My Challenge to the Presidential Candidates

The American government isn’t afraid to hand out free health care. Senior citizens get it. Veterans get it. As SiCKO shows you, even the detainees at Guantanamo Bay get it.

So, too, do our federal elected officials. It doesn’t matter if they are Republicans or Democrats, young or old, healthy or sick — they are entitled to free, government-provided health insurance. They don’t have to worry about being able to pay for medical help — even if many of their constituents do.

When Senator Sherrod Brown was running for a seat in the House of Representatives over 10 years ago, he saw something wrong with this. He pledged not to accept his free government health care until everyone in the United States had the same luxury. (He’s still waiting.)

Brown reasoned that politicians should have the same privileges as those they represent. I know a lot of the Democrats running for President understand this principle. Monday night during their YouTube debate, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama, and Bill Richardson all pledged to work for the minimum wage should they be elected president — to show that they’re in touch with the plight of everyday Americans, and to make sure they are personally invested in making sure the minimum wage in this country is a livable one. Good for them.

Now, candidates, how about giving up your health care too? If elected president, you and your family will be entitled to free government health care, courtesy of the fine doctors at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. But nearly 50 million of your constituents will go without any medical care at all — and 18,000 of them will die during your first year in office simply because they lack health insurance. As the head of the government, how can you take advantage of its health care services, but deny it to so many citizens?

I am calling on each presidential candidate to pledge to refuse their free government health care until every person in this country also has it. I want every candidate who said they’d work for the minimum wage as president to work uninsured, too, until health care is universal. And I want the other candidates to join them. (Yes, I’m looking at you, too, Republicans. I know you can afford to do it.)

During Monday night’s interactive debate, I submitted this exact challenge on YouTube, just like everyone else. CNN didn’t choose it — maybe Dr. Gupta was making the selections? Anyway, I am issuing it here. All candidates should pledge to take whatever health care is available to the least fortunate American. Right now, that’s nothing. Hopefully as president, they’ll have to make it something.

Michael Moore’s newest film, SiCKO, is now in theaters nationwide.
mmflint@aol.com
www.michaelmoore.com

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19 Comments so far

skst July 26th, 2007 1:15 pm

While we’re at it, let’s ask them to earn minimum wage and get the same vacation time as most Americans, too. Somehow, I doubt they’ll be willing to give up their $165,000 salaries and mere 103 working days in exchange for the pitiful $5.85/hour and grueling 200 workdays most Americans suffer with.

CRCox July 26th, 2007 1:15 pm

Good questions Michael. The reason they will not REALLY address universal single payer coverage is because that would actually address the inefficiency of free-market capitalism. Regulation of the medical industry in the United States would be a statement far beyond that. I, for one, would love to finally see that debate, but I doubt we will have it. Profit is the motive of this country, whether we like it or not. Then again, Clinton has been called a Marxist by one of the Republican candidates. Even though she is nowhere near a Marxist - especially when you look at her destructive trade ideologies - I find it very interesting that the word Marxist has now officially worked its way into the debate between the R’s and the D’s.

This thing could get a whole lot more interesting yet! And health care is a perfect issue to ignite this very necessary debate.

Poet July 26th, 2007 1:16 pm

Good for Michael Moore! It is sad that we need to have a movie producer to inform the political debate in this country but great that MM is willing to say what till now has been the unsayable!

Marikken July 26th, 2007 1:18 pm

I want to point out that the health care received at Guantanamo includes force-feeding prisoners who are refusing food out of protest. Everything is taken from them, even the right to control their own bodies by fasting. The US Army knows how to make a person completely powerless and humiliated. I also heard such force feeding is very painful.

nymet624 July 26th, 2007 1:54 pm

Not to long ago, I sat in my doctor’s office in Mid-town Manhattan. I overheard, one of the doctor’s tell her secretary to call a patient to collect 15 cents.

If Universal Health coverage, was to be implemented in the USA, I see a precipitous drop in medical school enrollment.

Democracy Now, reported that 6 Americans graduated from Cuban Medical School, and have pledge to work in poor U.S. cities. That’s commendable.

alamac July 26th, 2007 2:01 pm

…my hero…

gimpy July 26th, 2007 2:22 pm

I saw “Sicko” last night. What an indictment of our health care system. In the past year, my husband has had a heart attack and I have broken a leg, so we came to know our local emergency room. It was always crowded with the uninsured because it is their only way to be treated. But when I called my personal physician for an appointment for my annual physical yesterday and was told I could be seen the end of October, it occured to me that there is another reason for the crowding at the emergency room. What is a person supposed to do when they need to be seen for a non-emergency and have insurance? Wait 3 months, or go to the emergency room? The criticism of the Canadian health system of people waiting for elective surgery seems rather specious to me.

fazzbot July 26th, 2007 2:35 pm

I have been extremely disappointed in the Democratic candidates, the Party leadership and the voters themselves for complaining about one of the biggest issues of the next election and for the future of America; health care, yet coming up with no viable plan. I have written to the candidates and have tried to explain a program that the Republicans and their backers would find hard to criticize. It is lengthy, so try to stay with me.

I work for the Federal Government, and am under a health care system that has been portrayed by the many on the right,(a term that I am sick and tired of hearing,) that allows employees to choose a program. Contrary to what the majority of people think, we, the employees pay more than our share for this insurance and premiums have jumped 200% and my co-pays increased accordingly during the pasty few years. It is far from perfect in that it still gives control to the middle man, the insurer. But on the plus side, it got me to thinking about another plan for universal health care. Single payer (Federal Government) and could not be any more expensive than paying insurance companies

What is wrong with choosing your health care coverage? Insurers is what is wrong. You don’t have to see “Sicko” to know what is wrong. Anybody who has ever gotten a bill for a simple hospital visit will see that charging $12.00 for an aspirin is plainly wrong.

The first thing that needs to be done is to increase the number of spaces in the medical schools. Isn’t this supposed to be a free market? Why are we bringing so many foreign born doctors here when there are plenty of American high school graduates that would love a chance to go to college but can’t afford it.
Screw the AMA. Make college costs tax deductible, and for those students who want to study medicine and have the grades for admission but don’t have the money, let the Federal government pay their tuition with a contract that puts them into the new “Homeland Health Care Service.” (Love that term Homeland, don’t you?) for a set number of years. (free market again)
Now for the nuts and bolts of my plan….
I would establish a network of Veteran Administration clinics in every major metropolitan area. It is no joke that the Federal Government is falling down on its job of serving the veterans of this country and it is about time for a change. Nobody from the dark side would dare to debate the figures of the vets being denied care in this country. So by increasing the number of clinics, the veterans will be able to get the care they need without the extremely pathetic Republicans cutting their legs off when a complaint is issued. Instead of subsidizing insurance companies, lets invest instead in the youth of this country.
These clinics will also be the first line of health care for the destitute and others who are unable to go to a doctor and instead use the emergency rooms of the hospitals as their clinics. It is an unfortunate fact that there will never been 100% employment so we will have to admit it and quit allowing the right wing nuts to claim that …”everything would be ok if those lazy people went to work”. That is for another time, as I get sick just thinking about them (the right wing nuts, not the people not working)..
For the first few years, the clinics will have to be manned by physicians assistants and nurses (who have been screwed by the current system, and may benefit from this one) foreign doctors and the current employees of the various free clinics and other providers that perform pro-bono work. It may also bring out of retirement other very qualified doctors who would like to see this system work for the betterment of society (I do believe there are many people out there who are not in it just for the dough!)
Now, since the lower demographics are then protected with a health program, the rest, those who work, will have to choose a level of services that they can afford, until such time when the entire country is under the “Homeland Plan” It will probably be eight to ten years for that to happen, but it will give the insurers and the rest of the blood-suckers time to develop other ways to take our money.
BUT, the great thing in this plan, other than it is a plan, is that the veterans of the endless wars that we will be fighting until we are broken into two separate countries, will be given the aid they will need for the rest of their lives. Right now, so many are being denied services that the MSM and the talking heads on television should be shut off for NOT making it a daily issue, they are meaningless to our democracy and they need to see how useless they have become. Turn them off!
So the first phase would be to build the clinics, staff them with retired and others who would gladly make the switch, open up the number of spaces in the medical schools, recruit medical school candidates from the poor and middle class, and offer them a chance to fulfill their dreams, (but with an 8 year commitment to the new system) and take the strain away from the hospitals. Then, with the clinics working, after a few years the medical schools will be graduating more doctors, more doctors mean more competition (WOW! Capitalism CAN work!) And that means fewer costs for the working class, and eventually Wall-Mart will be selling coverage. (Until of course everybody is moved into the single payer government plan.
I am sure there are holes in this plan, but, it is a starting point and one that can only be improved by discussion..
Thanks for reading this.

Stilba July 26th, 2007 2:57 pm

Too bad the candidates can effortlessly slither their way around this. None of them are going to answer Moore’s great proposition above, let alone even read it. The YouTube debate was too short and didn’t really force the candidates to answer REAL concerns like this. Many good questions were skipped by those who had the most to answer for …Hillary’s answer to working for the minimum wage: “Sure.” Yeah, sure. We need YouTube debates every week in the final months. If American Idol gets that kind of coverage, our presidential candidates sure as hell should!

koalaburger July 26th, 2007 2:59 pm

I get really angry at commentators calling it socialised medicine. Do they say socialised Police or socialised firemen?

debydoo2 July 26th, 2007 3:41 pm

You’re the greatest, Michael! SICKO turned my Republican folks into health care advocates last weekend. And I rewatched “The Big One” last night. Thanks for all you do!

LWelsch July 26th, 2007 3:42 pm

Most Federal Employees can tell you that the Federal Employee Health Insurance is far less than perfect. The plans themselves are confusing and the fine print, is well fine print.

The best Health Insurance I ever carried was from the Good ole Days of Bell Labs. At&t in those days was self insuring and Bell Labs was administered by Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield. When my mother, a dependent of mine, got sick and died of cancer, they covered everything, no questions asked. What my mother and doctors agreed to, she got. When I tried to send some money back because she also carried AARP insurance, they refused to accept it, saying they were paying the benefits to which I was entitled.

Now, I carry a Federal Employee Health Plan and I am told it is good. Good - hell no. Better than the average - probably. There is no going back.

frank1569 July 26th, 2007 4:06 pm

Let’s take it one step further - all candidates must drop their gov insurance and BUY insurance from my son of a bitch company. Assuming any of them would even qualify, (hopefully, none of them had a pimple in their teens,) the first time they get refused a life-saving procedure, the call for universal health care will bleat in sens-a-round. And, just for kicks, how about all candidates spend a week living in New Orleans? Not in the rich, white sections…

sheila July 26th, 2007 4:35 pm

Michael continues to say that healthcare is free - It is not free - seniors pay medicare charges monthly taken right out of our social security monthly payment - now reaching in the $90+ dollars monthly. Let’s not lie to the public - tell them the whole truth which is there is no free lunch. We pay for all our services with out tax dollars - what’s wrong with that? Nothing - if everyone in this country paid their fair share we would all be well taken care of , with better schools, healthcare for all, better public transit, etc. etc. What a concept - fairness. Make our legislators pay for their healthcare until we all and I mean all - babies and their parents and their aunts and uncles -have healthcare and see how fast everything changes.

panamahead July 26th, 2007 6:01 pm

Michael Moore points out the obvious that every American deserves universal health care, and all CNN and defenders of the status quo can do is say he’s lying. Ha!

Universal health care is about moral courage. I commend Hillary for trying to get it passed before, but shes on the payroll now and she voted to invade Iraq. Thats not the same Hillary.

John F. Butterfield July 26th, 2007 7:04 pm

gimpy,

Both my sister and I needed knee surgery. I am a U.S. citizen. She is a citizen of Canada. She complained about how long she had to wait for her surgery until I told her how long I had to wait for mine. She did not have to wait as long for her surgery as I had to wait for mine. My surgery was covered by insurance.

SoundChaser July 26th, 2007 11:38 pm

As soon as the North American Union is ratified, next month, the Canadians will be sharing the joy of privatized health care with us.

relayer@q.com

Commonreader July 27th, 2007 11:10 am

Thank you Michael Moore for SICKO, a great documentary.

williameon July 29th, 2007 9:10 am

Level the Playing Field!

To make the System fair.
We must level the playing field.

We must take the Money out of politics.
Stop special interest from buying our government officials.
Break up the Media Conglomerates
A open locally owned and run, Media is essential
To the survival of our country.

Level the playing field in Politics
By public financing of all elections.
Why should Billionaires be able to buy office?
Why do they?
Where is the payoff?

Stop the Revolving door in Washington.
Ban corporate lobbyists from Government.
Change the one party ‘Corpirate’ system
To a true Multi party system.

Decentralize:
The Media Conglomerates
Manufacturing
Farming
and
Energy Production

Have a Armed Forces for defensive purposes only.
Stop Corporate Welfare!
Reinstitute all
The Bush & Co Tax breaks
Close the Loopholes.
End the Tax Shelters.

With all of these savings
Guarantee:
Fairness
Universal Health care
A Livable wage
A clean environment
Education
Housing
And
Subsidence
To all.

The richest country in the world surely can afford these things,
That our poorer neighbors easily provide.

Stop Bullying the World.
Let’s start acting Compassionate
Good Deeds are a lot stronger than empty rhetoric.
Take care of our own first.
We are measured by how we treat the least amongst us.

The Poor
Homeless
And
The Sick!

skst July 26th, 2007 1:15 pm

While we’re at it, let’s ask them to earn minimum wage and get the same vacation time as most Americans, too. Somehow, I doubt they’ll be willing to give up their $165,000 salaries and mere 103 working days in exchange for the pitiful $5.85/hour and grueling 200 workdays most Americans suffer with.
CRCox July 26th, 2007 1:15 pm

Good questions Michael. The reason they will not REALLY address universal single payer coverage is because that would actually address the inefficiency of free-market capitalism. Regulation of the medical industry in the United States would be a statement far beyond that. I, for one, would love to finally see that debate, but I doubt we will have it. Profit is the motive of this country, whether we like it or not. Then again, Clinton has been called a Marxist by one of the Republican candidates. Even though she is nowhere near a Marxist - especially when you look at her destructive trade ideologies - I find it very interesting that the word Marxist has now officially worked its way into the debate between the R’s and the D’s.

This thing could get a whole lot more interesting yet! And health care is a perfect issue to ignite this very necessary debate.
Poet July 26th, 2007 1:16 pm

Good for Michael Moore! It is sad that we need to have a movie producer to inform the political debate in this country but great that MM is willing to say what till now has been the unsayable!
Marikken July 26th, 2007 1:18 pm

I want to point out that the health care received at Guantanamo includes force-feeding prisoners who are refusing food out of protest. Everything is taken from them, even the right to control their own bodies by fasting. The US Army knows how to make a person completely powerless and humiliated. I also heard such force feeding is very painful.
nymet624 July 26th, 2007 1:54 pm

Not to long ago, I sat in my doctor’s office in Mid-town Manhattan. I overheard, one of the doctor’s tell her secretary to call a patient to collect 15 cents.

If Universal Health coverage, was to be implemented in the USA, I see a precipitous drop in medical school enrollment.

Democracy Now, reported that 6 Americans graduated from Cuban Medical School, and have pledge to work in poor U.S. cities. That’s commendable.
alamac July 26th, 2007 2:01 pm

…my hero…
gimpy July 26th, 2007 2:22 pm

I saw “Sicko” last night. What an indictment of our health care system. In the past year, my husband has had a heart attack and I have broken a leg, so we came to know our local emergency room. It was always crowded with the uninsured because it is their only way to be treated. But when I called my personal physician for an appointment for my annual physical yesterday and was told I could be seen the end of October, it occured to me that there is another reason for the crowding at the emergency room. What is a person supposed to do when they need to be seen for a non-emergency and have insurance? Wait 3 months, or go to the emergency room? The criticism of the Canadian health system of people waiting for elective surgery seems rather specious to me.
fazzbot July 26th, 2007 2:35 pm

I have been extremely disappointed in the Democratic candidates, the Party leadership and the voters themselves for complaining about one of the biggest issues of the next election and for the future of America; health care, yet coming up with no viable plan. I have written to the candidates and have tried to explain a program that the Republicans and their backers would find hard to criticize. It is lengthy, so try to stay with me.

I work for the Federal Government, and am under a health care system that has been portrayed by the many on the right,(a term that I am sick and tired of hearing,) that allows employees to choose a program. Contrary to what the majority of people think, we, the employees pay more than our share for this insurance and premiums have jumped 200% and my co-pays increased accordingly during the pasty few years. It is far from perfect in that it still gives control to the middle man, the insurer. But on the plus side, it got me to thinking about another plan for universal health care. Single payer (Federal Government) and could not be any more expensive than paying insurance companies

What is wrong with choosing your health care coverage? Insurers is what is wrong. You don’t have to see “Sicko” to know what is wrong. Anybody who has ever gotten a bill for a simple hospital visit will see that charging $12.00 for an aspirin is plainly wrong.

The first thing that needs to be done is to increase the number of spaces in the medical schools. Isn’t this supposed to be a free market? Why are we bringing so many foreign born doctors here when there are plenty of American high school graduates that would love a chance to go to college but can’t afford it.
Screw the AMA. Make college costs tax deductible, and for those students who want to study medicine and have the grades for admission but don’t have the money, let the Federal government pay their tuition with a contract that puts them into the new “Homeland Health Care Service.” (Love that term Homeland, don’t you?) for a set number of years. (free market again)
Now for the nuts and bolts of my plan….
I would establish a network of Veteran Administration clinics in every major metropolitan area. It is no joke that the Federal Government is falling down on its job of serving the veterans of this country and it is about time for a change. Nobody from the dark side would dare to debate the figures of the vets being denied care in this country. So by increasing the number of clinics, the veterans will be able to get the care they need without the extremely pathetic Republicans cutting their legs off when a complaint is issued. Instead of subsidizing insurance companies, lets invest instead in the youth of this country.
These clinics will also be the first line of health care for the destitute and others who are unable to go to a doctor and instead use the emergency rooms of the hospitals as their clinics. It is an unfortunate fact that there will never been 100% employment so we will have to admit it and quit allowing the right wing nuts to claim that …”everything would be ok if those lazy people went to work”. That is for another time, as I get sick just thinking about them (the right wing nuts, not the people not working)..
For the first few years, the clinics will have to be manned by physicians assistants and nurses (who have been screwed by the current system, and may benefit from this one) foreign doctors and the current employees of the various free clinics and other providers that perform pro-bono work. It may also bring out of retirement other very qualified doctors who would like to see this system work for the betterment of society (I do believe there are many people out there who are not in it just for the dough!)
Now, since the lower demographics are then protected with a health program, the rest, those who work, will have to choose a level of services that they can afford, until such time when the entire country is under the “Homeland Plan” It will probably be eight to ten years for that to happen, but it will give the insurers and the rest of the blood-suckers time to develop other ways to take our money.
BUT, the great thing in this plan, other than it is a plan, is that the veterans of the endless wars that we will be fighting until we are broken into two separate countries, will be given the aid they will need for the rest of their lives. Right now, so many are being denied services that the MSM and the talking heads on television should be shut off for NOT making it a daily issue, they are meaningless to our democracy and they need to see how useless they have become. Turn them off!
So the first phase would be to build the clinics, staff them with retired and others who would gladly make the switch, open up the number of spaces in the medical schools, recruit medical school candidates from the poor and middle class, and offer them a chance to fulfill their dreams, (but with an 8 year commitment to the new system) and take the strain away from the hospitals. Then, with the clinics working, after a few years the medical schools will be graduating more doctors, more doctors mean more competition (WOW! Capitalism CAN work!) And that means fewer costs for the working class, and eventually Wall-Mart will be selling coverage. (Until of course everybody is moved into the single payer government plan.
I am sure there are holes in this plan, but, it is a starting point and one that can only be improved by discussion..
Thanks for reading this.
Stilba July 26th, 2007 2:57 pm

Too bad the candidates can effortlessly slither their way around this. None of them are going to answer Moore’s great proposition above, let alone even read it. The YouTube debate was too short and didn’t really force the candidates to answer REAL concerns like this. Many good questions were skipped by those who had the most to answer for …Hillary’s answer to working for the minimum wage: “Sure.” Yeah, sure. We need YouTube debates every week in the final months. If American Idol gets that kind of coverage, our presidential candidates sure as hell should!
koalaburger July 26th, 2007 2:59 pm

I get really angry at commentators calling it socialised medicine. Do they say socialised Police or socialised firemen?
debydoo2 July 26th, 2007 3:41 pm

You’re the greatest, Michael! SICKO turned my Republican folks into health care advocates last weekend. And I rewatched “The Big One” last night. Thanks for all you do!
LWelsch July 26th, 2007 3:42 pm

Most Federal Employees can tell you that the Federal Employee Health Insurance is far less than perfect. The plans themselves are confusing and the fine print, is well fine print.

The best Health Insurance I ever carried was from the Good ole Days of Bell Labs. At&t in those days was self insuring and Bell Labs was administered by Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield. When my mother, a dependent of mine, got sick and died of cancer, they covered everything, no questions asked. What my mother and doctors agreed to, she got. When I tried to send some money back because she also carried AARP insurance, they refused to accept it, saying they were paying the benefits to which I was entitled.

Now, I carry a Federal Employee Health Plan and I am told it is good. Good - hell no. Better than the average - probably. There is no going back.
frank1569 July 26th, 2007 4:06 pm

Let’s take it one step further - all candidates must drop their gov insurance and BUY insurance from my son of a bitch company. Assuming any of them would even qualify, (hopefully, none of them had a pimple in their teens,) the first time they get refused a life-saving procedure, the call for universal health care will bleat in sens-a-round. And, just for kicks, how about all candidates spend a week living in New Orleans? Not in the rich, white sections…
sheila July 26th, 2007 4:35 pm

Michael continues to say that healthcare is free - It is not free - seniors pay medicare charges monthly taken right out of our social security monthly payment - now reaching in the $90+ dollars monthly. Let’s not lie to the public - tell them the whole truth which is there is no free lunch. We pay for all our services with out tax dollars - what’s wrong with that? Nothing - if everyone in this country paid their fair share we would all be well taken care of , with better schools, healthcare for all, better public transit, etc. etc. What a concept - fairness. Make our legislators pay for their healthcare until we all and I mean all - babies and their parents and their aunts and uncles -have healthcare and see how fast everything changes.
panamahead July 26th, 2007 6:01 pm

Michael Moore points out the obvious that every American deserves universal health care, and all CNN and defenders of the status quo can do is say he’s lying. Ha!

Universal health care is about moral courage. I commend Hillary for trying to get it passed before, but shes on the payroll now and she voted to invade Iraq. Thats not the same Hillary.
John F. Butterfield July 26th, 2007 7:04 pm

gimpy,

Both my sister and I needed knee surgery. I am a U.S. citizen. She is a citizen of Canada. She complained about how long she had to wait for her surgery until I told her how long I had to wait for mine. She did not have to wait as long for her surgery as I had to wait for mine. My surgery was covered by insurance.
SoundChaser July 26th, 2007 11:38 pm

As soon as the North American Union is ratified, next month, the Canadians will be sharing the joy of privatized health care with us.

relayer@q.com
Commonreader July 27th, 2007 11:10 am

Thank you Michael Moore for SICKO, a great documentary.
williameon July 29th, 2007 9:10 am

Level the Playing Field!

To make the System fair.
We must level the playing field.

We must take the Money out of politics.
Stop special interest from buying our government officials.
Break up the Media Conglomerates
A open locally owned and run, Media is essential
To the survival of our country.

Level the playing field in Politics
By public financing of all elections.
Why should Billionaires be able to buy office?
Why do they?
Where is the payoff?

Stop the Revolving door in Washington.
Ban corporate lobbyists from Government.
Change the one party ‘Corpirate’ system
To a true Multi party system.

Decentralize:
The Media Conglomerates
Manufacturing
Farming
and
Energy Production

Have a Armed Forces for defensive purposes only.
Stop Corporate Welfare!
Reinstitute all
The Bush & Co Tax breaks
Close the Loopholes.
End the Tax Shelters.

With all of these savings
Guarantee:
Fairness
Universal Health care
A Livable wage
A clean environment
Education
Housing
And
Subsidence
To all.

The richest country in the world surely can afford these things,
That our poorer neighbors easily provide.

Stop Bullying the World.
Let’s start acting Compassionate
Good Deeds are a lot stronger than empty rhetoric.
Take care of our own first.
We are measured by how we treat the least amongst us.

The Poor
Homeless
And
The Sick!

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