into the back seat. 123 00:10:06,711 --> 00:10:11,671 (man) Laura Burnham was in a head-on collision that knocked her out cold. 124 00:10:11,750 --> 00:10:16,380 Paramedics got her out of the car and into an ambulance for a trip to the hospital. 125 00:10:16,454 --> 00:10:19,355 I get a bill from my insurance company 126 00:10:19,424 --> 00:10:23,224 telling me that the ambulance ride was not going to be paid for, 127 00:10:23,295 --> 00:10:25,763 because it wasn't preapproved. 128 00:10:25,830 --> 00:10:29,425 I don't know exactly when I was supposed to preapprove it, you know? 129 00:10:29,501 --> 00:10:34,632 Like after I gain consciousness in the car, before I got in the ambulance? 130 00:10:34,706 --> 00:10:39,302 I should have grabbed my cellphone off the street and called in the ambulance? 131 00:10:39,377 --> 00:10:42,210 I mean, it's just crazy. 132 00:10:46,418 --> 00:10:49,012 (woman) I applied for HealthNet insurance for Jason. 133 00:10:49,087 --> 00:10:53,023 They rejected him because of his height and weight. 134 00:10:53,091 --> 00:10:56,322 Jason is six feet tall and 130 pounds. 135 00:11:00,298 --> 00:11:03,426 I applied for healthcare through BlueCross BlueShield 136 00:11:03,501 --> 00:11:07,130 and they told me that my body mass index was too high. 137 00:11:07,672 --> 00:11:10,334 I'm 5' 1 ", I weigh 175 pounds. 138 00:11:14,512 --> 00:11:19,449 (man) I always thought health insurance companies were there to help us. 139 00:11:19,517 --> 00:11:21,781 So I posted a note on the internet. 140 00:11:21,853 --> 00:11:24,720 Asking people if they had had any similar stories 141 00:11:24,789 --> 00:11:27,952 about problems with their insurance company. 142 00:11:29,461 --> 00:11:34,160 Within 24 hours. I had over 3700 responses. 143 00:11:34,232 --> 00:11:37,599 And by the end of the week. Over 25.000 people 144 00:11:37,669 --> 00:11:41,969 had sent me their healthcare horror stories. 145 00:11:42,507 --> 00:11:46,637 Some of them decided not to wait for me to get back to them. 146 00:11:46,711 --> 00:11:52,274 Like Doug Noe. Who took matters into his own hands. Without my permission. 147 00:11:53,718 --> 00:11:58,519 His daughter was nine months old when they discovered she was going deaf. 148 00:11:58,590 --> 00:12:00,888 His health insurance company. CIGNA. 149 00:12:00,959 --> 00:12:04,258 Said they'd pay for an implant in only one of her ears. 150 00:12:04,329 --> 00:12:06,388 According to the letter they sent. 151 00:12:06,464 --> 00:12:10,298 It's experimental for her to hear in two ears. 152 00:12:10,368 --> 00:12:13,860 If a cochlear implant is good for one ear, 153 00:12:13,938 --> 00:12:17,931 it doesn't even make any sense that it wouldn't be good for the second ear. 154 00:12:18,009 --> 00:12:21,672 Especially when a child is just starting to learn how to talk, 155 00:12:21,746 --> 00:12:25,341 she has to learn from both sides of her head. 156 00:12:27,352 --> 00:12:30,185 (Moore) That's when he sat down to write CIGNA a letter. 157 00:12:30,255 --> 00:12:33,918 This is to CIGNA. "Noted filmmaker Michael Moore 158 00:12:33,992 --> 00:12:37,052 is in the process of gathering information for his next film." 159 00:12:37,128 --> 00:12:41,497 "I've sent information concerning CIGNA's lack of caring for its policy holders." 160 00:12:41,566 --> 00:12:44,967 "Has your CEO ever been in a film before?" 161 00:12:46,404 --> 00:12:51,740 (Moore) Before he knew it. He received a call on his voice mail from CIGNA. 162 00:12:51,810 --> 00:12:54,779 (answerphone) Tuesday. 8.:54 am. 163 00:13:14,566 --> 00:13:20,027 Obviously all this worked because Annette is going to get her second implant in July. 164 00:13:20,105 --> 00:13:22,437 (woman) "Dear Mike. I work in the industry. " 165 00:13:22,507 --> 00:13:24,202 (woman #2) "I work for an HMO. " 166 00:13:24,275 --> 00:13:27,676 (Moore) I started to get hundreds of letters of a different sort 167 00:13:27,745 --> 00:13:31,203 from people who work inside the healthcare industry. 168 00:13:31,282 --> 00:13:35,514 They'd seen everything and they were fed up with it. 169 00:13:35,587 --> 00:13:38,852 (man #2) "Health insurance companies suck. Flat suck. " 170 00:13:38,923 --> 00:13:43,417 (Moore) Like Becky Malke. Who was in charge of keeping sick people away 171 00:13:43,495 --> 00:13:46,293 from one of America's top insurance companies. 172 00:13:46,364 --> 00:13:50,664 (Becky) I work in a call center, so people call in and ask for insurance quotes. 173 00:13:50,735 --> 00:13:54,603 There are certain preexisting conditions, basically industry-wide, 174 00:13:54,672 --> 00:13:56,333 that will not be covered - 175 00:13:56,407 --> 00:14:00,468 diabetes, heart disease, certain forms of cancer. 176 00:14:00,545 --> 00:14:05,175 If you have these conditions, you are likely not going to get your health insurance. 177 00:14:05,250 --> 00:14:08,742 (Moore) How long is this list of conditions that make you ineligible? 178 00:14:08,820 --> 00:14:13,120 It would be a really long list. It would be a long list. 179 00:14:13,191 --> 00:14:15,853 It could wrap around this house. 180 00:14:21,633 --> 00:14:24,227 (# "Star Wars" theme plays) 181 00:14:41,519 --> 00:14:45,387 Sometimes you know they're gonna be declined at the end of the application, 182 00:14:45,456 --> 00:14:50,519 and they're like... God, like one time I had a couple, 183 00:14:50,595 --> 00:14:52,825 and they were so happy to get... I'm gonna cry. 184 00:14:52,897 --> 00:14:58,028 They were so happy that they were... I took them through this application. 185 00:14:58,102 --> 00:15:01,560 And the husband was late for work. 186 00:15:01,639 --> 00:15:05,268 And the wife said to him, "Don't worry, baby, it's gonna be OK." 187 00:15:05,343 --> 00:15:07,402 "We have health insurance now." 188 00:15:07,478 --> 00:15:10,606 And when I looked, I could tell they were gonna get declined 189 00:15:10,682 --> 00:15:14,118 because of their health conditions. And they were so happy. 190 00:15:14,185 --> 00:15:17,245 I thought, "God, they're gonna get that call in a couple of weeks 191 00:15:17,322 --> 00:15:21,884 telling them that they're not eligible for insurance." 192 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:24,326 I just felt so bad 'cause I just really thought 193 00:15:24,395 --> 00:15:27,660 and I knew and I couldn't say anything to them. 194 00:15:28,132 --> 00:15:30,123 I just felt like crap. 195 00:15:30,201 --> 00:15:32,635 That's why I'm such a bitch on the phone to people, 196 00:15:32,704 --> 00:15:35,366 because I don't wanna get to know them, 197 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:38,671 I don't wanna know about their lives, I just wanna get in and out, 198 00:15:38,743 --> 00:15:43,373 and get done with it 'cause I can't take the stress of it. 199 00:15:43,448 --> 00:15:47,248 (Moore) In spite of Becky being a bit of a pain on the phone. 200 00:15:47,318 --> 00:15:53,052 A quarter billion Americans are still able to get health insurance. 201 00:15:55,260 --> 00:15:59,356 Let's meet some of these happy insured customers. 202 00:15:59,430 --> 00:16:01,421 Maria has BlueShield. 203 00:16:01,499 --> 00:16:03,729 And Diane. Horizon BlueCross. 204 00:16:04,269 --> 00:16:06,362 BCS insures Laurel. 205 00:16:06,437 --> 00:16:09,702 And Caroline has CIGNA. 206 00:16:09,774 --> 00:16:12,743 And it's a good thing that they're all fully covered. 207 00:16:12,810 --> 00:16:16,371 I ended up being diagnosed with retroperitoneal cancer. 208 00:16:16,447 --> 00:16:18,244 - Brain tumor. - Breast cancer. 209 00:16:18,316 --> 00:16:20,216 Brain tumor on the right temporal lobe. 210 00:16:20,285 --> 00:16:24,949 (Moore) As they were insured. They got the red-carpet treatment at the doctor's office. 211 00:16:25,023 --> 00:16:29,050 She requested for me to see a neurologist. 212 00:16:29,127 --> 00:16:31,220 The way they would treat it was to remove it. 213 00:16:31,296 --> 00:16:33,161 Surgery was scheduled for December 9. 214 00:16:33,231 --> 00:16:35,631 There is a test that you can take 215 00:16:35,700 --> 00:16:40,660 that will show whether or not you would benefit from chemo. 216 00:16:40,738 --> 00:16:45,141 (Moore) They got their treatment. But not before battling their insurance companies. 217 00:16:45,209 --> 00:16:48,235 Investigated whether or not this was a preexisting condition. 218 00:16:48,313 --> 00:16:50,144 "It's not medically necessary." 219 00:16:50,214 --> 00:16:52,239 They claim that it's experimental. 220 00:16:52,317 --> 00:16:54,615 "We don't consider that life-threatening." 221 00:16:54,686 --> 00:16:58,087 (Moore) Diane died from her non life-threatening tumor. 222 00:16:58,156 --> 00:17:01,182 Laurel's cancer is now spread throughout her body. 223 00:17:01,259 --> 00:17:05,628 Her "experimental test" proved that Caroline needed chemo. 224 00:17:05,697 --> 00:17:08,928 While vacationing in Japan. Maria became ill 225 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:14,529 and got the MRI that BlueShield of California had refused to approve. 226 00:17:14,605 --> 00:17:17,904 The doctors in Japan told her she had a brain tumor. 227 00:17:18,609 --> 00:17:21,942 BlueShield had said repeatedly she didn't have a tumor. 228 00:17:22,013 --> 00:17:27,212 That's when she said.: "Well. I'm pretty sure I have a lawyer. " 229 00:17:28,453 --> 00:17:31,547 (man #3) March 13, 2003. 230 00:17:31,622 --> 00:17:34,819 I'm gonna direct your attention to exhibit one. 231 00:17:34,892 --> 00:17:37,417 Please describe for me what it is. 232 00:17:37,495 --> 00:17:44,094 It is a denial for referral to an ophthalmologist. 233 00:17:44,168 --> 00:17:47,399 - (man #3) Is it your signature on this? - Yes. 234 00:17:47,472 --> 00:17:50,498 (man #3) I'd like to direct your attention to exhibit two. 235 00:17:50,575 --> 00:17:55,012 This is a denial of a request for referral 236 00:17:55,079 --> 00:17:58,810 for a magnetic resonance imaging test of the brain. 237 00:17:58,883 --> 00:18:00,908 - (man #3) It has your signature? - Yes. 238 00:18:00,985 --> 00:18:05,081 (man #3) Directing your attention to exhibit three. Please read this document. 239 00:18:05,156 --> 00:18:11,288 This is a denial of a referral to a neurosurgeon. 240 00:18:11,362 --> 00:18:17,267 (man #3) Can you explain for me how you came to sign the denial letter? 241 00:18:17,335 --> 00:18:20,270 This is a standard signature put on all denial letters. 242 00:18:20,338 --> 00:18:23,899 - (man #3) Is it your signature or a stamp? - That is a stamp. 243 00:18:23,975 --> 00:18:30,744 (man #3) Did you ever see a denial letter before your signature was stamped on it? 244 00:18:30,815 --> 00:18:35,309 No, but the denial letters are fundamentally the same. 245 00:18:35,386 --> 00:18:37,980 The denial letters that are sent out... 246 00:18:38,055 --> 00:18:41,218 - (man #3) The answer is no. - No. All right. 247 00:18:42,026 --> 00:18:46,793 The definition of a good director was somebody who saves the company money. 248 00:18:46,864 --> 00:18:51,164 (Moore) Dr. Linda Peeno was a medical reviewer for Humana. 249 00:18:51,235 --> 00:18:55,399 She left her job because she didn't like their way of doing business. 250 00:18:55,473 --> 00:18:59,341 (Dr. Peeno) I was told when I started that I had to keep a 10% denial. 251 00:18:59,410 --> 00:19:04,211 Then they were giving us reports weekly that would have all the cases we reviewed, 252 00:19:04,282 --> 00:19:06,546 the percent approved and the percent denied. 253 00:19:06,617 --> 00:19:09,450 And our actual percentage denial rate. 254 00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:14,082 Then there would be another report that compared me to all the other reviewers. 255 00:19:14,158 --> 00:19:17,719 The doctor with the highest percent of denials was gonna get a bonus. 256 00:19:17,795 --> 00:19:19,287 (Moore) Really? 257 00:19:19,302 --> 00:19:21,236 (Dr. Peeno) That was how they set ther system up. 258 00:19:21,304 --> 00:19:25,536 Any payment for a claim is referred to as a medical loss. 259 00:19:25,608 --> 00:19:28,008 That's the terminology the industry uses. 260 00:19:28,078 --> 00:19:31,741 I mean, when you don't spend money on somebody, you deny their care, 261 00:19:31,815 --> 00:19:36,149 or you make a decision that brings money in and you don't have to spend it, 262 00:19:36,219 --> 00:19:37,710 it's a savings to the company. 263 00:19:40,323 --> 00:19:42,791 (Moore) This is Tarsha Harris. 264 00:19:42,859 --> 00:19:45,191 BlueCross didn't deny her her treatment. 265 00:19:45,262 --> 00:19:48,459 And actually approved her operation. 266 00:19:49,766 --> 00:19:53,566 But then they discovered that in the distant past. 267 00:19:53,637 --> 00:19:56,868 She had had a yeast infection. 268 00:19:59,209 --> 00:20:03,145 Apparently it's common. Men, women can get a yeast infection. 269 00:20:03,213 --> 00:20:09,743 So I was prescribed the yeast infection cream, general cream, and it went away. 270 00:20:10,554 --> 00:20:12,545 She later applied for health insurance 271 00:20:12,622 --> 00:20:16,752 and that's what you're supposed to be disclosing - serious ailments. 272 00:20:16,827 --> 00:20:22,288 The yeast infection is not a serious ailment. There was nothing she could have done. 273 00:20:22,365 --> 00:20:25,960 It wasn't until they were gonna have to spend money that they looked. 274 00:20:26,036 --> 00:20:29,563 If they'd taken five minutes and wanted to clear up the yeast infection, 275 00:20:29,639 --> 00:20:32,665 they could've looked at her records or talked to her doctor. 276 00:20:32,743 --> 00:20:35,940 (Moore) Because of the undisclosed yeast infection. 277 00:20:36,012 --> 00:20:38,606 BlueCross dropped Tarsha Harris. 278 00:20:38,682 --> 00:20:43,278 She thinks she's put this behind her. And then BlueCross changes their mind, 279 00:20:43,353 --> 00:20:48,188 tells the doctors, "We're taking the money back, go get the money from Tarsha." 280 00:20:48,258 --> 00:20:54,219 The fact of the matter is it was a yeast infection, that's all it was. 281 00:20:54,297 --> 00:20:57,892 I'm still a little bitter because I don't trust insurance companies now. 282 00:20:57,968 --> 00:21:02,234 To me, it seems they're always gonna be looking for a way out. 283 00:21:02,305 --> 00:21:04,773 What happened to helping the person that's sick? 284 00:21:04,841 --> 00:21:07,537 Don't make their problems worse. 285 00:21:09,079 --> 00:21:11,411 (Moore) This is Lee Einer. 286 00:21:11,481 --> 00:21:15,383 If they weren't able to weed you out in the application process. 287 00:21:15,452 --> 00:21:18,853 Or deny you the care your doctor said you needed. 288 00:21:18,922 --> 00:21:22,414 And somehow ended up paying for the operation. 289 00:21:23,293 --> 00:21:26,387 They send in Lee. Their hitman. 290 00:21:26,463 --> 00:21:31,332 His job is to get the company's money back any way he can. 291 00:21:31,401 --> 00:21:35,701 All he has to do is find one slip-up on your application. 292 00:21:35,772 --> 00:21:39,606 Or a preexisting condition you didn't know you had. 293 00:21:39,676 --> 00:21:43,407 We're gonna go after this like it's a murder case. 294 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:46,040 And I mean the whole unit dedicated to 295 00:21:46,116 --> 00:21:50,052 going through your health history for the last five years, 296 00:21:50,120 --> 00:21:52,850 looking for anything that would indicate 297 00:21:52,923 --> 00:21:56,654 that you concealed something, you misrepresented something, 298 00:21:56,726 --> 00:21:59,456 so that they can cancel the policy 299 00:21:59,529 --> 00:22:02,965 or jack the rates so high that you can't pay them. 300 00:22:04,167 --> 00:22:08,297 And if we couldn't find anything you didn't disclose on the application, 301 00:22:08,371 --> 00:22:12,330 you can still get hit with a preexisting denial, 302 00:22:12,409 --> 00:22:16,072 because you don't even have to have sought medical treatment for it. 303 00:22:16,146 --> 00:22:21,049 In some states, it's legal to have a prudent person preexisting condition. 304 00:22:21,117 --> 00:22:23,142 And that's a mouthful, I know, 305 00:22:23,220 --> 00:22:27,418 but what that says is if prior to your insurance kicking in, 306 00:22:27,490 --> 00:22:33,292 you had any symptom which would incline a normally prudent person 307 00:22:33,363 --> 00:22:36,332 to have sought medical care, 308 00:22:36,399 --> 00:22:42,565 then the condition of which that symptom was a symptom is excluded. 309 00:22:45,842 --> 00:22:47,673 I know! 310 00:22:48,445 --> 00:22:52,176 It's labyrinthine, isn't it? But that's how it works. 311 00:22:52,749 --> 00:22:54,808 They're supposed to be even-handed, 312 00:22:54,885 --> 00:22:58,480 but with an insurance company, it's their frigging money! 313 00:22:58,555 --> 00:23:02,992 So it's not unintentional, it's not a mistake, 314 00:23:03,059 --> 00:23:06,961 it's not an oversight, you're not slipping through the cracks. 315 00:23:07,030 --> 00:23:11,660 Somebody made that crack and swept you towards it. 316 00:23:11,735 --> 00:23:15,364 And the intent is to maximize profits. 317 00:23:16,506 --> 00:23:19,737 Looking back, I don't know that I killed anybody. 318 00:23:19,809 --> 00:23:22,334 Did I do harm in people's lives? 319 00:23:22,412 --> 00:23:25,074 Yeah. Hell, yeah. 320 00:23:27,884 --> 00:23:30,682 I haven't worked for insurance companies for a long time, 321 00:23:30,754 --> 00:23:35,020 and I don't think that really serves to atone 322 00:23:35,091 --> 00:23:39,255 for my participation in that mess. 323 00:23:40,830 --> 00:23:43,321 I am glad I'm out of it, though. 324 00:23:46,469 --> 00:23:50,667 (Moore) Julie Pierce was struggling to get care for her husband Tracy. 325 00:23:50,740 --> 00:23:54,107 Who was suffering from kidney cancer. 326 00:23:54,177 --> 00:23:58,011 Julie works in the intensive care unit at St. Joseph's Medical Center 327 00:23:58,081 --> 00:24:00,345 in Kansas City. Missouri. 328 00:24:00,417 --> 00:24:03,352 Which provided her family with health insurance. 329 00:24:03,420 --> 00:24:06,981 Every month, there was a new drug that the doctor wanted to try. 330 00:24:07,057 --> 00:24:12,359 My insurance denied it. One letter might say, "not a medical necessity," 331 00:24:12,429 --> 00:24:17,492 one letter might say, "it's not for this particular type of cancer," 332 00:24:17,567 --> 00:24:20,092 and they denied it. 333 00:24:20,170 --> 00:24:24,470 Then we came up with the bone marrow. It has showed to stop it, 334 00:24:24,541 --> 00:24:27,977 sometimes to completely get rid of it. 335 00:24:28,044 --> 00:24:31,741 (Moore) Tracy's doctors said this treatment had been successfully tried 336 00:24:31,815 --> 00:24:34,147 on many other patients. 337 00:24:34,884 --> 00:24:38,684 If one of Tracy's brothers turned out to be a suitable donor. 338 00:24:38,755 --> 00:24:45,126 There were promising bone marrow treatments for beating Tracy's cancer. 339 00:24:45,195 --> 00:24:49,222 Two weeks later, the bone marrow nurse at KU called me and she goes: 340 00:24:49,299 --> 00:24:54,259 "We've got the results back. His youngest brother is a perfect donor match." 341 00:24:54,337 --> 00:24:56,464 We were ecstatic. 342 00:24:56,539 --> 00:25:00,771 You know, I think that's the happiest I had seen him... 343 00:25:03,113 --> 00:25:05,638 in a while. 344 00:25:05,715 --> 00:25:10,084 So we submitted it and they denied it. 345 00:25:10,153 --> 00:25:12,178 Said it was "experimental." 346 00:25:13,556 --> 00:25:17,583 So I found out that there is a board of trustees over our medical plan 347 00:25:17,660 --> 00:25:19,651 that actually work at my hospital. 348 00:25:19,729 --> 00:25:25,167 And they are the final decision-makers on what gets approved and what doesn't. 349 00:25:25,235 --> 00:25:28,602 (Moore) Julie and her husband and their son. Tracy Junior. 350 00:25:28,671 --> 00:25:32,198 Demanded a meeting with the health plan's board of trustees. 351 00:25:32,275 --> 00:25:36,211 The very people who had the power to approve their claim. 352 00:25:36,279 --> 00:25:40,306 They told Julie that they were sympathetic to her situation. 353 00:25:40,383 --> 00:25:44,342 I said, "Your sympathy does me no good when I'm burying him next year." 354 00:25:44,421 --> 00:25:50,121 And I told them, I said if I was... Bruce van Cleve was our CEO. 355 00:25:50,193 --> 00:25:56,291 I said, "I bet if it was Bruce van Cleve's wife, it would get approved." 356 00:25:56,366 --> 00:25:58,493 "No, it's nothing like that." 357 00:25:58,568 --> 00:26:01,230 I said, "Or maybe if my husband was white." 358 00:26:01,304 --> 00:26:03,704 And I got up and walked out of the room. 359 00:26:04,941 --> 00:26:09,241 When we got home, I found him up in the bathroom. 360 00:26:09,312 --> 00:26:14,716 And I knocked on the door and said, "What are you doing in there?" "Nothing." 361 00:26:14,784 --> 00:26:19,244 I opened the door 'cause usually he'll say: "What do you think I'm doing in here?" 362 00:26:19,322 --> 00:26:23,019 And he was sitting in there and he was crying. 363 00:26:24,127 --> 00:26:27,722 And he said, "Why me? I'm a good person." 364 00:26:28,298 --> 00:26:31,756 And I said, "But we're not done fighting this." 365 00:26:31,835 --> 00:26:36,295 "We're strong, yeah." And then he said... 366 00:26:36,372 --> 00:26:40,206 You know, he goes, "I can see now that I'm gonna die." 367 00:26:40,276 --> 00:26:46,408 He said, "I can leave everything, but I don't want to leave you and Tracy." 368 00:26:50,787 --> 00:26:54,416 The doctor told me he would die in three weeks. 369 00:26:54,491 --> 00:26:56,482 And... 370 00:26:58,027 --> 00:27:01,326 On January 13th, which was my birthday, 371 00:27:02,198 --> 00:27:04,189 he went to sleep. 372 00:27:05,702 --> 00:27:08,796 And he died five days later, here at home. 373 00:27:10,106 --> 00:27:12,597 He was my best friend. 374 00:27:13,476 --> 00:27:17,310 He was my soul mate. He was my son's father. 375 00:27:19,616 --> 00:27:22,210 I mean, we were to grow old together. 376 00:27:23,553 --> 00:27:26,954 They took away everything that matters. 377 00:27:29,325 --> 00:27:32,488 I wanna know why, why my husband? 378 00:27:34,063 --> 00:27:37,260 Why wasn't he given the chance to live? 379 00:27:38,668 --> 00:27:43,071 You preach these vision and values that we care for the sick, the dying, the poor. 380 00:27:43,139 --> 00:27:46,973 That we're a healthcare that leaves no one behind. 381 00:27:47,043 --> 00:27:51,207 You left him behind. You didn't even give him a start. 382 00:27:52,348 --> 00:27:54,509 It was as if he was nothing. 383 00:27:55,985 --> 00:27:58,681 And I want them to have a conscience about it. 384 00:27:58,755 --> 00:28:04,091 And I don't think they do. I don't think it has fazed them one bit. 385 00:28:05,762 --> 00:28:07,753 At all. 386 00:28:10,333 --> 00:28:12,995 (Moore) There was one person in the healthcare industry 387 00:28:13,069 --> 00:28:15,162 who did have a conscience. 388 00:28:15,238 --> 00:28:20,335 Dr. Linda Peeno. A former medical reviewer at Humana. 389 00:28:20,410 --> 00:28:21,900 My name is Linda Peeno. 390 00:28:22,445 --> 00:28:26,814 I am here today to make a public confession. 391 00:28:26,883 --> 00:28:31,286 In the spring of 1987, as a physician, 392 00:28:31,354 --> 00:28:34,585 I denied a man a necessary operation 393 00:28:34,657 --> 00:28:39,185 that would have saved his life, and thus caused his death. 394 00:28:39,963 --> 00:28:43,558 No person and no group has held me accountable for this, 395 00:28:43,633 --> 00:28:50,300 because, in fact, what I did was I saved the company a half a million dollars for this. 396 00:28:50,373 --> 00:28:53,900 And, furthermore, this particular act secured my reputation 397 00:28:53,977 --> 00:28:56,445 as a good medical director, 398 00:28:56,512 --> 00:29:00,573 and it insured my continued advancement in the healthcare field. 399 00:29:00,650 --> 00:29:04,643 I went from making a few hundred dollars a week as a medical reviewer 400 00:29:04,721 --> 00:29:09,852 to an escalating six-figure income as a physician executive. 401 00:29:09,926 --> 00:29:15,694 In all my work, I had one primary duty, and that was to use my medical expertise 402 00:29:15,765 --> 00:29:20,202 for the financial benefit of the organization for which I worked. 403 00:29:20,270 --> 00:29:23,797 And I was told repeatedly that I was not denying care, 404 00:29:23,873 --> 00:29:26,239 I was simply denying payment. 405 00:29:26,309 --> 00:29:29,574 I know how managed care maims and kills patients. 406 00:29:29,646 --> 00:29:33,412 So I'm here to tell you about the dirty work of managed care. 407 00:29:33,483 --> 00:29:36,077 And I'm haunted by the thousands of pieces of paper 408 00:29:36,152 --> 00:29:39,383 on which I have written that deadly word - "denied." 409 00:29:39,455 --> 00:29:40,752 Thank you. 410 00:29:45,061 --> 00:29:49,589 (Moore) How did we get to the point of doctors at health insurance companies 411 00:29:49,666 --> 00:29:54,399 actually being responsible for the deaths of patients? 412 00:29:55,705 --> 00:29:58,037 Who invented this system? 413 00:29:59,776 --> 00:30:01,767 How did this all begin? 414 00:30:04,714 --> 00:30:07,148 Where did the HMO start? 415 00:30:11,654 --> 00:30:15,681 Thanks to the wonders of magnetic tape. We know . 416 00:31:17,653 --> 00:31:22,454 I am proposing today a new national health strategy. 417 00:31:22,525 --> 00:31:25,585 The purpose of this program is simply this - 418 00:31:25,661 --> 00:31:29,392 I want America to have the finest healthcare in the world, 419 00:31:29,465 --> 00:31:35,199 and I want every American to be able to have that care when he needs it. 420 00:31:36,606 --> 00:31:40,736 (Moore) The plan hatched between Nixon and Edgar Kaiser worked. 421 00:31:40,810 --> 00:31:44,871 In the ensuing years. Patients were given less and less care... 422 00:31:44,947 --> 00:31:49,850 (reporter) Bigger logjams at the nearby hospital and less quality medical care. 423 00:31:49,919 --> 00:31:52,752 Been here about 18 hours, since 7:00 this morning. 424 00:31:52,822 --> 00:31:56,781 (reporter) What looks cramped and unsightly can also be dangerous. 425 00:31:56,859 --> 00:32:00,056 (Moore) ...while health insurance companies became wealthy. 426 00:32:00,129 --> 00:32:02,188 The system was broken. 427 00:32:02,265 --> 00:32:06,429 37 million Americans are without protection against catastrophic illness. 428 00:32:06,502 --> 00:32:10,871 (reporter #2) The losers are the poor. Who may now postpone urgent healthcare 429 00:32:10,940 --> 00:32:12,840 until it's too late. 430 00:32:12,909 --> 00:32:15,469 (Moore) This went on for years. 431 00:32:15,545 --> 00:32:18,241 Until this man rode into town. 432 00:32:19,182 --> 00:32:21,707 Bringing with him his little lady. 433 00:32:21,784 --> 00:32:25,276 (# "I'll Take You There" by The Staple Singers) 434 00:32:28,324 --> 00:32:30,315 (Moore) Sassy. 435 00:32:32,061 --> 00:32:34,052 Smart. 436 00:32:37,066 --> 00:32:39,057 Sexy. 437 00:32:42,038 --> 00:32:44,438 Some men couldn't handle it. 438 00:32:45,341 --> 00:32:47,639 Today I am announcing the formation 439 00:32:47,710 --> 00:32:51,009 of the President's Task Force on National Health Reform, 440 00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:54,106 chaired by the First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton. 441 00:32:54,183 --> 00:32:59,450 (Moore) Hillary Clinton decided to make healthcare for everyone her top priority. 442 00:32:59,522 --> 00:33:02,355 Universal coverage now. 443 00:33:02,425 --> 00:33:05,155 It will not depend upon where you work, whether you work, 444 00:33:05,228 --> 00:33:07,196 or if you have a preexisting condition. 445 00:33:07,263 --> 00:33:10,198 Healthcare that can never be taken away. 446 00:33:10,266 --> 00:33:14,930 (reporter #3) Some Republicans complain Mrs. Clinton is getting a free ride. 447 00:33:15,004 --> 00:33:18,269 It's fairly risky business what President Clinton did, 448 00:33:18,341 --> 00:33:21,936 to put his wife in charge of some big policy program. 449 00:33:22,011 --> 00:33:25,208 And while I don't share the chairman's joy at our holding hearings 450 00:33:25,281 --> 00:33:28,808 on a government-run healthcare system, 451 00:33:28,885 --> 00:33:32,651 I do share his intention to make the debate and the legislative process 452 00:33:32,722 --> 00:33:37,557 - as exciting as possible. - I'm sure you will do that, Mr. Armey. 453 00:33:37,627 --> 00:33:42,462 - We'll do the best we can. - You and Dr. Kevorkian, I think. 454 00:33:47,069 --> 00:33:52,029 I have been told about your charm and wit, and let me say... 455 00:33:52,108 --> 00:33:55,202 Reports on your charm are overstated 456 00:33:55,278 --> 00:33:59,510 - and reports on your wit are understated. - Thank you. Thank you very much. 457 00:34:00,182 --> 00:34:03,083 (Moore) She drove Washington insane. 458 00:34:03,152 --> 00:34:05,848 Do you want the government to control your healthcare? 459 00:34:05,922 --> 00:34:08,220 You won't have the choice of your own doctors. 460 00:34:08,291 --> 00:34:10,191 - Less government. - More control. 461 00:34:10,259 --> 00:34:12,853 - More government. - Less control for you and your family. 462 00:34:12,929 --> 00:34:17,093 When your mama gets sick, she might talk to a bureaucrat instead of a doctor. 463 00:34:17,166 --> 00:34:20,260 This is a total mess, and it's about to get messier. 464 00:34:20,336 --> 00:34:23,271 Not this bureaucratic, socialistic plan that they have. 465 00:34:23,339 --> 00:34:25,830 - Socialist takeover... - Socialized medicine. 466 00:34:25,908 --> 00:34:30,208 What really amounts to a giant social experiment. 467 00:34:31,681 --> 00:34:34,878 (Moore) Ooh! Socialized medicine. 468 00:34:34,951 --> 00:34:39,320 Nothing put more fear in us than the thought of that. 469 00:34:39,388 --> 00:34:42,880 And the chief fearmongers against socialized medicine 470 00:34:42,959 --> 00:34:45,621 have always been the good doctors 471 00:34:45,695 --> 00:34:47,686 of the American Medical Association. 472 00:34:47,763 --> 00:34:50,960 (man #4) This would put the government smack into your hospital, 473 00:34:51,033 --> 00:34:54,332 defining services, setting standards, 474 00:34:54,403 --> 00:34:57,668 establishing committees, calling for reports, 475 00:34:57,740 --> 00:35:00,106 deciding who gets in and who gets out. 476 00:35:00,176 --> 00:35:04,272 After all, the government has to treat everyone fair and equal, don't you know? 477 00:35:04,347 --> 00:35:09,284 Take us all the way down the road to a new system of medicine for everybody. 478 00:35:09,352 --> 00:35:12,287 (Moore) Yes. Medicine for everyone. 479 00:35:12,355 --> 00:35:14,619 The AMA didn't want that. 480 00:35:15,625 --> 00:35:17,889 And to drive the point home further. 481 00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:21,555 They held thousands of coffeeklatsches all over the country. 482 00:35:21,631 --> 00:35:25,931 Where they invited their neighbors to come and listen to a record 483 00:35:26,002 --> 00:35:31,099 made by a well-known actor on the evils of socialized medicine. 484 00:35:31,173 --> 00:35:33,266 My name is Ronald Reagan. 485 00:35:33,342 --> 00:35:38,109 One of the traditional methods of imposing statism or socialism on a people. 486 00:35:38,180 --> 00:35:40,978 Has been by way of medicine. 487 00:35:41,050 --> 00:35:45,680 The doctor begins to lose freedoms. It's like telling a lie. And one leads to another. 488 00:35:45,755 --> 00:35:48,747 A doctor decides he wants to practice in one town. 489 00:35:48,824 --> 00:35:51,657 The government says to him. "You can't live in that town. 490 00:35:51,727 --> 00:35:55,629 They already have enough doctors. You have to go someplace else. " 491 00:35:55,698 --> 00:35:59,293 All of us can see what happens once you establish the precedent 492 00:35:59,368 --> 00:36:05,238 that the government can determine a man's working place and his methods. 493 00:36:05,307 --> 00:36:07,741 And behind it will come other federal programs 494 00:36:07,810 --> 00:36:11,576 that will invade every area of freedom as we have known it in this country. 495 00:36:11,647 --> 00:36:16,584 Until one day. We will awake to find that we have socialism. 496 00:36:20,523 --> 00:36:23,287 (reporter #4) The White House said to tone down the rhetoric. 497 00:36:23,359 --> 00:36:25,759 Reacting to burning an effigy of Hillary Clinton. 498 00:36:25,828 --> 00:36:30,094 (Moore) The times may have changed. But the scare tactics hadn't. 499 00:36:30,166 --> 00:36:33,431 The healthcare industries spent over a hundred million dollars 500 00:36:33,502 --> 00:36:38,303 to defeat Hillary's healthcare plan. And they succeeded. 501 00:36:38,374 --> 00:36:41,673 And I want now to introduce to you the president, 502 00:36:41,744 --> 00:36:44,975 because he loves the Easter egg roll. 503 00:36:45,047 --> 00:36:47,709 (Moore) For the next seven years in the White House. 504 00:36:47,783 --> 00:36:50,013 She wasn't allowed to bring it up again. 505 00:36:50,086 --> 00:36:52,020 Is anybody here older than two? 506 00:36:52,088 --> 00:36:54,488 (Moore) A decade and a half went by. 507 00:36:54,557 --> 00:36:57,856 And still America had no universal health plan. 508 00:36:58,427 --> 00:37:02,830 The United States slipped to number 37 in healthcare around the world. 509 00:37:02,898 --> 00:37:05,765 Just slightly ahead of Slovenia. 510 00:37:05,835 --> 00:37:07,826 (men speaking Slovenian) 511 00:37:10,473 --> 00:37:15,809 But that's understandable. Because Congress was busy with other matters. 512 00:37:15,878 --> 00:37:18,472 Mr. Speaker, today I rise to offer congratulations 513 00:37:18,547 --> 00:37:21,414 to the confectioners at Just Born Incorporated, 514 00:37:21,484 --> 00:37:23,714 as they celebrate the 50th anniversary 515 00:37:23,786 --> 00:37:26,721 of one of their most recognized and celebrated products, 516 00:37:26,789 --> 00:37:29,815 not to mention my daughter's favorite, Marshmallow Peeps. 517 00:37:30,559 --> 00:37:35,462 (Moore) And thus. The healthcare industry went unchecked into the 21st century. 518 00:37:35,531 --> 00:37:40,093 Humana more than doubles its fourth quarter profit, lifts its earning for the year... 519 00:37:40,169 --> 00:37:42,364 United Health has tripled its share prices. 520 00:37:42,438 --> 00:37:45,134 (Moore) Making obscene profits... 521 00:37:45,207 --> 00:37:47,038 ...better-than-expected earnings. 522 00:37:47,109 --> 00:37:49,703 There's a lot of wealthy shareholders out there. 523 00:37:49,779 --> 00:37:52,043 Are they willing to share some of that wealth? 524 00:37:52,114 --> 00:37:55,572 (Moore) ...turning their CEOs into billionaires. 525 00:37:56,252 --> 00:37:59,847 And skirting the law whenever they wanted. 526 00:38:01,190 --> 00:38:05,650 But their biggest accomplishment was buying our United States Congress. 527 00:38:05,728 --> 00:38:10,461 (man #5) This is Washington at work. Lobbying has become so brazen... 528 00:38:10,533 --> 00:38:13,559 (Moore) With four times as many healthcare lobbyists 529 00:38:13,636 --> 00:38:15,729 than there are members of Congress. 530 00:38:15,805 --> 00:38:18,774 They even managed to buy off old foes. 531 00:38:19,575 --> 00:38:22,408 For her silence. Hillary was rewarded. 532 00:38:22,478 --> 00:38:26,039 And she became the second largest recipient in the Senate 533 00:38:26,115 --> 00:38:29,448 of healthcare industry contributions. 534 00:38:33,322 --> 00:38:38,123 We've given the entire healthcare system over to the insurance industry. 535 00:38:38,194 --> 00:38:42,824 - And they have total control. -(Moore) Well. Not total control. 536 00:38:42,898 --> 00:38:47,198 Drug companies like to buy their members of Congress too. 537 00:38:47,269 --> 00:38:50,636 Here's what it costs to buy these men. 538 00:38:50,706 --> 00:38:52,697 And this woman. 539 00:38:54,510 --> 00:38:56,637 This guy. 540 00:38:56,712 --> 00:38:59,203 And this guy. And him too. 541 00:39:00,983 --> 00:39:05,545 (man #6) Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States. 542 00:39:05,621 --> 00:39:10,024 (Moore) And the biggest check was saved for last. 543 00:39:10,092 --> 00:39:12,754 Why did they hand out all this cash? 544 00:39:12,828 --> 00:39:18,289 They wanted a bill passed - a bill to help seniors with their prescriptions. 545 00:39:18,367 --> 00:39:20,597 Let there be no mistake about it. 546 00:39:20,669 --> 00:39:24,161 Republicans love their mothers, their fathers and their grandparents 547 00:39:24,240 --> 00:39:29,473 as much as anybody else on this hill, and we're gonna take care of them. 548 00:39:29,545 --> 00:39:34,642 (Moore) Of course. It was really a bill to hand over 800 billion of our tax dollars 549 00:39:34,717 --> 00:39:36,981 to the drug and health insurance industry. 550 00:39:37,052 --> 00:39:40,681 By letting the drug companies charge whatever they wanted. 551 00:39:40,756 --> 00:39:43,987 And making the private health insurance companies the middleman. 552 00:39:44,059 --> 00:39:46,994 Everybody was going to get their cut. 553 00:39:47,062 --> 00:39:49,724 The man they appointed to get the job done 554 00:39:49,798 --> 00:39:52,392 was congressman Billy Tauzin. 555 00:39:52,468 --> 00:39:57,701 He was the right man for the job because he had a secret weapon. 556 00:39:57,773 --> 00:40:01,937 There's no one in this house loves their mother more than I love my mother. 557 00:40:02,011 --> 00:40:03,444 I challenge you on that, sir. 558 00:40:03,512 --> 00:40:08,643 Nobody in this body that loves their mother any more or any less than any one of us. 559 00:40:09,385 --> 00:40:10,943 I love that woman. 560 00:40:11,020 --> 00:40:14,114 Do you think for a second you love your moms and dads 561 00:40:14,189 --> 00:40:16,157 any more than we love ours? 562 00:40:16,225 --> 00:40:19,786 Do you think Republicans and Democrats who will vote... 563 00:40:19,862 --> 00:40:23,559 Do you really believe that, Mr. Stoddard? God bless you. 564 00:40:23,632 --> 00:40:26,760 (Moore) Oh. They all loved their mothers. 565 00:40:26,835 --> 00:40:31,033 It's just that they didn't love our mothers as much. 566 00:40:31,106 --> 00:40:37,409 Now I'm honored and pleased to sign this historic piece of legislation - 567 00:40:37,479 --> 00:40:41,472 the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act 568 00:40:41,550 --> 00:40:43,541 of 2003. 569 00:40:45,621 --> 00:40:49,318 (Moore) What they didn't tell us was that the elderly could end up paying more 570 00:40:49,391 --> 00:40:52,258 for their prescriptions than they did before. 571 00:40:52,328 --> 00:40:58,756 Over two thirds of senior citizens could still pay over $ 2.000 a year. 572 00:40:58,834 --> 00:41:03,794 And when it was over. 14 congressional aids who worked on the bill 573 00:41:03,872 --> 00:41:09,777 quit their jobs on the Hill and went to work for the healthcare industry. 574 00:41:09,845 --> 00:41:12,143 As did one congressman. 575 00:41:12,214 --> 00:41:16,241 # 'Cause I've got a golden ticket... 576 00:41:16,318 --> 00:41:20,755 (Moore) Billy Tauzin left Congress to become the CEO of PhRMA. 577 00:41:20,823 --> 00:41:22,848 The drug industry lobby. 578 00:41:22,925 --> 00:41:25,553 For a salary of $ 2 million a year. 579 00:41:28,097 --> 00:41:31,362 Oh. It was a happy day in Washington. 580 00:41:31,433 --> 00:41:37,394 Many Americans knew they were never going to see universal healthcare. 581 00:41:37,473 --> 00:41:42,706 And that's why some of them decided to look elsewhere for help. 582 00:41:47,416 --> 00:41:50,351 (woman #3) We're driving across the Detroit river. 583 00:41:50,419 --> 00:41:53,718 Back there is the Renaissance Center, you can see it. 584 00:41:53,789 --> 00:41:58,123 General Motors' headquarters, downtown Detroit, the skyline. 585 00:41:58,193 --> 00:42:01,424 You get a really nice view from driving over the bridge. 586 00:42:01,497 --> 00:42:04,864 (Moore) This is Adrian Campbell. A single mother. 587 00:42:04,933 --> 00:42:09,063 Who at the age of 22 came down with cancer. 588 00:42:09,138 --> 00:42:13,507 (Adrian) I got cervical cancer and I was denied through the insurance company. 589 00:42:13,575 --> 00:42:17,671 They said, "We're not paying for it because you're 22 and you don't have..." 590 00:42:17,746 --> 00:42:21,375 "You shouldn't be having cervical cancer. You're too young." 591 00:42:21,450 --> 00:42:24,908 (Moore) Forced into debt. But now cancer free. 592 00:42:24,987 --> 00:42:28,150 Adrian was fed up with the American healthcare system. 593 00:42:28,223 --> 00:42:30,248 She had a new plan. 594 00:42:30,325 --> 00:42:33,089 I have everything ready before I even hit the border. 595 00:42:33,162 --> 00:42:37,098 I got my passports ready, I got my money out. 596 00:42:37,166 --> 00:42:40,431 It's three dollars and 25 cents to get across one way. 597 00:42:40,502 --> 00:42:46,236 And I got everything just sitting up here on my visor just ready to go. 598 00:42:50,312 --> 00:42:52,803 Aurora, be very quiet. 599 00:42:56,151 --> 00:42:58,346 - Citizenships? - US. 600 00:42:58,420 --> 00:43:00,115 - Where do you live? - Michigan. 601 00:43:00,189 --> 00:43:02,521 - That's not on, right? - No. 602 00:43:03,459 --> 00:43:05,893 (Moore) She may live in Michigan. 603 00:43:05,961 --> 00:43:11,627 But ten blocks across the border. Adrian becomes a Canadian. 604 00:43:11,700 --> 00:43:14,533 How long have you been living here? Three months? 605 00:43:14,603 --> 00:43:18,972 A couple. I haven't applied for the OHIP card yet. 606 00:43:19,041 --> 00:43:21,532 - I still have mine. - It takes ten minutes. 607 00:43:21,610 --> 00:43:25,102 That's fine, I don't mind. OK, thank you. 608 00:43:25,180 --> 00:43:27,740 I put down Kyle's address at the clinic, 609 00:43:27,816 --> 00:43:30,614 and when they ask, you know, what my relationship is, 610 00:43:30,686 --> 00:43:34,782 I put down that I was his common-law partner. 611 00:43:34,857 --> 00:43:36,916 I don't like to lie and I don't like liars. 612 00:43:36,992 --> 00:43:42,897 It's little white lies, but it's... You know, I'm saving the money. 613 00:43:42,965 --> 00:43:48,301 You don't bring a checkbook when you go to the hospital here. It's provided to us. 614 00:43:48,370 --> 00:43:52,534 It's something you don't have to worry about or go out of your way to get. 615 00:43:52,608 --> 00:43:54,269 Stress free. 616 00:43:59,248 --> 00:44:02,046 - They called the cops. -(Moore) The presence of our camera 617 00:44:02,117 --> 00:44:04,176 alerted the clinic that something was up. 618 00:44:04,253 --> 00:44:06,653 And I don't think I'm gonna get seen now. 619 00:44:06,722 --> 00:44:09,247 So I have another idea. 620 00:44:09,324 --> 00:44:12,350 I'm gonna go down to the other clinic. 621 00:44:12,427 --> 00:44:16,158 There is a clinic down... one that we passed. 622 00:44:17,199 --> 00:44:20,293 The police showed up over there. Look. 623 00:44:21,870 --> 00:44:26,239 (Moore) Yes. What Adrian was doing was illegal. But we're Americans. 624 00:44:26,308 --> 00:44:28,970 We go into other countries when we need to. 625 00:44:29,645 --> 00:44:32,341 It's tricky. But it's allowed. 626 00:44:35,484 --> 00:44:38,214 (Kyle) It's kind of frustrating having... I mean... 627 00:44:38,287 --> 00:44:41,484 Just get married and that'd solve everything - she'd be covered. 628 00:44:41,557 --> 00:44:45,323 Americans marry Canadians just for the healthcare! 629 00:44:45,394 --> 00:44:48,852 - I'm being used. -(Moore) Sounds like a good idea. 630 00:44:48,931 --> 00:44:52,958 See if it works. Start something. Start a trend. 631 00:44:55,103 --> 00:44:57,435 In Canada they give everybody free healthcare. 632 00:44:57,506 --> 00:45:00,339 - Doesn't it work up there? - No, unfortunately it doesn't. 633 00:45:00,409 --> 00:45:04,004 We wait months to get treatment you can get in a week or a few days here. 634 00:45:04,079 --> 00:45:08,743 (reporter # 5) In Canada you have to wait nine to ten months for bypass surgery. 635 00:45:08,817 --> 00:45:13,845 (reporter #6) Many Canadians believe it's the healthcare system itself that's sick. 636 00:45:13,922 --> 00:45:15,822 (reporter #7) They pay their doctors less. 637 00:45:15,891 --> 00:45:19,327 (reporter #8) A surgeon can only do a certain number of operations each year. 638 00:45:19,394 --> 00:45:22,158 With only so many expensive new pieces of equipment. 639 00:45:22,231 --> 00:45:26,395 It's easier for your cat or dog to receive an MRI here in America. 640 00:45:26,468 --> 00:45:30,928 You die of cancer waiting for chemo 'cause all of Ottawa has one chemo machine. 641 00:45:31,006 --> 00:45:35,466 If you think socialized medicine is a good idea, ask a Canadian. 642 00:45:37,045 --> 00:45:43,006 (Moore) I thought who better to ask than my Canadian relatives. Bob and Estelle. 643 00:45:43,085 --> 00:45:46,384 But they wouldn't cross the border into America. 644 00:45:46,455 --> 00:45:50,186 They wanted me to meet them at Sears. In Canada. 645 00:45:50,259 --> 00:45:53,558 What are you guys doing here? 646 00:45:53,629 --> 00:45:57,895 - We're buying insurance. - We're going to the States to see you. 647 00:45:57,966 --> 00:45:59,957 Right, that's just across the river. 648 00:46:00,035 --> 00:46:01,593 Yeah. 649 00:46:01,670 --> 00:46:05,970 You wouldn't go over to see us in Michigan for a couple of hours without insurance? 650 00:46:06,041 --> 00:46:10,444 No, we wouldn't. We're just adamant about it. We would not do it. 651 00:46:10,512 --> 00:46:14,778 If somebody punches us in the mouth or something, something like that... 652 00:46:14,850 --> 00:46:18,217 You don't want to get caught in the American health system thing? 653 00:46:18,287 --> 00:46:23,554 We have nothing against Americans or America, or anything like that at all. 654 00:46:23,625 --> 00:46:30,121 - (Moore) We're a nice and simple people. - Not very simple, but certainly very nice. 655 00:46:31,700 --> 00:46:35,101 (Moore) I decided to explore their anti-American views further. 656 00:46:35,170 --> 00:46:37,468 Over some fine Canadian cuisine. 657 00:46:37,539 --> 00:46:41,270 We have a friend who went to Hawaii. 658 00:46:41,343 --> 00:46:45,575 And he sustained a head injury while he was there. 659 00:46:45,647 --> 00:46:48,411 And before he was well enough to come home, 660 00:46:48,483 --> 00:46:52,510 he had chalked up a bill of over $600,000. 661 00:46:53,822 --> 00:46:58,156 So what middle-class Canadian could absorb that? 662 00:46:58,226 --> 00:47:02,595 (Moore) I guess I feel bad that you would have to worry about something like that. 663 00:47:02,664 --> 00:47:06,657 We're not criticizing your country, we're just giving you the facts, 664 00:47:06,735 --> 00:47:11,365 that we could not afford to be without insurance. 665 00:47:11,440 --> 00:47:15,001 - (Moore) Even for a day? - Even for a day. 666 00:47:16,278 --> 00:47:20,237 (Moore) To prove their point even further. They sent me over to a local golf course 667 00:47:20,315 --> 00:47:26,379 to talk to Larry Godfrey. Who had a golfing accident while on vacation in Florida. 668 00:47:26,455 --> 00:47:31,358 I could hear a noise and feel a pain, and the tendon snapped off this bone here 669 00:47:31,426 --> 00:47:33,724 that holds the bicep in place. 670 00:47:33,795 --> 00:47:37,356 So this bicep muscle was released, like on an elastic, 671 00:47:37,432 --> 00:47:39,866 and it ended up here on my chest. 672 00:47:39,935 --> 00:47:43,166 - The muscle ended up in your chest? - Right. Ended up here. 673 00:47:44,039 --> 00:47:47,372 (Moore) Like all good golfers. Larry finished his round 674 00:47:47,442 --> 00:47:50,434 before seeking medical attention. 675 00:47:50,512 --> 00:47:53,276 That's when he got the bad news. 676 00:47:53,348 --> 00:47:55,976 I wasn't too worried as I had out-of-country insurance, 677 00:47:56,051 --> 00:48:00,010 but when he told me it was 23 or 24,000, then I.... 678 00:48:00,088 --> 00:48:03,524 - (Moore) 24,000? - Dollars, yes. 679 00:48:03,592 --> 00:48:07,358 So if you'd stayed in the United States, this would have cost you $ 24,000? 680 00:48:07,429 --> 00:48:11,923 Instead, you went back to Canada, and Canada paid your total expenses? 681 00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:14,491 - Everything. - Paid for the operation. It cost you? 682 00:48:14,569 --> 00:48:15,900 - Nothing. - Zero. 683 00:48:15,971 --> 00:48:18,439 Zero. Zero. 684 00:48:18,507 --> 00:48:22,671 I'm wondering why you expect your fellow Canadians, who don't have your problem, 685 00:48:22,744 --> 00:48:27,841 why should they, through their tax dollars, have to pay for a problem you have? 686 00:48:27,916 --> 00:48:31,545 Because we would do the same for them. 687 00:48:31,620 --> 00:48:36,023 It's just the way it's always been and it's the way we hope it'll always be. 688 00:48:36,091 --> 00:48:38,821 Right, but if you just had to pay for your problem, 689 00:48:38,894 --> 00:48:42,625 and don't pay for everybody else's problem, just take care of yourself? 690 00:48:42,697 --> 00:48:46,428 Well, there are a lot of people who aren't in a position to be able to do that. 691 00:48:46,501 --> 00:48:49,061 And somebody has to look after them. 692 00:48:49,137 --> 00:48:51,230 Are you a member of the Socialist Party? 693 00:48:51,306 --> 00:48:53,774 - No. No. - Green Party? 694 00:48:53,842 --> 00:48:59,212 No. Well, actually, I'm a member of the Conservative Party. 695 00:48:59,281 --> 00:49:01,442 Is that bad? 696 00:49:02,317 --> 00:49:05,809 - Well, it's just a little confusing. - Well... 697 00:49:05,887 --> 00:49:08,287 It shouldn't be. I think that... 698 00:49:08,356 --> 00:49:11,689 Where medical matters are concerned, it wouldn't matter in Canada 699 00:49:11,760 --> 00:49:15,992 what party you were affiliated with, if any. 700 00:49:16,064 --> 00:49:19,056 But, to us, as we look across the river here, 701 00:49:19,134 --> 00:49:21,728 you know, why don't you think we don't believe that? 702 00:49:21,803 --> 00:49:24,328 What's wrong on this issue with us? 703 00:49:24,406 --> 00:49:30,538 I guess the powers that be don't share our beliefs 704 00:49:30,612 --> 00:49:32,978 that healthcare ought to be universal. 705 00:49:33,048 --> 00:49:38,111 I mean, Canadians didn't until we met up with a guy named Tommy Douglas, 706 00:49:38,186 --> 00:49:42,316 who pretty much changed everyone's mind. 707 00:49:42,390 --> 00:49:46,156 - One guy? - One guy, yeah. One guy did it, he... 708 00:49:46,228 --> 00:49:49,197 - Can he come over and visit us? - He's dead, unfortunately. 709 00:49:49,264 --> 00:49:51,255 In fact, he was... 710 00:49:51,333 --> 00:49:56,635 He's just most recently been revered as Canada's singular most important person. 711 00:49:56,705 --> 00:49:59,538 - We think so much of... - You mean in your history? 712 00:49:59,608 --> 00:50:01,542 In our whole history. 713 00:50:01,610 --> 00:50:04,477 - More than your first prime minister? - Absolutely, yeah. 714 00:50:04,546 --> 00:50:07,037 Even more than Wayne Gretzky. 715 00:50:07,115 --> 00:50:10,050 - No way! - Absolutely. Yeah. 716 00:50:10,118 --> 00:50:14,077 - More than Celine Dion? - Great singer. More than Celine, yeah. 717 00:50:14,155 --> 00:50:16,988 - More than Rocky and Bullwinkle? - Maybe. 718 00:50:22,731 --> 00:50:25,598 As the blade went through, it caught the glove I was wearing 719 00:50:25,667 --> 00:50:31,537 and it sliced through the entire group of fingers, completely taking them off. 720 00:50:31,606 --> 00:50:34,939 And I realized that I needed help immediately. 721 00:50:35,977 --> 00:50:39,174 (man) Obviously, putting on amputated fingers or arms or limbs 722 00:50:39,247 --> 00:50:41,442 is one of the more dramatic things we can do. 723 00:50:41,516 --> 00:50:45,646 If you're looking at five fingers, you're looking at a 24-hour operation. 724 00:50:45,720 --> 00:50:49,520 There actually was four surgeons, as well as all the nurses 725 00:50:49,591 --> 00:50:54,119 and two different anesthetists to carry out an operation of that magnitude. 726 00:50:54,195 --> 00:50:58,928 When Brad came in, we didn't have to worry about whether he could afford it. 727 00:50:59,000 --> 00:51:04,438 He needed help and we could concentrate on the best way to bring him through it. 728 00:51:05,373 --> 00:51:10,606 (Moore) I met this American, he'd cut off the ends of two of his fingers with a saw. 729 00:51:10,679 --> 00:51:16,276 So when he arrived at the hospital, they told him one finger's gonna cost $60,000, 730 00:51:16,351 --> 00:51:19,115 and the other one was gonna be $12,000. 731 00:51:19,187 --> 00:51:22,520 He had to choose which finger he could afford. 732 00:51:22,591 --> 00:51:24,957 Down. Bend the long finger down. 733 00:51:25,026 --> 00:51:29,190 (surgeon) We've never told someone that they couldn't put a finger back on 734 00:51:29,264 --> 00:51:31,255 because the system wouldn't allow it. 735 00:51:31,333 --> 00:51:36,703 I'm very glad I work within a system that allows me the freedom to look after people, 736 00:51:36,771 --> 00:51:39,262 and not have to make choices like that. 737 00:51:39,341 --> 00:51:43,072 (Moore) It seems nothing we were told about the Canadian system was true. 738 00:51:43,144 --> 00:51:45,578 Maybe I was just in the wrong part of town. 739 00:51:45,647 --> 00:51:49,606 So I went across the city to a crowded hospital waiting room. 740 00:51:49,684 --> 00:51:51,948 How long did you have to wait here to get help? 741 00:51:52,020 --> 00:51:54,454 - 20 minutes. - 45 minutes. 742 00:51:54,522 --> 00:51:57,923 - I got helped right away. - You can see how crowded this is. 743 00:51:57,993 --> 00:52:00,484 They really do an amazing job. 744 00:52:00,562 --> 00:52:03,759 (Moore) Did you have to get permission to come to this hospital? 745 00:52:03,832 --> 00:52:05,390 - No. - No. 746 00:52:05,467 --> 00:52:07,458 We can go anywhere we want. 747 00:52:07,535 --> 00:52:11,471 (Moore) You don't have to get it preapproved by your insurance company? 748 00:52:11,539 --> 00:52:15,100 - Oh, heavens, no. -(Moore) Can you choose your doctor? 749 00:52:15,176 --> 00:52:17,474 - Oh, yes. -(Moore) What's your deductible? 750 00:52:17,545 --> 00:52:20,013 - Nothing. - I don't think we have any. 751 00:52:20,081 --> 00:52:23,744 I don't know. I don't think there's any, as far as I know. 752 00:52:23,818 --> 00:52:25,843 - (Moore) So what did this cost? - Nothing. 753 00:52:25,920 --> 00:52:28,616 We know in America people pay for their healthcare, 754 00:52:28,690 --> 00:52:33,491 but I guess we don't understand that, 'cause we don't have to deal with that. 755 00:52:33,561 --> 00:52:37,053 And we're dealing with Parkinson's, stroke, heart attack. 756 00:52:37,132 --> 00:52:39,623 We're very, very lucky. Really we are. 757 00:52:39,701 --> 00:52:43,034 I mean, we complain. People complain about everything, right? 758 00:52:43,104 --> 00:52:47,837 - (Moore) Right, you're Canadian. - But on the whole, it's a fabulous system 759 00:52:47,909 --> 00:52:53,609 for making sure that the least of us and the best of us are taken care of. 760 00:52:53,682 --> 00:52:58,949 (Moore) It turns out that Canadians live three years longer than we do. 761 00:52:59,020 --> 00:53:04,822 That's not hard to believe when you meet fellow Americans like Erik. 762 00:53:04,893 --> 00:53:09,227 # Oh, England, here we go 763 00:53:11,533 --> 00:53:15,936 (Moore) Erik Turnbow of Olympia. Washington. Saved up his whole life 764 00:53:16,004 --> 00:53:20,771 so that he could visit the famed Abbey Road crosswalk in London. 765 00:53:20,842 --> 00:53:25,176 But it wasn't enough for Erik to just walk across the road like The Beatles did. 766 00:53:25,246 --> 00:53:28,409 He had to do it his own special way. 767 00:53:29,384 --> 00:53:34,686 (man #7) Here's Erik, about to walk on his hands across Abbey Road. 768 00:53:35,623 --> 00:53:37,614 Ready? 769 00:53:38,359 --> 00:53:40,350 - Ugh! -(crack) 770 00:53:41,863 --> 00:53:42,955 (man #7) Try it again. 771 00:53:52,073 --> 00:53:53,938 - Are you in pain? - Yeah. 772 00:53:58,179 --> 00:54:03,845 (Moore) The British hospital didn't charge Erik anything for his stay. 773 00:54:03,918 --> 00:54:09,185 And only about ten bucks for all the way-cool drugs they gave him. 774 00:54:09,257 --> 00:54:13,159 - (man #7) You're all slung up. - I'm gonna be OK. 775 00:54:16,798 --> 00:54:22,168 (Moore) I decided to go to Great Britain to find out how a hospital stay could be free. 776 00:54:22,237 --> 00:54:25,570 And drugs could cost only ten dollars. 777 00:54:27,842 --> 00:54:33,109 If I come in here and I have a prescription and it requires 30 pills, how much is that? 778 00:54:33,181 --> 00:54:35,979 It's £6.65. That's the standard charge. 779 00:54:36,050 --> 00:54:39,486 (Moore) £6.65? So that's what? Ten dollars or so? 780 00:54:39,554 --> 00:54:42,614 - Yes. - What if I needed 60 pills, how much is it? 781 00:54:42,690 --> 00:54:44,885 - Same charge. - 120 pills? 782 00:54:44,959 --> 00:54:47,393 - £6.65 still. - It doesn't matter how many pills? 783 00:54:47,462 --> 00:54:51,228 - No. - What if it's an HIV drug or a cancer drug? 784 00:54:51,299 --> 00:54:52,926 Still £6.65. 785 00:54:53,001 --> 00:54:58,462 If they are under 16 or over 60, they're automatically exempt. 786 00:54:58,540 --> 00:55:03,603 (Moore) So only a working adult who earns enough money pays the £6.65? 787 00:55:03,678 --> 00:55:05,805 Everybody else gets medication free? 788 00:55:05,880 --> 00:55:08,508 - No money being exchanged here? - No, nothing. 789 00:55:08,583 --> 00:55:12,110 - There's no money being exchanged? - I'm over 60. We don't pay. 790 00:55:12,187 --> 00:55:14,451 What's the purpose of the cash register? 791 00:55:16,658 --> 00:55:21,925 I'm just wondering where's the bread and the milk and the candy in here? 792 00:55:21,996 --> 00:55:25,397 I can't pick up any laundry detergent here? 793 00:55:25,466 --> 00:55:30,460 No. I haven't been trained for that many years to be selling detergents, so no. 794 00:55:41,950 --> 00:55:48,287 (Moore) I next went to a state-run hospital. Operated by the National Health Service. 795 00:55:49,257 --> 00:55:53,591 (woman # 4) I'm due in seven weeks and I get six months off, paid. 796 00:55:53,661 --> 00:55:58,064 And then I can have six months off unpaid as well, so I'm actually taking a year. 797 00:55:58,132 --> 00:56:00,999 (Moore) Well, that sounds like a luxury where I'm from. 798 00:56:01,069 --> 00:56:06,166 Oh, really, it's not like that in the US? No? Not at all, no? 799 00:56:06,674 --> 00:56:09,006 (Moore) So what do you pay for a stay here? 800 00:56:09,077 --> 00:56:11,409 No one pays. 801 00:56:12,847 --> 00:56:15,372 They were asking how do people pay. 802 00:56:15,450 --> 00:56:17,884 I said there isn't... You don't, you just leave. 803 00:56:17,952 --> 00:56:22,446 It's national insurance. There's no bill at the end of it, as it were. 804 00:56:24,926 --> 00:56:28,726 (Moore) Even with insurance. There's bound to be a bill somewhere. 805 00:56:28,796 --> 00:56:32,357 - So where's the billing department? - There isn't a billing department. 806 00:56:32,433 --> 00:56:34,401 There's no such thing. 807 00:56:35,003 --> 00:56:37,096 (Moore) What did they charge for that baby? 808 00:56:37,171 --> 00:56:40,197 - Sorry? - You gotta pay before you can get out? 809 00:56:40,275 --> 00:56:44,234 - No. This is NHS. - No, no. Everything is on NHS. 810 00:56:44,312 --> 00:56:46,803 You know, it's not America. 811 00:56:49,183 --> 00:56:55,122 (Moore) Maybe I'd have better luck in the part where things get seriously expensive. 812 00:56:55,189 --> 00:56:59,558 This guy broke his ankle. How much will this cost him? 813 00:56:59,627 --> 00:57:04,189 The emergency room visit. He'll have some huge bill when he's done, right? 814 00:57:04,265 --> 00:57:07,325 Here... NHS, everything is free. 815 00:57:07,402 --> 00:57:10,701 (Moore) I'm asking about hospital charges and you're laughing. 816 00:57:10,772 --> 00:57:14,503 I was never asked this question in the emergency department, that's why. 817 00:57:16,311 --> 00:57:19,474 (Moore) I was starting to fall for this "everything is free" bit. 818 00:57:19,547 --> 00:57:21,538 And then I discovered this. 819 00:57:22,884 --> 00:57:26,820 So this is where people come to pay their bill when they're done staying here? 820 00:57:26,888 --> 00:57:29,948 No, this is the NHS hospital, so you don't pay the bill. 821 00:57:30,024 --> 00:57:32,822 You get to just go home? 822 00:57:32,894 --> 00:57:37,627 Why does it say "cashier" here if people don't have to pay a bill? 823 00:57:37,699 --> 00:57:40,293 All we have is a little man who stands behind a counter 824 00:57:40,368 --> 00:57:44,429 and he gives people money if they've had to pay for transport. 825 00:57:44,505 --> 00:57:48,566 Those who have reduced means get their travel expenses reimbursed. 826 00:57:48,643 --> 00:57:49,735 Thank you. 827 00:57:49,811 --> 00:57:55,078 (Moore) So in British hospitals. Instead of money going into the cashier's window . 828 00:57:55,149 --> 00:57:56,707 Money comes out. 829 00:57:56,784 --> 00:57:59,753 The criteria for letting you out are not if you've paid, 830 00:57:59,821 --> 00:58:03,154 the criteria are, are you fit to go and are you going somewhere safe? 831 00:58:03,224 --> 00:58:06,455 (Moore) Clearly. I was just the butt of a joke here. 832 00:58:11,566 --> 00:58:14,763 What I needed was a good old-fashioned American 833 00:58:14,836 --> 00:58:17,361 who would have some understanding. 834 00:58:17,438 --> 00:58:20,999 (woman #5) I first came to London in 1992. 835 00:58:21,075 --> 00:58:25,375 And we just ended up staying and we had three children here. 836 00:58:25,446 --> 00:58:30,748 Well, I had them all on the NHS, which is the British National Health Service. 837 00:58:30,818 --> 00:58:34,549 I think, like a lot of Americans, assumed that a socialized medicine 838 00:58:34,622 --> 00:58:37,591 was just bottom of the rung treatment, 839 00:58:37,658 --> 00:58:41,651 that the only way would be horrible and it would be like the Soviet Union. 840 00:58:41,729 --> 00:58:43,697 I mean, that's kind of how... 841 00:58:43,765 --> 00:58:48,259 - And it's terrible that that's what I thought. -(Moore) That's what I thought. Too. 842 00:58:48,336 --> 00:58:51,931 After having a baby. It's right back to the wheat fields. 843 00:58:52,006 --> 00:58:54,941 (singing in Russian) 844 00:59:16,464 --> 00:59:19,661 And then it occurred to me that back home in America. 845 00:59:19,734 --> 00:59:22,635 We've socialized a lot of things. 846 00:59:47,228 --> 00:59:53,133 I kind of like having a police department and fire department and the library. 847 00:59:53,201 --> 00:59:59,071 And I got to wondering. Why don't we have more of these free. Socialized things. 848 00:59:59,140 --> 01:00:00,630 Like healthcare? 849 01:00:00,708 --> 01:00:05,611 When did this whole idea that every British citizen should have a right to healthcare? 850 01:00:05,680 --> 01:00:09,013 Well, if you go back, it all began with democracy. 851 01:00:09,083 --> 01:00:13,850 Before we had the vote all the power was in the hands of rich people. 852 01:00:13,921 --> 01:00:16,549 If you had money, you could get healthcare, education, 853 01:00:16,624 --> 01:00:18,524 look after yourself when you were old. 854 01:00:18,593 --> 01:00:23,587 And what democracy did was to give the poor the vote. 855 01:00:23,664 --> 01:00:27,794 And it moved power from the marketplace to the polling station. 856 01:00:27,869 --> 01:00:30,429 From the wallet to the ballot. 857 01:00:30,505 --> 01:00:32,564 And what people said was very simple. 858 01:00:32,640 --> 01:00:36,736 They said, "In the 1930s, we had mass unemployment." 859 01:00:36,811 --> 01:00:39,371 "But we don't have unemployment during the war." 860 01:00:39,447 --> 01:00:41,779 "If you can have full employment by killing Germans, 861 01:00:41,849 --> 01:00:46,548 why can't we have it by building hospitals, schools, recruiting nurses and teachers?" 862 01:00:46,621 --> 01:00:51,957 If you can find money to kill people, you can find money to help people. 863 01:00:52,026 --> 01:00:52,856 Right. 864 01:00:52,927 --> 01:00:56,658 This leaflet that was issued was very, very straightforward. 865 01:00:56,731 --> 01:00:59,427 - What year was this? - This was 1948. 866 01:00:59,500 --> 01:01:02,663 "Your new National Health Service begins on the 5th of July." 867 01:01:02,737 --> 01:01:04,728 "What is it? How do you get it?" 868 01:01:04,805 --> 01:01:09,640 "It will provide you with all medical, dental and nursing care." 869 01:01:09,710 --> 01:01:14,773 "Everyone, rich or poor, man, woman or child, can use it or any part of it." 870 01:01:14,849 --> 01:01:18,046 "There are no charges, except for a few special items." 871 01:01:18,119 --> 01:01:22,215 "There is no insurance qualifications, but it is not a charity." 872 01:01:22,290 --> 01:01:24,952 "You are paying for it mainly as taxpayers, 873 01:01:25,026 --> 01:01:29,224 and it will relieve your money worries in times of illness." 874 01:01:29,297 --> 01:01:33,256 Now, somehow, the few words sum the whole thing up. 875 01:01:39,073 --> 01:01:43,908 (Moore) I was amazed when he said this all started in 1948. 876 01:01:44,412 --> 01:01:49,315 The British had come out of a devastating experience through World War II. 877 01:01:49,383 --> 01:01:52,648 The country was destroyed and nearly bankrupt. 878 01:01:52,720 --> 01:01:55,245 They had nothing. 879 01:01:55,323 --> 01:01:57,985 In just one eight-month period. 880 01:01:58,059 --> 01:02:01,927 Over 42.000 civilians lost their lives. 881 01:02:02,763 --> 01:02:05,994 What we went through in two hours on 9/11. 882 01:02:06,067 --> 01:02:09,093 They went through nearly every single day. 883 01:02:10,938 --> 01:02:17,104 Remember how we all felt after 9/11 ? All of us pulling together? 884 01:02:17,178 --> 01:02:19,612 I guess that's how they felt. 885 01:02:20,615 --> 01:02:24,073 And the first way that they decided to pull together after the war 886 01:02:24,151 --> 01:02:28,918 was to provide free medical care for everyone. 887 01:02:28,990 --> 01:02:34,428 Even Mrs. Thatcher said, "The National Health Service is safe in our hands." 888 01:02:34,495 --> 01:02:37,293 It's as non-controversial as votes for women. 889 01:02:37,365 --> 01:02:39,890 Nobody could say, "Why should women have the vote?" now. 890 01:02:39,967 --> 01:02:42,561 People wouldn't have it, they wouldn't in Britain. 891 01:02:42,637 --> 01:02:47,267 They wouldn't accept the deterioration or destruction of the National Health Service. 892 01:02:47,341 --> 01:02:50,936 If Thatcher or Blair said, "I'm going to dismantle national healthcare..." 893 01:02:51,012 --> 01:02:52,673 There would have been a revolution. 894 01:02:54,548 --> 01:02:58,575 (# "Street Fighting Man" by The Rolling Stones) 895 01:03:02,189 --> 01:03:07,650 (reporter #9) A report from the AMA into the health of 55- to 64-year-olds 896 01:03:07,728 --> 01:03:10,595 says Brits are far healthier than Americans. 897 01:03:10,665 --> 01:03:15,466 (man #8) For every illness that we looked at. Americans had more of it than English. 898 01:03:15,536 --> 01:03:19,165 (reporter #9) Cancer. Heart disease. Hypertension. Strokes. Lung disease. 899 01:03:19,240 --> 01:03:21,902 All significantly higher for Americans. 900 01:03:21,976 --> 01:03:23,807 Even the poorest people in England 901 01:03:23,878 --> 01:03:28,144 with all the environmental factors that give them the worst health in the country 902 01:03:28,215 --> 01:03:33,517 can expect to live longer than the wealthiest people in America. 903 01:03:40,594 --> 01:03:44,496 (Moore) I was wondering. Though. What's it like for the doctors here in Britain. 904 01:03:44,565 --> 01:03:48,194 Who have to live under this kind of state control? 905 01:03:48,269 --> 01:03:49,930 And you're a family doctor? 906 01:03:50,004 --> 01:03:53,337 Yeah, I suppose we'd call them GPs or general practitioners here. 907 01:03:53,407 --> 01:03:56,808 - Right, so you have a family practice? - Yeah, it's an NHS practice. 908 01:03:56,877 --> 01:03:58,868 We have nine doctors in that practice. 909 01:03:58,946 --> 01:04:00,937 - Paid for by the government? - Yeah. 910 01:04:01,015 --> 01:04:04,178 You work for the government? You're a government-paid doctor. 911 01:04:04,251 --> 01:04:07,379 A patient comes to you. Before you treat them, do you have to call 912 01:04:07,455 --> 01:04:10,253 the government insurance company before you treat them? 913 01:04:10,324 --> 01:04:14,055 No, I don't deal with money at all on an everyday basis. 914 01:04:14,128 --> 01:04:17,359 Have you ever had to say no to someone who was sick and needed help? 915 01:04:17,431 --> 01:04:20,730 - No, never. - Have you heard of anyone 916 01:04:20,801 --> 01:04:24,601 being in the hospital and being removed because they couldn't pay their bill? 917 01:04:24,672 --> 01:04:27,232 No, never. And I wouldn't want to work in that system. 918 01:04:27,308 --> 01:04:31,244 So working for the government, you probably have to use public transport? 919 01:04:31,312 --> 01:04:34,304 No. I have a car that I use and I drive to work. 920 01:04:34,382 --> 01:04:36,373 An old beater? 921 01:04:42,456 --> 01:04:44,720 You live in a rough part of town? 922 01:04:44,792 --> 01:04:48,785 I live in a terrific part of town. It's called Greenwich. 923 01:04:52,466 --> 01:04:55,094 It's a lovely house. It's a three-story house. 924 01:04:55,169 --> 01:04:57,899 (Moore) How many other families have to live with you? 925 01:04:57,972 --> 01:05:02,966 There's four bedrooms for my wife and my son. It's just the three of us there. 926 01:05:03,043 --> 01:05:07,980 - (Moore) How much did you pay for that? - £550,000. Yes, almost. 927 01:05:08,048 --> 01:05:10,039 (Moore) So, a million dollars? 928 01:05:10,117 --> 01:05:15,214 You're a government-paid doctor on a national health insurance healthcare plan, 929 01:05:15,289 --> 01:05:18,281 - and you live in a million-dollar home? - Yes. 930 01:05:22,863 --> 01:05:26,856 - I think my friends think we do quite well. - Really? How well do you do? 931 01:05:26,934 --> 01:05:29,698 I earn around 85,000, including pension. 932 01:05:29,770 --> 01:05:32,238 - £85,000? - £85,000 a year. 933 01:05:32,306 --> 01:05:35,104 And that includes pension that they would pay in to me. 934 01:05:35,176 --> 01:05:38,145 They probably earn just over £100,000 within my practice. 935 01:05:38,212 --> 01:05:42,239 - £100,000? So that's almost $ 200,000? - Yes, absolutely. 936 01:05:42,316 --> 01:05:45,285 The money that we earn, we get paid by what we do. 937 01:05:45,352 --> 01:05:49,220 So the better we do for our patients, then the more we get paid. 938 01:05:49,290 --> 01:05:52,418 - What do you mean? - There's a new system. 939 01:05:52,493 --> 01:05:57,021 And in that new system, if the most number of your patients have low blood pressures, 940 01:05:57,097 --> 01:05:59,531 or you get most of your patients to stop smoking, 941 01:05:59,600 --> 01:06:03,400 or you get your patients to have mental health reviews if they're unwell, 942 01:06:03,471 --> 01:06:05,939 or low cholesterols, then you get paid more. 943 01:06:06,006 --> 01:06:10,102 This year, if you get more people that are your patients to stop smoking, 944 01:06:10,177 --> 01:06:12,338 you'll get more money, you'll earn more? 945 01:06:12,413 --> 01:06:13,778 Oh, yeah. Absolutely. 946 01:06:13,848 --> 01:06:20,549 So doctors in America do not have to fear having a universal healthcare? 947 01:06:20,621 --> 01:06:25,081 No. I think if you want to have two or three million-dollar homes 948 01:06:25,159 --> 01:06:28,925 and four or five nice cars and six or seven nice televisions, 949 01:06:28,996 --> 01:06:32,830 then maybe, yeah, you need to practice somewhere where you can earn that. 950 01:06:32,900 --> 01:06:35,061 But I think we live comfortably here. 951 01:06:35,135 --> 01:06:37,968 London is expensive, but I think we live comfortably. 952 01:06:38,038 --> 01:06:42,407 You're getting by OK on the million-dollar home, the Audi, and the flat-screen TV? 953 01:06:42,476 --> 01:06:45,070 Yeah, we're coping with those. 954 01:06:46,247 --> 01:06:49,307 I think democracy is the most revolutionary thing in the world. 955 01:06:49,383 --> 01:06:52,841 Far more revolutionary than socialist ideas, or anybody else's idea. 956 01:06:52,920 --> 01:06:58,586 Because if you have power, you use it to meet the needs of your community. 957 01:06:58,659 --> 01:07:03,255 And this idea of choice which capital talks about, "you've got to have a choice," 958 01:07:03,330 --> 01:07:05,457 choice depends on the freedom to choose. 959 01:07:05,533 --> 01:07:08,696 If you're shackled with debt, you don't have a freedom to choose. 960 01:07:08,769 --> 01:07:13,468 (Moore) It seems it benefits the system if the average person is shackled with debt. 961 01:07:13,541 --> 01:07:17,409 People in debt become hopeless, and hopeless people don't vote. 962 01:07:17,478 --> 01:07:19,469 They always say everyone should vote, 963 01:07:19,547 --> 01:07:23,540 but I think if the poor in Britain or the United States 964 01:07:23,617 --> 01:07:26,518 voted for people who represented their interests, 965 01:07:26,587 --> 01:07:29,283 it would be a real democratic revolution. 966 01:07:29,356 --> 01:07:33,315 So they don't want it to happen. So keeping people hopeless and pessimistic... 967 01:07:33,394 --> 01:07:37,194 See, I think there are two ways in which people are controlled. 968 01:07:37,264 --> 01:07:41,496 First of all, frighten people, and secondly, demoralize them. 969 01:07:41,569 --> 01:07:45,335 An educated, healthy and confident nation is harder to govern. 970 01:07:45,406 --> 01:07:48,705 And I think there's an element in the thinking of some people: 971 01:07:48,776 --> 01:07:52,542 "We don't want people to be educated, healthy and confident, 972 01:07:52,613 --> 01:07:55,411 because they would get out of control." 973 01:07:55,482 --> 01:07:59,612 The top 1 % of the world's population own 80% of the world's wealth. 974 01:07:59,687 --> 01:08:03,680 It's incredible that people put up with it, but they're poor, 975 01:08:03,757 --> 01:08:06,225 they're demoralized, they're frightened. 976 01:08:06,293 --> 01:08:09,160 And therefore, they think perhaps the safest thing to do 977 01:08:09,229 --> 01:08:12,062 is to take orders and hope for the best. 978 01:08:16,370 --> 01:08:18,702 (Moore) And hope for the best is what we do. 979 01:08:18,772 --> 01:08:21,366 Right from the moment we're born. 980 01:08:21,442 --> 01:08:25,208 We've got the worst infant mortality rate in the western world. 981 01:08:25,279 --> 01:08:28,271 A baby born in El Salvador has a better chance of surviving 982 01:08:28,349 --> 01:08:30,374 than a baby born in Detroit. 983 01:08:30,451 --> 01:08:33,045 But it gets better when we go to school. 984 01:08:33,120 --> 01:08:36,146 (man #9) Classrooms with 40 students. Schools with no labs. 985 01:08:36,223 --> 01:08:39,715 (Moore) No wonder the majority of our adults can't find Britain on a map. 986 01:08:39,793 --> 01:08:42,261 But that's OK. There's always college. 987 01:08:42,329 --> 01:08:44,797 By the time we graduate. Our ass is so in hock. 988 01:08:44,865 --> 01:08:47,561 We're in debt before our first job. 989 01:08:47,635 --> 01:08:52,937 I'm at about... we'll say about $35,000 in debt. That's for my third year in college. 990 01:08:53,007 --> 01:08:56,943 (Moore) You'll be the employee they're looking for - one who needs this job. 991 01:08:57,011 --> 01:08:59,844 3,904, 3,905... 992 01:08:59,913 --> 01:09:03,280 What employer wouldn't employ someone thousands of dollars in debt. 993 01:09:03,350 --> 01:09:06,581 Because they won't cause any trouble? 994 01:09:06,654 --> 01:09:11,023 In addition to paying off your college debt. You need a job with health insurance. 995 01:09:11,091 --> 01:09:13,616 It would be horrible to lose that job. Wouldn't it? 996 01:09:13,694 --> 01:09:18,256 You can always quit, you know. There's no law that says you have to work here. 997 01:09:18,332 --> 01:09:21,426 (Moore) If that one job doesn't pay all the bills. Don't worry. 998 01:09:21,502 --> 01:09:25,370 You can get another one. And another one. And another one. 999 01:09:25,439 --> 01:09:29,034 I work three jobs, and I feel like I contribute. 1000 01:09:29,109 --> 01:09:31,737 - You work three jobs? - Three jobs, yes. 1001 01:09:31,812 --> 01:09:36,340 Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that. 1002 01:09:37,418 --> 01:09:38,510 Get any sleep? 1003 01:09:38,585 --> 01:09:41,554 (Moore) If you're not sleeping. Take pharmaceuticals. 1004 01:09:41,622 --> 01:09:44,113 (man #10) You're tired all the time. You feel sad. 1005 01:09:44,191 --> 01:09:46,489 (woman #8) If you suffer from excessive worry... 1006 01:09:46,560 --> 01:09:48,721 (woman #9) Generalized anxiety disorder. 1007 01:09:48,796 --> 01:09:51,162 (woman #10) It could be adult ADD. 1008 01:09:51,231 --> 01:09:53,995 - (woman #11 ) Ask your doctor. -(man #11 ) Ask your doctor. 1009 01:09:54,068 --> 01:09:57,629 (Moore) Yes. Ask your doctor. And ask him for more drugs. 1010 01:09:57,705 --> 01:10:00,572 That should keep you doped up until it's time to retire. 1011 01:10:00,641 --> 01:10:02,973 Did I say retire? (laughs) 1012 01:10:03,877 --> 01:10:06,573 If you make it to 80. Your pension will still be there. 1013 01:10:06,647 --> 01:10:10,481 Unlike the new employees for these companies. Who'll never see a pension. 1014 01:10:10,551 --> 01:10:15,488 But I'm sure our kids will take care of us. Considering the great life we've given 'em. 1015 01:10:15,556 --> 01:10:19,458 Remember. Let's defeat the terrorists over there so we don't have to fight them here. 1016 01:10:21,095 --> 01:10:24,963 Kaiser Permanente is the largest HMO in the country. 1017 01:10:25,032 --> 01:10:29,662 And Dawnelle Keyes was fortunate enough to be fully insured by them. 1018 01:10:29,737 --> 01:10:34,140 It's a good thing. Because one night. Her 18-month-old daughter. Mychelle. 1019 01:10:34,208 --> 01:10:36,904 Developed a fever of over 104. 1020 01:10:37,878 --> 01:10:41,336 So. Like any responsible mom. She called 911. 1021 01:10:41,415 --> 01:10:45,283 And the ambulance took Mychelle to the closest hospital. 1022 01:10:45,352 --> 01:10:47,377 The hospital checked with her HMO 1023 01:10:47,454 --> 01:10:51,117 and they were told that Kaiser would not cover the tests and the antibiotics 1024 01:10:51,191 --> 01:10:54,456 necessary to treat Mychelle. 1025 01:10:54,528 --> 01:10:59,329 She would have to take her to an in-network. Kaiser-owned hospital. 1026 01:10:59,399 --> 01:11:04,359 Kaiser said that I should bring her by car to the hospital, 1027 01:11:04,438 --> 01:11:07,805 and that she shouldn't be treated at Martin Luther King. 1028 01:11:07,875 --> 01:11:12,812 I just continued to ask them to treat her, and they refused. 1029 01:11:14,381 --> 01:11:18,545 My daughter got worse and she had a seizure. 1030 01:11:19,653 --> 01:11:25,785 (Moore) Dawnelle begged doctors to not listen to Kaiser and to treat her daughter. 1031 01:11:25,859 --> 01:11:31,729 I was escorted out of the hospital because they felt that I was a threat. 1032 01:11:32,533 --> 01:11:36,526 (Moore) After hours of delay. She was transported to Kaiser. 1033 01:11:36,603 --> 01:11:41,233 And got there just in time to go into cardiac arrest. 1034 01:11:41,308 --> 01:11:45,972 They worked on her for about 30 minutes, trying to revive her. 1035 01:11:46,046 --> 01:11:52,451 And the doctors came in and let us know that she had expired. 1036 01:11:55,622 --> 01:12:01,026 I was in a daze, a real daze. It just didn't seem real. 1037 01:12:02,196 --> 01:12:03,925 I just held her. 1038 01:12:03,997 --> 01:12:08,366 I held her and I told her that Mommy tried her best to help her, 1039 01:12:08,435 --> 01:12:14,203 to make sure that she was gonna get the treatment she needed to receive. 1040 01:12:14,274 --> 01:12:18,404 And that I was sorry that I wasn't able to help her. 1041 01:12:24,051 --> 01:12:26,144 (toy) Simon says.: Give the answer. 1042 01:12:26,220 --> 01:12:28,211 (# computerized tune) 1043 01:12:30,591 --> 01:12:32,320 Uh-oh. 1044 01:12:32,893 --> 01:12:35,794 (Moore) This is Karena and her daughter Zoe. 1045 01:12:35,863 --> 01:12:39,424 Karena is a graduate of Michigan State University. 1046 01:12:39,499 --> 01:12:42,957 And a native of my hometown of Flint. Michigan. 1047 01:12:43,036 --> 01:12:46,836 Six months ago. Zoe. Like Dawnelle's baby Mychelle. 1048 01:12:46,907 --> 01:12:49,068 Came down with a high fever. 1049 01:12:49,142 --> 01:12:52,339 What happened is she stopped breathing for a little while, 1050 01:12:52,412 --> 01:12:55,711 turned blue and passed out in my arms, which was... 1051 01:12:55,782 --> 01:12:59,946 It was the most horrible moment in my life, I think, 1052 01:13:00,020 --> 01:13:03,512 just because I thought that she was either dead or dying. 1053 01:13:03,590 --> 01:13:05,785 And I had no clue what to do. 1054 01:13:06,360 --> 01:13:10,763 At the hospital, they gave her some medicine to bring the fever down, 1055 01:13:10,831 --> 01:13:13,265 and examined her, took some blood. 1056 01:13:13,333 --> 01:13:16,496 - (Moore) What was wrong with her? - It was a throat infection. 1057 01:13:16,570 --> 01:13:20,233 But we stayed at the hospital from Friday to Sunday, 1058 01:13:20,307 --> 01:13:23,401 - just so they could keep an eye on her. - You stayed there that long? 1059 01:13:23,477 --> 01:13:26,605 Yeah. They just basically kept an eye on her. 1060 01:13:26,680 --> 01:13:30,480 And how much did all this cost you, the three-plus days in the hospital? 1061 01:13:30,550 --> 01:13:31,881 - Nothing. - Nothing? 1062 01:13:31,952 --> 01:13:36,150 - Nothing. Nothing at all. - And that's because? 1063 01:13:37,157 --> 01:13:39,648 - I live in France. - You live in France? 1064 01:13:39,726 --> 01:13:40,818 Yeah. 1065 01:13:43,463 --> 01:13:45,431 (Moore) Ah. France. 1066 01:13:45,499 --> 01:13:50,232 They enjoy their wine. Their cigarettes and their fatty foods. 1067 01:13:50,304 --> 01:13:53,364 And yet. Just like the Canadians and the Brits. 1068 01:13:53,440 --> 01:13:56,000 They live much longer than we do. 1069 01:13:56,076 --> 01:13:59,978 Something about that seemed grossly unfair. 1070 01:14:01,648 --> 01:14:03,343 This is Alexi Cremieux. 1071 01:14:03,417 --> 01:14:08,946 He spent his entire adult life in the US without health insurance. 1072 01:14:10,490 --> 01:14:14,654 (Alexi) I lived in America for 13 years. I loved my life there. 1073 01:14:14,728 --> 01:14:19,028 But then when I discovered that I had a tumor and I didn't have health insurance, 1074 01:14:19,099 --> 01:14:21,897 unfortunately, I had to come back here. 1075 01:14:21,969 --> 01:14:25,166 Even though I had never paid taxes in France 'cause I never worked here - 1076 01:14:25,238 --> 01:14:27,832 I left when I was 18, I had no Social Security number - 1077 01:14:27,908 --> 01:14:30,809 for them it was, "He needs treatment, he has no income, 1078 01:14:30,877 --> 01:14:34,938 so we're gonna give him, you know, the treatment he needs." 1079 01:14:35,849 --> 01:14:38,750 - (Moore) How are you doing now? - I'm healthy now, 1080 01:14:38,819 --> 01:14:40,878 but I had three months of chemotherapy. 1081 01:14:40,954 --> 01:14:44,754 So after three months, I saw my doctor and he said, "You wanna go back to work?" 1082 01:14:44,825 --> 01:14:47,316 I said, "No, I don't feel like it." 1083 01:14:47,394 --> 01:14:50,363 "Right now, I'm not ready." He said, "How much do you need?" 1084 01:14:50,430 --> 01:14:53,661 I said, "Well, I don't know." He said, "Would three months be OK?" 1085 01:14:53,734 --> 01:14:56,396 I said, "I think three months would be fine." 1086 01:14:56,470 --> 01:15:01,066 He said, "OK, so take three months off." So he wrote me a note 1087 01:15:01,141 --> 01:15:03,803 that I gave to my employer to make sure I got paid. 1088 01:15:04,845 --> 01:15:09,373 - So I went to the south of France... - Wait a minute, three months off with pay? 1089 01:15:09,449 --> 01:15:11,417 Yes. Yes. 1090 01:15:11,485 --> 01:15:16,479 I get 65% paid by the government, 1091 01:15:16,556 --> 01:15:20,287 and then the other 35% is paid by my employer. 1092 01:15:20,360 --> 01:15:23,386 To make sure you get 100% . 1093 01:15:24,131 --> 01:15:29,125 So it was April, it was spring again. So I started right away, sucking up some sun. 1094 01:15:29,202 --> 01:15:34,970 And that really helped me a lot, to recharge my batteries. 1095 01:15:35,042 --> 01:15:39,843 I mean, it was like night and day. In three months, I went from a 95-year-old man 1096 01:15:39,913 --> 01:15:43,041 to a 35-year-old man again. 1097 01:15:43,116 --> 01:15:46,882 But that's because I had that time to take care of myself. 1098 01:15:52,492 --> 01:15:58,795 I'm not in a position to make any judgment concerning the American system. 1099 01:15:58,865 --> 01:16:02,096 I think the United States is a great, great country. 1100 01:16:02,169 --> 01:16:05,002 Americans are great people. I really love them. 1101 01:16:05,072 --> 01:16:10,271 But as a doctor first, as a citizen second, 1102 01:16:10,343 --> 01:16:12,868 and eventually, as a patient third, 1103 01:16:12,946 --> 01:16:15,380 I'm very glad to be in France. 1104 01:16:16,116 --> 01:16:18,243 It's kind of a luxury here. 1105 01:16:18,318 --> 01:16:22,516 You are sick, you step in a hospital, you get the care you need. 1106 01:16:22,589 --> 01:16:25,854 It doesn't depend on your premiums. It depends on what you need. 1107 01:16:25,926 --> 01:16:28,895 One of the principles is solidarity. 1108 01:16:28,962 --> 01:16:33,331 People who are better off pay for those who are worse off. 1109 01:16:34,167 --> 01:16:37,898 You pay according to your means and you receive according to your needs. 1110 01:16:37,971 --> 01:16:41,498 (Moore) Do you think that will ever work in America? 1111 01:16:41,575 --> 01:16:43,440 No. 1112 01:16:43,510 --> 01:16:47,606 (Moore) He could barely contain his seething anti-Americanism. 1113 01:16:47,681 --> 01:16:51,708 And I just didn't want to listen to any more of it. 1114 01:16:55,655 --> 01:16:59,921 So I found a group of Americans currently living in Paris. 1115 01:16:59,993 --> 01:17:03,121 Who I know would tell me the truth. 1116 01:17:03,196 --> 01:17:06,597 I was diagnosed five years ago with Type I diabetes. 1117 01:17:06,666 --> 01:17:11,831 - I was a bit nervous to tell them I had... -(Moore) To tell the French? 1118 01:17:11,905 --> 01:17:15,033 There's a place to check off if you have a chronic condition. 1119 01:17:15,108 --> 01:17:18,100 I was nervous that they were going to charge me more. 1120 01:17:18,178 --> 01:17:21,978 And instead, I went into a hospital, and had round-the-clock care. 1121 01:17:22,048 --> 01:17:25,643 And they do an amazing amount of preventative care. 1122 01:17:25,719 --> 01:17:28,153 They asked if you have a preexisting condition, 1123 01:17:28,221 --> 01:17:31,384 not to punish you, but to give you more help? 1124 01:17:31,458 --> 01:17:33,619 - Yes. - I was in the hospital for a year. 1125 01:17:33,693 --> 01:17:39,654 As soon as I was in, it was, "Well, don't worry, just rest." 1126 01:17:39,733 --> 01:17:43,567 - People said "Rest." - How many sick days do you get a year? 1127 01:17:43,637 --> 01:17:46,333 - I think it's unlimited. - Unlimited? 1128 01:17:46,406 --> 01:17:50,638 Yes. How can you limit sick days? If you're sick, you're sick. 1129 01:17:50,710 --> 01:17:54,976 I've gone to emergency rooms numerous times, with four boys. 1130 01:17:55,048 --> 01:17:57,414 And have never waited more than an hour. Never. 1131 01:17:57,484 --> 01:18:00,282 I can call and somebody comes to the house in half an hour. 1132 01:18:00,353 --> 01:18:03,845 No way? Making a house call? At your place? 1133 01:18:03,924 --> 01:18:06,620 How many of you have had a house call from a doctor? No! 1134 01:18:06,693 --> 01:18:09,821 - 3:00am last Friday. - And how much does this cost you? 1135 01:18:09,896 --> 01:18:12,160 - Nothing. - What's this service called? 1136 01:18:17,637 --> 01:18:18,763 Where are we going? 1137 01:18:21,841 --> 01:18:25,004 We are going to see a man who has abdominal pain. 1138 01:18:25,078 --> 01:18:27,239 - Abdominal pain? - Yeah. 1139 01:19:08,955 --> 01:19:12,220 - Where do we go next? - The next visit? 1140 01:19:20,600 --> 01:19:23,160 (# "L'amour est bleu" by Vicky Leandros) 1141 01:19:45,892 --> 01:19:48,360 I say to anyone who asks me why I'm in this country 1142 01:19:48,428 --> 01:19:52,421 is that I think it's one of the friendliest countries that I know of. 1143 01:19:52,499 --> 01:19:56,663 And talk about family values - I mean, childcare, healthcare... 1144 01:19:56,736 --> 01:19:58,567 We don't pay for day care. 1145 01:19:58,638 --> 01:20:03,041 The day care where I send my daughter - and I was a teacher - standards are high. 1146 01:20:06,680 --> 01:20:10,741 So how much does it cost you to have two children here? How much per hour? 1147 01:20:17,223 --> 01:20:19,953 (Moore) Are you happy with how they're cared for? 1148 01:20:35,542 --> 01:20:41,503 Here, my kids are sure that they are going to get a certain level of care, education, 1149 01:20:41,581 --> 01:20:45,176 - college I don't have to worry about... -(Moore) What do you mean? 1150 01:20:45,251 --> 01:20:47,276 - It's free. -(Moore) You're kidding? 1151 01:20:47,354 --> 01:20:50,346 - You can get a college education for free. -(Moore) No way. 1152 01:20:50,423 --> 01:20:53,688 - Yes. - There's not a sense of desperation. 1153 01:20:53,760 --> 01:20:55,819 They rest, they enjoy life. 1154 01:20:55,895 --> 01:20:59,558 They spend time with their kids, there's vacations, family time. 1155 01:20:59,632 --> 01:21:02,795 - How many weeks of paid vacation? - Minimum five weeks. 1156 01:21:02,869 --> 01:21:05,702 Five weeks? Minimum of five weeks? 1157 01:21:05,772 --> 01:21:09,139 If you work for a large company, you get sometimes eight, ten weeks. 1158 01:21:09,209 --> 01:21:13,077 - Remember that there is a 35-hour week. - The productivity rate is so high here. 1159 01:21:13,146 --> 01:21:16,343 (Moore) I read it was higher than the United States. 1160 01:21:16,416 --> 01:21:20,375 If they're working more than 35 hours a week, they'll get extra days off. 1161 01:21:20,453 --> 01:21:22,887 That is for part-time and full-time employees. 1162 01:21:22,956 --> 01:21:26,517 You get five weeks paid vacation even if you're a part-time employee? 1163 01:21:26,593 --> 01:21:28,026 - Of course. - Everybody. 1164 01:21:28,094 --> 01:21:32,087 If you get married, you get an extra week or seven days for your honeymoon. 1165 01:21:32,165 --> 01:21:35,566 - In addition to your five weeks. - You're paid to take your honeymoon? 1166 01:21:35,635 --> 01:21:37,330 Also if you move. 1167 01:21:37,404 --> 01:21:40,100 You mean if you move from one apartment to another? 1168 01:21:40,173 --> 01:21:41,640 You get one day. 1169 01:21:41,708 --> 01:21:46,042 - You get a day to move and they pay you? - These are the laws here. 1170 01:21:46,112 --> 01:21:49,275 When my daughter was three months old, they sent somebody to you 1171 01:21:49,349 --> 01:21:54,184 to give you tips on what to do with your child, every single day, for free. 1172 01:21:54,254 --> 01:21:57,655 And they'll come to your house and do your laundry! 1173 01:21:57,724 --> 01:22:00,249 - They will! Sure! - No! 1174 01:22:00,326 --> 01:22:02,317 Stop! Stop! 1175 01:22:02,395 --> 01:22:05,489 - When you have a baby. - When you have a baby. 1176 01:22:07,767 --> 01:22:09,166 What are you doing? 1177 01:22:15,308 --> 01:22:16,900 You from the government? 1178 01:22:20,013 --> 01:22:23,676 - Can she do anything else? - If I want, yes. 1179 01:22:23,750 --> 01:22:27,049 She's, of course, taking care of the children. 1180 01:22:27,120 --> 01:22:32,581 And I think if I ask her to prepare a meal for tonight, 1181 01:22:32,659 --> 01:22:34,854 she can do it. 1182 01:22:40,099 --> 01:22:42,260 No problem. 1183 01:22:42,335 --> 01:22:44,963 She's coming twice a week. 1184 01:22:45,905 --> 01:22:48,465 Four hours a day. So I can do everything I want, 1185 01:22:48,541 --> 01:22:52,409 for me, for the house, for my husband, during four hours. 1186 01:22:52,479 --> 01:22:54,470 It's very precious for me. 1187 01:22:55,081 --> 01:22:58,278 You don't have any associations? Nothing to help like that? 1188 01:22:58,351 --> 01:23:03,015 No. Nobody from the government comes to your home in America 1189 01:23:03,089 --> 01:23:07,651 and does your laundry for you, if you're a new mother. 1190 01:23:07,727 --> 01:23:10,321 - It's difficult. - Yeah. 1191 01:23:10,897 --> 01:23:15,459 (woman #12) Something that I experience a lot of with my own family is guilt. 1192 01:23:15,535 --> 01:23:17,833 Guilt for being here almost, 1193 01:23:17,904 --> 01:23:22,273 and seeing the advantages and the benefits I have at such a young age. 1194 01:23:22,342 --> 01:23:28,076 Things that my parents worked their whole life for and haven't come close to touching. 1195 01:23:28,147 --> 01:23:31,014 It's really hard to know that you're here 1196 01:23:31,084 --> 01:23:34,713 in a very privileged position, you know, not living the highlife, 1197 01:23:34,787 --> 01:23:40,521 but in comparison, definitely. And that seems completely unfair. 1198 01:23:41,327 --> 01:23:44,296 One of the things that keeps everything running here 1199 01:23:44,364 --> 01:23:46,958 is that the government is afraid of the people. 1200 01:23:47,033 --> 01:23:51,732 They're afraid of protests, they're afraid of reactions from the people. 1201 01:23:51,804 --> 01:23:57,367 In the States, people are afraid of the government. They're afraid of acting up. 1202 01:23:57,443 --> 01:24:00,207 They're afraid of protesting, afraid of getting out. 1203 01:24:00,280 --> 01:24:02,475 In France, that's what people do. 1204 01:24:43,489 --> 01:24:46,981 (Moore) Free college education. Free medical care. 1205 01:24:47,060 --> 01:24:49,051 Government-issued nannies. 1206 01:24:49,128 --> 01:24:52,655 I began to wonder how do they pay for all this? 1207 01:24:52,732 --> 01:24:56,429 And then I realized they're drowning in taxes! 1208 01:24:56,502 --> 01:25:00,632 I wanted to see what effect this would have on a nice French family. 1209 01:25:00,707 --> 01:25:02,902 So I went to find out. 1210 01:25:06,846 --> 01:25:09,644 - Hello. Welcome. - Hello. Thank you. 1211 01:25:10,483 --> 01:25:12,951 It's very nice. 1212 01:25:22,161 --> 01:25:24,994 - It's the news. - Yes. 1213 01:25:26,799 --> 01:25:31,532 What is your combined income for the two of you together for, say one month? 1214 01:25:36,976 --> 01:25:40,104 All right. You're an engineer and she's an assistant? Not bad. 1215 01:25:50,189 --> 01:25:52,180 (Moore) How much is your mortgage? 1216 01:26:00,333 --> 01:26:03,166 - (Moore) How many cars do you own? - Two. 1217 01:26:03,236 --> 01:26:05,500 (Moore) Do you owe money from medical bills? 1218 01:26:08,041 --> 01:26:10,509 Is there any other debt? Loans, anything? 1219 01:26:11,944 --> 01:26:17,007 - Only the apartment. -(Moore) What are your other expenses? 1220 01:26:17,083 --> 01:26:19,074 The fish. 1221 01:26:20,420 --> 01:26:22,854 Fish. Vegetables. 1222 01:26:22,922 --> 01:26:25,482 Vegetables are a big monthly expense for you. 1223 01:26:25,558 --> 01:26:29,324 - Yes. And fruit. Yogurt. - Yogurt. 1224 01:26:29,862 --> 01:26:31,659 What are your other big expenses? 1225 01:26:33,332 --> 01:26:35,732 Very important. 1226 01:26:50,550 --> 01:26:53,144 - (Moore) Kenya? - We liked. 1227 01:26:53,219 --> 01:26:56,120 - (Moore) Are you happy? - Yes. 1228 01:27:01,094 --> 01:27:06,361 (# "Je t'aime moi non plus" by Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin) 1229 01:27:15,174 --> 01:27:19,440 (Moore) After seeing all this. I began to wonder. 1230 01:27:19,512 --> 01:27:22,606 Was there a reason our government and our media 1231 01:27:22,682 --> 01:27:25,480 wants us to hate the French? 1232 01:27:30,690 --> 01:27:34,251 Are they worried we might like the French? 1233 01:27:38,831 --> 01:27:41,425 Or like their ways of doing things? 1234 01:27:49,642 --> 01:27:53,806 It was enough to make me put away my freedom fries. 1235 01:28:03,956 --> 01:28:06,186 Meanwhile. Back at home. 1236 01:28:06,259 --> 01:28:09,092 Hospitals had found a new way to deal with patients 1237 01:28:09,162 --> 01:28:11,289 who didn't have health insurance 1238 01:28:11,364 --> 01:28:13,594 and couldn't pay their bill. 1239 01:28:15,468 --> 01:28:21,134 I was standing against the wall and I saw a cab do a U-turn and pull up to the curb. 1240 01:28:21,207 --> 01:28:24,938 I watched to see what was happening 'cause I had a feeling what would occur, 1241 01:28:25,011 --> 01:28:27,138 'cause it's not a new thing. 1242 01:28:27,213 --> 01:28:30,046 They pulled up right here by this yellow fire hydrant 1243 01:28:30,116 --> 01:28:33,244 and dropped Carol off and immediately pulled away. 1244 01:28:33,319 --> 01:28:37,153 And as soon as they pulled away, she walked out into the street about up to here. 1245 01:28:37,223 --> 01:28:41,284 She then walked all the way down to the driveway down here, completely confused, 1246 01:28:41,360 --> 01:28:44,796 has no shoes on whatsoever and just a hospital gown. 1247 01:28:44,864 --> 01:28:46,525 And those gowns are thin. 1248 01:28:47,033 --> 01:28:51,333 That's when one of our staff members went and asked Carol if she needed assistance 1249 01:28:51,404 --> 01:28:55,340 and found out that she was disoriented and didn't know where she was. 1250 01:30:10,049 --> 01:30:14,986 Kaiser Permanente in Bellflower hospital had put her in a cab 1251 01:30:15,054 --> 01:30:18,990 and directed them to bring her to this drop-off point. 1252 01:30:19,058 --> 01:30:23,620 But the names of the hospitals had been taken off both bracelets before she arrived. 1253 01:30:23,696 --> 01:30:28,861 I have seen others that have come through our doors who have IVs still in their arms. 1254 01:30:28,935 --> 01:30:31,631 (Moore) They told me that. At their shelter alone. 1255 01:30:31,704 --> 01:30:35,299 Over 50 patients had been dumped there by hospitals. 1256 01:30:35,374 --> 01:30:38,605 The options are few. We either open the front door and let them out, 1257 01:30:38,678 --> 01:30:41,203 which is not the humane thing to do, 1258 01:30:41,280 --> 01:30:44,215 or we try to find someplace for them to go. 1259 01:30:44,283 --> 01:30:47,514 And right now, skid row is the best bed in town. 1260 01:30:49,155 --> 01:30:51,248 (Moore) The night before we were there. 1261 01:30:51,324 --> 01:30:55,556 The county hospital run by the University of Southern California. 1262 01:30:55,628 --> 01:30:58,119 One of the richest private schools in the country. 1263 01:30:58,197 --> 01:31:01,496 Dumped another patient off on the curb. 1264 01:31:02,501 --> 01:31:06,198 A woman unable to pay her hospital bill. 1265 01:31:08,908 --> 01:31:11,240 - Do you know how you got here? - In the cab. 1266 01:31:11,310 --> 01:31:13,540 - In the cab? - From General Hospital. 1267 01:31:13,612 --> 01:31:15,773 They gave him the voucher. 1268 01:31:17,984 --> 01:31:22,387 He dropped me off there, he actually forced me out of the car. 1269 01:31:22,455 --> 01:31:26,186 Ma'am, are you in pain right now? Are you in pain? 1270 01:31:26,258 --> 01:31:28,522 - Yes. - Is there anything we can do? 1271 01:31:28,594 --> 01:31:31,893 She, at this time, has broken ribs, broken collarbone, 1272 01:31:31,964 --> 01:31:35,195 and stitches that are not completely healed 1273 01:31:35,267 --> 01:31:37,895 across the top of her head and on the side of her head. 1274 01:31:37,970 --> 01:31:41,098 Now let me ask you, ma'am. Before they dropped you off, 1275 01:31:41,173 --> 01:31:44,006 did they ask you if you knew where you were going? 1276 01:31:44,076 --> 01:31:45,134 No. 1277 01:31:45,211 --> 01:31:48,078 They didn't ask you any questions about your orientation, 1278 01:31:48,147 --> 01:31:51,344 or whether or not you knew what was going on? 1279 01:31:51,417 --> 01:31:55,012 No, they just told me to take care of myself. 1280 01:31:58,357 --> 01:32:04,227 (Moore) May I take a minute to ask a question that's been on my mind? 1281 01:32:04,296 --> 01:32:06,457 Who are we? 1282 01:32:07,600 --> 01:32:10,160 Is this what we've become? 1283 01:32:10,236 --> 01:32:15,071 A nation that dumps its own citizens like so much garbage on the side of the curb. 1284 01:32:15,141 --> 01:32:19,009 Because they can't pay their hospital bill? 1285 01:32:19,745 --> 01:32:24,546 I always thought. And believe to this day. That we're a good and generous people. 1286 01:32:24,617 --> 01:32:27,313 This is what we do if somebody's in trouble. 1287 01:32:27,386 --> 01:32:30,685 Anybody gets sick, we all get together and help. 1288 01:32:30,756 --> 01:32:32,951 (Moore) People with a good heart... 1289 01:32:33,025 --> 01:32:38,190 (man #12) You feel like you're sacrificing, but you get a blessing from doing this. 1290 01:32:38,264 --> 01:32:39,856 (Moore) ...and a good soul. 1291 01:32:39,932 --> 01:32:44,392 We've got a lot of support and we're gonna all keep working until we locate this child. 1292 01:32:44,470 --> 01:32:48,907 (Moore) Neighbors quick to lend a helping hand to anyone in their hour of need. 1293 01:32:48,974 --> 01:32:52,842 I deliver meals to them, but my life has been so blessed 1294 01:32:52,912 --> 01:32:56,473 that this is just the least that I can do. 1295 01:32:56,549 --> 01:32:59,541 (Moore) They say that you can judge a society 1296 01:32:59,618 --> 01:33:03,679 by how it treats those who are the worst off. 1297 01:33:03,756 --> 01:33:10,355 But is the opposite true? That you can judge a society by how it treats its best? 1298 01:33:11,897 --> 01:33:13,956 Its heroes? 1299 01:33:14,333 --> 01:33:17,734 (man #13) The firefighters and police, rescue and recovery workers 1300 01:33:17,803 --> 01:33:20,067 have responded with true heroism. 1301 01:33:21,307 --> 01:33:26,609 It was their initial heroism that thwarted the objectives of the terrorists. 1302 01:33:26,679 --> 01:33:32,083 Without regard, in many instances, to their own safety and security. 1303 01:33:32,151 --> 01:33:37,714 - They truly are heroes. -(man #14) We owe them everything! 1304 01:33:37,790 --> 01:33:42,022 Here they are, the men and women who have been on the front lines for New York, 1305 01:33:42,061 --> 01:33:47,931 and for all of us in America! Tonight is dedicated to you! 1306 01:33:54,507 --> 01:33:58,466 Don't forget about the raffles going on over there - one dollar each. 1307 01:33:59,111 --> 01:34:01,477 I spent two and a half years down there. 1308 01:34:01,547 --> 01:34:04,948 I got upper and lower breathing problems. 1309 01:34:05,017 --> 01:34:08,578 I need a double lung transplant, but was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis. 1310 01:34:08,654 --> 01:34:13,353 I haven't slept in a bed in over five years, I sleep on a chair with a blanket, 1311 01:34:13,425 --> 01:34:15,416 because if I lay down I can't breathe. 1312 01:34:15,494 --> 01:34:18,657 (Moore) There were hundreds of rescue workers on 9/11 1313 01:34:18,731 --> 01:34:20,858 who were not city employees. 1314 01:34:20,933 --> 01:34:25,302 But rather ran down to Ground Zero on their own to help out. 1315 01:34:25,371 --> 01:34:27,635 We need volunteers for first aid! 1316 01:34:27,706 --> 01:34:32,040 (Moore) And many developed serious respiratory illnesses. 1317 01:34:32,111 --> 01:34:34,306 That's when the government said.: 1318 01:34:34,380 --> 01:34:39,079 "They're not our responsibility because they weren't on our payroll. " 1319 01:34:41,120 --> 01:34:46,353 John Graham is an EMT volunteer from Paramus. New Jersey. 1320 01:34:46,425 --> 01:34:49,917 He was in Lower Manhattan when he heard the planes hit. 1321 01:34:49,995 --> 01:34:52,463 And rushed over to help. 1322 01:34:52,531 --> 01:34:55,728 He worked in the rescue effort for the next few months. 1323 01:34:55,801 --> 01:35:00,465 But then had trouble receiving benefits for his illness. 1324 01:35:00,539 --> 01:35:05,977 They just deny you for any reason. It's just a terrible waiting game. 1325 01:35:06,045 --> 01:35:10,141 I really feel like they're waiting for you to die. 1326 01:35:10,216 --> 01:35:14,050 It's terrible. I never thought that we would do this, 1327 01:35:14,119 --> 01:35:17,020 that the United States would do this. 1328 01:35:17,089 --> 01:35:21,389 (Moore) William Maher is a volunteer member of New Jersey's fire service. 1329 01:35:21,460 --> 01:35:24,827 He spent two months working near The Pile at Ground Zero. 1330 01:35:24,897 --> 01:35:29,027 Recovering bodies or body parts. And it deeply affected him. 1331 01:35:29,101 --> 01:35:32,537 I'm experiencing a lot of disturbing dreams, 1332 01:35:32,605 --> 01:35:34,800 or whatever you'd like to call them, 1333 01:35:34,873 --> 01:35:37,774 and it affected what I was doing at night, 1334 01:35:37,843 --> 01:35:39,970 and unaware of it because I was asleep 1335 01:35:40,045 --> 01:35:42,605 and I just kept grinding and grinding my teeth. 1336 01:35:42,681 --> 01:35:45,514 The upper fronts are damaged, practically beyond repair, 1337 01:35:45,584 --> 01:35:48,576 because of my constant grinding over the last three years. 1338 01:35:48,654 --> 01:35:53,148 I've been before a workers' comp board already for the 9/11 volunteers' fund. 1339 01:35:53,225 --> 01:35:59,289 I've been denied three times, and hopefully I will go on my fourth appeal soon, 1340 01:35:59,365 --> 01:36:03,665 if I can get the necessary documentation. 1341 01:36:04,303 --> 01:36:07,602 (Moore) Of course. There was a $50 million fund set up 1342 01:36:07,673 --> 01:36:10,301 supposedly to help rescue workers. 1343 01:36:10,376 --> 01:36:13,709 Ladies and gentlemen, the governor of New York, George Pataki. 1344 01:36:13,779 --> 01:36:17,340 (Moore) But the government. Like the health insurance companies. 1345 01:36:17,416 --> 01:36:20,943 Made it very difficult for people to receive help. 1346 01:36:21,020 --> 01:36:24,956 You have to have spent a certain amount of time at Ground Zero, 1347 01:36:25,024 --> 01:36:28,084 you have to be able to establish that. 1348 01:36:28,160 --> 01:36:32,893 You do have to file an affidavit within the next year, 1349 01:36:32,965 --> 01:36:35,433 relating your work experiences at Ground Zero. 1350 01:36:35,501 --> 01:36:38,561 And then, even with all of that, it's not automatic. 1351 01:36:38,637 --> 01:36:41,504 There is a presumption when certain illnesses occur, 1352 01:36:41,573 --> 01:36:46,374 but that presumption can be rebutted by other medical evidence. 1353 01:36:46,445 --> 01:36:50,643 We think it is a very fair approach that protects our heroes. 1354 01:36:57,756 --> 01:36:58,950 I'm sorry. 1355 01:36:59,024 --> 01:37:04,189 (Moore) Reggie Cervantes was a volunteer medical technician on 9/11. 1356 01:37:04,263 --> 01:37:10,566 Nothing makes it go away sometimes. Not water, not cough medicine, anything. 1357 01:37:10,636 --> 01:37:17,064 It's just burning in my throat and irritated and it just gets me to coughing. 1358 01:37:17,142 --> 01:37:22,808 Sometimes I have trouble breathing 'cause I can't catch my breath. 1359 01:37:23,749 --> 01:37:27,241 (Moore) Reggie spent her days at Ground Zero carrying bodies 1360 01:37:27,319 --> 01:37:29,947 and treating other rescue workers. 1361 01:37:30,022 --> 01:37:33,219 My airway was totally burnt that first week, 1362 01:37:33,292 --> 01:37:35,783 and I had trouble breathing by then. 1363 01:37:35,861 --> 01:37:38,694 But we wanted to see if we could dig anybody up alive, 1364 01:37:38,764 --> 01:37:44,566 we wanted to see if we had lost anybody, if we were still missing somebody. 1365 01:37:45,137 --> 01:37:49,198 I wanted to help. I was trained for this. 1366 01:37:49,274 --> 01:37:54,075 You know, you see somebody who is in need, you help 'em. 1367 01:37:55,280 --> 01:37:58,545 (Moore) Reggie had difficulty getting treatment. 1368 01:37:58,617 --> 01:38:01,415 Too sick to work and with no income. 1369 01:38:01,487 --> 01:38:03,614 She was forced to quit her job. 1370 01:38:03,689 --> 01:38:08,626 And used her savings to move her and her kids out of the city. 1371 01:38:10,262 --> 01:38:13,060 It's hard to figure out how you're supposed to get help. 1372 01:38:13,132 --> 01:38:16,533 We're trying to go about it the right way. 1373 01:38:17,569 --> 01:38:19,935 But we're ignored. 1374 01:38:20,005 --> 01:38:25,136 (Moore) But not everyone after 9/11 was ignored by the government. 1375 01:38:25,210 --> 01:38:30,341 We're now approaching the five-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. 1376 01:38:30,416 --> 01:38:34,250 So I'm announcing today that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, 1377 01:38:34,319 --> 01:38:37,686 Abu Zubaydah, Ramzi Binalshibh, 1378 01:38:37,756 --> 01:38:40,782 and 11 other terrorists in CIA custody, 1379 01:38:40,859 --> 01:38:44,727 have been transferred to the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay. 1380 01:38:46,598 --> 01:38:51,865 (man #15) On that island are some of the world's most hardened enemy combatants. 1381 01:38:51,937 --> 01:38:55,930 (man #16) These detainees are deadly and include the 20th hijacker, 1382 01:38:56,008 --> 01:38:59,671 as well as a number of Osama bin Laden's personal bodyguards 1383 01:38:59,745 --> 01:39:03,943 and others who had a direct role in the September 11 attacks. 1384 01:39:04,616 --> 01:39:10,384 The kind of people held at Guantanamo include terrorist trainers, bomb-makers... 1385 01:39:10,456 --> 01:39:16,156 Many of them have American blood on their hands and are the elite of al-Qaida. 1386 01:39:16,228 --> 01:39:18,526 It seems to me we have an obligation 1387 01:39:18,597 --> 01:39:23,557 to treat these individuals as enemy combatants. 1388 01:39:23,635 --> 01:39:28,129 (Moore) And then I learned it wasn't all bad news at Gitmo. 1389 01:39:33,479 --> 01:39:37,245 (man #16) Detainees representing a threat to our national security 1390 01:39:37,316 --> 01:39:39,841 are given access to top-notch medical facilities. 1391 01:39:39,918 --> 01:39:44,855 They have acute care 24 hours a day, in which surgical procedures, 1392 01:39:44,923 --> 01:39:49,417 everything can be performed right there in the detainee camps. 1393 01:39:49,495 --> 01:39:51,986 This is the dental clinic, or the health clinic. 1394 01:39:52,064 --> 01:39:56,592 We have a physical therapy department, X-ray capabilities with digital X-rays. 1395 01:39:56,668 --> 01:39:58,795 We have one single operating room. 1396 01:39:58,871 --> 01:40:04,104 Health personnel to detainee ratio is one to four, remarkably high. 1397 01:40:04,176 --> 01:40:08,476 They do sick call on the blocks three times per week, care for them there if they can, 1398 01:40:08,547 --> 01:40:11,675 or bring that detainee back to the clinic to be seen there. 1399 01:40:11,750 --> 01:40:13,809 Screening for cancer has taken place. 1400 01:40:13,886 --> 01:40:18,550 Colonoscopy is a procedure which is performed there on a routine basis. 1401 01:40:18,624 --> 01:40:21,889 We have diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol. 1402 01:40:21,960 --> 01:40:24,895 We monitor the weight and nutrition of the detainees, 1403 01:40:24,963 --> 01:40:28,592 so that we can track those detainees to make sure we see them frequently, 1404 01:40:28,667 --> 01:40:31,067 monitoring their labs and their overall health. 1405 01:40:31,136 --> 01:40:37,507 Their medical attention... They get way better medical treatment than I've ever had. 1406 01:40:37,576 --> 01:40:41,945 - You think it's as good as most US HMOs? - Certainly very similar and as good, sir. 1407 01:40:42,014 --> 01:40:46,110 (man #15) I leave with an impression that healthcare there is clearly better 1408 01:40:46,184 --> 01:40:48,448 than they received at home, 1409 01:40:48,520 --> 01:40:53,423 and as good as many people receive in the United States of America. 1410 01:40:53,492 --> 01:40:57,895 (Moore) Wow ! So there is actually one place on American soil 1411 01:40:57,963 --> 01:41:01,057 that had free universal healthcare. 1412 01:41:01,133 --> 01:41:03,601 That's all I needed to know . 1413 01:41:05,504 --> 01:41:07,734 I went down to Miami. Florida. 1414 01:41:08,740 --> 01:41:11,072 Got myself a boat. 1415 01:41:11,543 --> 01:41:13,738 And loaded up Bill. 1416 01:41:13,812 --> 01:41:16,747 And Reggie and John. 1417 01:41:17,249 --> 01:41:19,012 John, welcome, sir. 1418 01:41:19,084 --> 01:41:23,885 And anyone else I could find who needed to see a doctor and couldn't afford one. 1419 01:41:23,956 --> 01:41:27,915 So many people showed up. I had to get a couple extra boats. 1420 01:41:27,993 --> 01:41:32,862 And I called up Donna Smith from Denver. Who is now on nine different medications. 1421 01:41:32,931 --> 01:41:35,593 And asked her if she'd like to come along. 1422 01:41:35,667 --> 01:41:39,728 I figured she'd like to get out of her daughter's basement for a while. 1423 01:41:39,805 --> 01:41:41,136 All right, let's go. 1424 01:41:57,889 --> 01:42:02,053 Which way to Guantanamo Bay? Can we go? 1425 01:42:02,127 --> 01:42:05,290 We're not going to Cuba! We're going to America! 1426 01:42:05,897 --> 01:42:08,422 It's American soil! 1427 01:42:44,436 --> 01:42:46,427 We made it. 1428 01:43:01,319 --> 01:43:04,186 There it is. There's the runway. 1429 01:43:04,256 --> 01:43:06,986 That's the prison over there where the detainees are. 1430 01:43:07,059 --> 01:43:11,587 - (Reggie) We're very close. - Yeah, we're very close. 1431 01:43:13,498 --> 01:43:17,264 The white building is the hospital, I think. 1432 01:43:17,769 --> 01:43:19,760 OK, let's go. 1433 01:43:24,209 --> 01:43:30,739 (Moore) We commandeered a fishing boat and sailed into Guantanamo Bay. 1434 01:43:30,816 --> 01:43:35,719 As we approached the line in the water between the American and Cuban side. 1435 01:43:35,787 --> 01:43:38,688 We were told to be careful for mines. 1436 01:43:41,326 --> 01:43:45,922 Permission to enter. I have three 9/11 rescue workers. 1437 01:43:45,997 --> 01:43:48,898 They need some medical attention. 1438 01:43:53,004 --> 01:43:57,737 These are 9/11 rescue workers! They just want some medical attention! 1439 01:43:57,809 --> 01:44:01,108 The same kind that al-Qaida is getting. 1440 01:44:03,215 --> 01:44:07,879 They don't want any more than you're giving the evildoers, just the same! 1441 01:44:09,087 --> 01:44:10,952 Hello. 1442 01:44:11,022 --> 01:44:15,823 No one in the guard tower was responding and then we heard a siren. 1443 01:44:15,894 --> 01:44:18,658 We figured it was time to get out of here. 1444 01:44:18,730 --> 01:44:23,565 But what was I supposed to do with these sick people and no one to help them? 1445 01:44:23,635 --> 01:44:27,901 I mean. Here we were stuck in some godforsaken Third World country. 1446 01:44:27,973 --> 01:44:33,434 And communists. No less. When I was a kid. These people wanted to kill us. 1447 01:44:33,512 --> 01:44:35,844 What was I supposed to do? 1448 01:44:35,914 --> 01:44:39,645 (# "I'll See You in C-U-B-A" by the Austin Lounge Lizards) 1449 01:44:55,734 --> 01:45:00,103 Excuse me, we're looking for a doctor. Is there a doctor here in Cuba? 1450 01:45:00,172 --> 01:45:01,969 Any doctors? 1451 01:45:07,813 --> 01:45:08,973 All in this one block? 1452 01:45:15,253 --> 01:45:17,687 All right, thank you very much. Thank you. 1453 01:45:18,190 --> 01:45:23,355 (Moore) OK. OK. I know what you're thinking. Cuba is where Lucifer lives. 1454 01:45:26,264 --> 01:45:31,566 The worse place on Earth. The most evil nation ever created. 1455 01:45:31,636 --> 01:45:36,335 How do we know that? 'Cause that's what we've been told for over 45 years. 1456 01:45:36,408 --> 01:45:40,310 A series of offensive missile sites can be none other 1457 01:45:40,378 --> 01:45:44,974 than to provide a nuclear strike capability against the western hemisphere. 1458 01:45:45,050 --> 01:45:50,249 I'm not gonna yield until Fidel Castro allows freedom on the island. 1459 01:45:50,322 --> 01:45:53,223 That's a... You can count on it. 1460 01:45:54,926 --> 01:45:57,258 Put it in the bank. 1461 01:45:58,463 --> 01:46:01,557 (Moore) It seems that what really bugged us about Castro 1462 01:46:01,633 --> 01:46:05,034 was that he overthrew the dictator that we liked. 1463 01:46:05,103 --> 01:46:09,335 And replaced him with a guy we didn't like - himself. 1464 01:46:10,275 --> 01:46:14,473 And so now . After all these years. One thing is clear - 1465 01:46:14,546 --> 01:46:18,676 the Cuban people have free universal healthcare. 1466 01:46:18,750 --> 01:46:23,414 They've become known as having not only one of the best healthcare systems. 1467 01:46:23,488 --> 01:46:26,946 But as being one of the most generous countries in providing doctors 1468 01:46:27,025 --> 01:46:31,086 and medical equipment to Third World countries. 1469 01:46:31,162 --> 01:46:36,156 In the US. Healthcare costs run nearly $ 7.000 per person. 1470 01:46:36,234 --> 01:46:40,295 But in Cuba. They spend only $ 251. 1471 01:46:40,372 --> 01:46:45,332 And yet the Cubans are able to have a lower infant mortality rate than the US. 1472 01:46:45,410 --> 01:46:49,244 A longer average life span than the United States. 1473 01:46:49,314 --> 01:46:51,874 They believe in preventive medicine. 1474 01:46:51,950 --> 01:46:55,909 And it seems like there's a doctor on every block. 1475 01:46:55,987 --> 01:46:58,751 Their only sin when it comes to healthcare 1476 01:46:58,823 --> 01:47:02,224 seems to be that they don't do it for a profit. 1477 01:47:02,294 --> 01:47:06,822 Anybody need medication right now from the pharmacy? 1478 01:47:11,069 --> 01:47:13,560 - Are you the pharmacist? - Yes. 1479 01:47:13,638 --> 01:47:15,663 Do you have this? 1480 01:47:17,375 --> 01:47:22,472 - Is this one similar to yours? -(Reggie) Yeah. It's $120 in the US. 1481 01:47:22,547 --> 01:47:25,107 - This is $120 in the US? - Yes. 1482 01:47:28,820 --> 01:47:33,189 - How much is that in American dollars? - It's like five cents. 1483 01:47:33,258 --> 01:47:35,317 - Five cents? - Yeah. More or less. 1484 01:47:47,839 --> 01:47:51,707 Thank you very much. Muchas gracias. 1485 01:47:51,776 --> 01:47:53,767 $120 is a lot of money 1486 01:47:53,845 --> 01:48:00,011 when you get $1,000 in social security disability and need one or two a month. 1487 01:48:00,085 --> 01:48:04,249 Five cents here? It's like the biggest insult. 1488 01:48:04,322 --> 01:48:06,882 It just doesn't make any sense. 1489 01:48:07,692 --> 01:48:10,024 It doesn't make any sense. 1490 01:48:10,095 --> 01:48:14,532 I wanna fill a suitcase up and go back home with it. 1491 01:48:39,057 --> 01:48:42,288 (Moore) I took my group of sick Americans to a hospital 1492 01:48:42,360 --> 01:48:45,796 to see if they could get some care. 1493 01:48:45,864 --> 01:48:49,391 They didn't ask for money or an insurance card. 1494 01:48:52,504 --> 01:48:53,732 Just their name... 1495 01:48:55,373 --> 01:48:56,101 and date of birth. 1496 01:48:59,644 --> 01:49:02,943 That was the entire intake session. 1497 01:49:22,434 --> 01:49:25,631 (Moore) Thank you very much for doing this. 1498 01:49:27,338 --> 01:49:30,034 I asked them to give us the same exact care 1499 01:49:30,108 --> 01:49:32,633 they give their fellow Cuban citizens. 1500 01:49:32,710 --> 01:49:35,201 No more. No less. 1501 01:49:35,280 --> 01:49:37,271 And that's what they did. 1502 01:49:37,348 --> 01:49:40,283 I'm Dr. Roque. I'm an internal medicine specialist. 1503 01:49:40,351 --> 01:49:42,785 - John Graham. - How are you feeling? 1504 01:49:42,854 --> 01:49:45,186 My lungs hurt. I have pain. 1505 01:49:45,256 --> 01:49:48,453 I get pretty severe nosebleeds at times. 1506 01:49:48,526 --> 01:49:50,517 I get terrible headaches in the night, 1507 01:49:50,595 --> 01:49:54,087 but I haven't been evaluated for the sleep apnea for nine years. 1508 01:49:54,165 --> 01:49:58,192 - Yeah, I have... - Many medications for lung problems. 1509 01:49:58,269 --> 01:50:01,102 Almost every medication for lung problems, I've got. 1510 01:50:01,172 --> 01:50:05,074 After 9/11, things have happened, my teeth started falling out. 1511 01:50:05,143 --> 01:50:08,374 Because of certain conditions, I was grinding. 1512 01:50:08,446 --> 01:50:13,611 There's one test that they recommended I take, it's about $5,000 to $ 7,000. 1513 01:50:13,685 --> 01:50:19,146 The dentist that I talked to, it's like $15,000 or more. 1514 01:50:19,224 --> 01:50:24,287 It's two years I have no medical coverage, so I can't go for the last part of the test. 1515 01:50:26,564 --> 01:50:29,465 It's OK, everything's gonna be OK. Right? 1516 01:50:29,534 --> 01:50:32,094 Yes. I am so... 1517 01:50:32,170 --> 01:50:37,369 It's so hard for me to digest somebody saying it's free. 1518 01:50:38,510 --> 01:50:43,447 Because 20 years of our lives have been spent fighting. 1519 01:50:43,515 --> 01:50:46,575 So I am so grateful. 1520 01:50:48,453 --> 01:50:50,944 No, you don't need to say that. 1521 01:50:51,990 --> 01:50:54,356 - Thank you. Thank you. - OK. 1522 01:50:54,425 --> 01:50:56,950 Come on, don't cry. Everything's gonna be OK, right? 1523 01:50:57,028 --> 01:51:00,623 - Thank you. - At least what we can do, right? 1524 01:52:21,946 --> 01:52:26,679 (Moore) Reggie was diagnosed with pulmonary and bronchial problems. 1525 01:52:26,751 --> 01:52:31,381 The Cuban doctors gave her a treatment plan to follow back home. 1526 01:52:31,456 --> 01:52:34,892 Along with some of those five cent inhalers. 1527 01:52:35,727 --> 01:52:39,561 William Maher received a number of treatments on his neck and his back. 1528 01:52:39,631 --> 01:52:44,967 Having ground down his teeth for three years due to post-traumatic stress. 1529 01:52:45,036 --> 01:52:47,937 He left Cuba with a new set of teeth. 1530 01:52:49,974 --> 01:52:54,035 After a series of tests on his heart. Lungs. Blood and stomach. 1531 01:52:54,112 --> 01:52:56,774 John now knew what his ailments were. 1532 01:52:56,848 --> 01:53:01,046 He was given a strict plan to follow . Plus a number of treatments 1533 01:53:01,119 --> 01:53:04,486 and was feeling better than he had in years. 1534 01:53:04,555 --> 01:53:09,618 The Cuban doctors were able to take Donna off five of her nine medications. 1535 01:53:09,694 --> 01:53:13,630 And with a correct diagnosis. Gave her a treatment plan 1536 01:53:13,698 --> 01:53:16,599 to help her live a more normal life. 1537 01:53:22,040 --> 01:53:24,304 When firefighters and paramedics in Havana 1538 01:53:24,375 --> 01:53:27,037 heard that the 9/11 rescue workers were in town. 1539 01:53:27,111 --> 01:53:30,376 They invited them over to one of their firehouses. 1540 01:53:30,448 --> 01:53:32,712 And so. On our last day there. 1541 01:53:32,784 --> 01:53:35,480 As we arrived. They stood at attention 1542 01:53:35,553 --> 01:53:40,650 because. They said. They wanted to honor the heroes of 9/11. 1543 01:54:18,730 --> 01:54:23,793 Si. Somos familia. Y los hermanos que perdimos en las Torres Gemelas 1544 01:54:23,868 --> 01:54:26,496 se sintio en el mundo completo. 1545 01:54:27,672 --> 01:54:32,336 The brothers we lost on 9/11 was felt around the world. 1546 01:54:32,410 --> 01:54:35,004 - Mis hermanos. - Mis hermanos. 1547 01:54:38,049 --> 01:54:40,745 Don't hesitate to hug a brother. 1548 01:54:45,690 --> 01:54:49,683 It's very important for them to wear the SCBA so they don't end up like me. 1549 01:54:49,761 --> 01:54:52,195 - They're lungs. - These tanks. 1550 01:54:52,263 --> 01:54:54,754 SCBA. Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus. 1551 01:54:54,832 --> 01:54:57,960 Tenemos una reserva tambien en el carro. 1552 01:54:58,035 --> 01:55:00,162 Es un placer poder venir aqui. 1553 01:55:00,238 --> 01:55:02,968 Esto es lo unico que tenemos nosotros. . . 1554 01:55:05,176 --> 01:55:07,508 F-F-F. 1555 01:55:07,578 --> 01:55:08,738 Three Fs. 1556 01:55:18,089 --> 01:55:21,786 (Moore) If this is what can happen between supposed enemies. 1557 01:55:21,859 --> 01:55:25,761 If one enemy can hold out his hand and offer to heal. 1558 01:55:25,830 --> 01:55:27,991 Then what else is possible? 1559 01:55:31,969 --> 01:55:34,529 That's when I heard that the man who runs the biggest 1560 01:55:34,605 --> 01:55:37,369 anti-Michael Moore website on the internet 1561 01:55:37,442 --> 01:55:40,275 was going to have to shut it down. 1562 01:55:40,344 --> 01:55:44,906 He could no longer afford to keep it up because his wife was ill 1563 01:55:44,982 --> 01:55:49,248 and they couldn't afford to pay for her health insurance. 1564 01:55:49,320 --> 01:55:55,316 He was faced with a choice of either keep attacking me or pay for his wife's health. 1565 01:55:56,327 --> 01:55:59,228 Fortunately. He chose his wife. 1566 01:56:00,264 --> 01:56:04,564 But something seemed wrong about being forced into such a decision. 1567 01:56:04,635 --> 01:56:08,935 Why. In a free country. Shouldn't he be able to have health insurance 1568 01:56:09,006 --> 01:56:14,467 and exercise his First Amendment right to run me into the ground? 1569 01:56:15,246 --> 01:56:19,683 So I wrote a check for the $ 12.000 he needed to keep his wife insured 1570 01:56:19,750 --> 01:56:23,880 and in treatment. And sent it to him anonymously. 1571 01:56:26,157 --> 01:56:31,459 His wife got better and his website is still going strong. 1572 01:56:37,301 --> 01:56:40,998 It was hard for me to acknowledge that in the end. 1573 01:56:41,072 --> 01:56:43,336 We truly are all in the same boat. 1574 01:56:44,075 --> 01:56:46,771 And that. No matter what our differences. 1575 01:56:46,844 --> 01:56:49,870 We sink or swim together. 1576 01:56:49,947 --> 01:56:53,474 That's how it seems to be everywhere else. 1577 01:56:54,051 --> 01:56:58,351 They take care of each other. No matter what their disagreements. 1578 01:56:59,857 --> 01:57:05,454 You know . When we see a good idea from another country. We grab it. 1579 01:57:05,530 --> 01:57:09,227 If they build a better car. We drive it. 1580 01:57:09,300 --> 01:57:12,633 If they make a better wine. We drink it. 1581 01:57:13,771 --> 01:57:17,002 So if they've come up with a better way to treat the sick. 1582 01:57:17,074 --> 01:57:19,065 To teach their kids. 1583 01:57:20,144 --> 01:57:22,635 To take care of their babies. 1584 01:57:23,648 --> 01:57:26,549 To simply be good to each other. 1585 01:57:26,617 --> 01:57:29,245 Then what's our problem? 1586 01:57:29,320 --> 01:57:31,652 Why can't we do that? 1587 01:57:31,722 --> 01:57:35,180 They live in a world of "we. " Not "me. " 1588 01:57:36,260 --> 01:57:41,197 We'll never fix anything until we get that one basic thing right. 1589 01:57:41,265 --> 01:57:44,393 And powerful forces hope that we never do. 1590 01:57:45,069 --> 01:57:48,800 And that we remain the only country in the western world 1591 01:57:48,873 --> 01:57:51,865 without free universal healthcare. 1592 01:57:52,643 --> 01:57:56,636 You know . If we ever did remove the chokehold of medical bills. 1593 01:57:57,248 --> 01:58:00,217 College loans. Day care. 1594 01:58:00,284 --> 01:58:04,448 And everything else that makes us afraid to step out of line. 1595 01:58:04,522 --> 01:58:07,218 Well. Watch out. 1596 01:58:07,291 --> 01:58:10,818 'Cause it'll be a new day in America. 1597 01:58:10,895 --> 01:58:12,886 In the meantime. 1598 01:58:12,964 --> 01:58:16,900 I'm gonna go get the government to do my laundry. 1599 01:58:16,968 --> 01:58:22,099 (# "Don't Be Shy" by Cat Stevens) 1600 02:00:48,519 --> 02:00:52,319 (# "Alone Without You" by The Nightwatchman) 1601 02:02:15,873 --> 02:02:18,865 (# "Ce Monde Absurde" by Claude Francois)