1
00:00:23,323 --> 00:00:25,587
We got issue in America.
2
00:00:25,658 --> 00:00:28,593
Too many good docs
are getting out of business.
3
00:00:28,661 --> 00:00:34,258
Too many ob-gyns aren't able to practice
their love with women across this country.
4
00:00:42,242 --> 00:00:47,441
I don't have a job. I don't want to have
any more debt out to anybody else.
5
00:00:47,514 --> 00:00:49,607
I'm flushing the wound.
6
00:00:50,216 --> 00:00:52,707
This is Adam.
7
00:01:04,898 --> 00:01:07,389
He had an accident.
8
00:01:18,411 --> 00:01:24,213
He's one of nearly 50 million Americans
with no health insurance.
9
00:01:36,629 --> 00:01:39,223
But this film isn't about Adam.
10
00:01:43,436 --> 00:01:46,928
So this is the table saw.
It was spinning that way...
11
00:01:47,006 --> 00:01:48,997
This is Rick.
12
00:01:52,312 --> 00:01:55,713
I was gripping a piece of wood
and I grabbed it here and it hit a knot...
13
00:01:55,782 --> 00:02:00,082
He sawed off the tops
of to of his fingers.
14
00:02:00,153 --> 00:02:02,314
...and it was that quick.
15
00:02:04,791 --> 00:02:07,817
- His first thought?
- I don't have insurance.
16
00:02:07,894 --> 00:02:11,159
Am I gonna have to pay cash for this?
$ 2,000, $3,000 or more?
17
00:02:11,231 --> 00:02:14,530
Does that mean
we're not gonna get a car?
18
00:02:15,668 --> 00:02:18,262
Rick also doesn't have
health coverage.
19
00:02:18,338 --> 00:02:20,602
So the hospital gave him a choice.
20
00:02:20,673 --> 00:02:24,404
Reattach the middle finger for $60.000.
21
00:02:24,477 --> 00:02:27,969
Or do the ring finger for 12.000.
22
00:02:28,047 --> 00:02:33,314
It's an awful feeling
to just try to put a value on your body.
23
00:02:37,757 --> 00:02:41,921
Being a hopeless romantic.
Rick chose the ring finger.
24
00:02:41,995 --> 00:02:44,930
For the bargain price of 12 grand.
25
00:02:44,998 --> 00:02:50,903
The top of his middle finger now enjoys
its new home in an Oregon landfill.
26
00:02:58,378 --> 00:03:03,247
I can do that thing where, you know,
the old man used to pull the finger off.
27
00:03:08,721 --> 00:03:12,020
This movie
isn't about Rick either.
28
00:03:12,091 --> 00:03:16,221
Yes. There are nearly 50 million Americans
with no health insurance.
29
00:03:16,296 --> 00:03:18,924
They pray every day
they don't get sick.
30
00:03:18,998 --> 00:03:21,990
Because 18.000 of them
will die this year.
31
00:03:22,068 --> 00:03:24,559
Simply because they're uninsured.
32
00:03:26,739 --> 00:03:29,367
But this movie isn't about them.
33
00:03:29,442 --> 00:03:34,539
It's about the 250 million of you
who have health insurance.
34
00:03:34,614 --> 00:03:38,846
Those of you who are living
the American Dream.
35
00:03:48,728 --> 00:03:53,722
It's moving day
for Larry and Donna Smith.
36
00:03:57,837 --> 00:04:02,365
They've packed everything they own
in these to cars.
37
00:04:03,776 --> 00:04:07,473
And are driving to Denver. Colorado.
38
00:04:08,481 --> 00:04:10,779
To their new home...
39
00:04:10,850 --> 00:04:12,841
- Hi.
- Hello.
40
00:04:13,853 --> 00:04:16,014
...in their daughter's storage room.
41
00:04:16,089 --> 00:04:18,284
This is home, sweet home.
42
00:04:20,159 --> 00:04:24,027
- Look at all that stuff.
- We'll get everything organized.
43
00:04:24,097 --> 00:04:26,725
- We will.
- What do we do with the computer?
44
00:04:26,799 --> 00:04:28,960
- It stays.
- It stays there.
45
00:04:29,769 --> 00:04:34,604
So this is where Heather talked about
we might have to put bunk beds.
46
00:04:34,674 --> 00:04:37,507
I see what she's talking about.
47
00:04:38,444 --> 00:04:42,904
It wasn't supposed to
end up like this for Larry and Donna.
48
00:04:42,982 --> 00:04:45,348
They both had good jobs.
49
00:04:46,352 --> 00:04:49,150
She was a newspaper editor.
50
00:04:49,222 --> 00:04:51,816
And he was a union machinist.
51
00:04:52,625 --> 00:04:59,053
They raised six kids who all went to
fine schools like the University of Chicago.
52
00:04:59,132 --> 00:05:01,794
But Larry had a heart attack.
53
00:05:01,868 --> 00:05:04,234
And then another one.
54
00:05:04,470 --> 00:05:06,631
And then another one.
55
00:05:08,041 --> 00:05:10,532
And then Donna got cancer.
56
00:05:12,312 --> 00:05:14,906
And even though
they had health insurance.
57
00:05:14,981 --> 00:05:18,610
The copays and deductibles
soon added up
58
00:05:18,685 --> 00:05:22,678
to the point where they could no longer
afford to keep their home.
59
00:05:22,755 --> 00:05:27,385
If somebody told me ten years ago this was
gonna happen to us because of healthcare,
60
00:05:27,460 --> 00:05:29,860
I would have said, "It's not possible."
61
00:05:29,929 --> 00:05:35,458
"Not in the United States.
We wouldn't let that happen to people."
62
00:05:39,305 --> 00:05:41,796
- Are we gonna quit?
- No.
63
00:05:42,709 --> 00:05:44,700
It's just hard.
64
00:05:45,511 --> 00:05:48,378
They were bankrupt.
65
00:05:48,448 --> 00:05:50,973
So they moved in
with their daughter.
66
00:05:51,050 --> 00:05:53,450
We'll get it all figured out.
67
00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:56,311
We emptied the dresser
so you have a spot.
68
00:05:56,389 --> 00:05:58,254
Nice, very nice.
69
00:06:01,260 --> 00:06:04,388
Even their son Danny
popped in from across town
70
00:06:04,464 --> 00:06:06,659
to welcome them to Denver.
71
00:06:06,733 --> 00:06:10,362
- What do we do about people like you?
- I don't know, that's a good question.
72
00:06:10,436 --> 00:06:15,373
You're supposed to pay a deductible for
$9,000, I understand. That's healthcare.
73
00:06:15,441 --> 00:06:18,410
What about people like Kathy and I
that have to come up there
74
00:06:18,478 --> 00:06:21,572
and move you every five years,
every two years, every year,
75
00:06:21,647 --> 00:06:25,014
- 'cause you don't have enough money?
- That's what Russell says too.
76
00:06:25,084 --> 00:06:29,020
I'm sorry. It's not what we wanted
to have happen in life.
77
00:06:29,088 --> 00:06:32,023
And we're doing what we can
to make the change.
78
00:06:32,091 --> 00:06:36,960
You don't know what that feels like inside
at 50-some years old,
79
00:06:37,029 --> 00:06:40,590
to have to reach out
to my 20-something-year-old for help.
80
00:06:40,666 --> 00:06:45,569
It's gonna be hard for four, five, six,
seven months, it's gonna be hard.
81
00:06:45,638 --> 00:06:51,770
I have a feeling of you bring your problems
with you no matter where you go.
82
00:06:51,844 --> 00:06:54,074
Yeah.
83
00:06:54,147 --> 00:06:56,638
But I don't know
what to do about that.
84
00:07:01,487 --> 00:07:04,650
By sheer coincidence.
Their daughter's husband. Paul.
85
00:07:04,724 --> 00:07:08,956
Was leaving on a job
the very same day they arrived.
86
00:07:10,763 --> 00:07:14,597
Paul was a contractor.
But there weren't many jobs lately.
87
00:07:14,667 --> 00:07:16,897
So he found work out of town.
88
00:07:16,969 --> 00:07:20,928
I'm sure you'll keep
a telephone conversation.
89
00:07:21,007 --> 00:07:22,998
Email you.
90
00:07:27,413 --> 00:07:31,179
You're gonna be
just fine, lovies.
91
00:07:34,787 --> 00:07:36,778
Weird situation, isn't it?
92
00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:44,389
- Tell me where Daddy's going.
- Iraq.
93
00:07:45,198 --> 00:07:47,462
Why is Daddy going to Iraq?
94
00:07:47,533 --> 00:07:49,694
To do some plumbing.
95
00:07:55,241 --> 00:07:57,539
Oh, boy.
96
00:07:58,945 --> 00:08:03,644
This I do early in the morning.
The first thing I do is I clean here.
97
00:08:05,585 --> 00:08:10,852
At age 79. Frank Cardile should
be kicking back on a beach somewhere.
98
00:08:10,923 --> 00:08:14,017
But even though
he's insured by Medicare.
99
00:08:14,093 --> 00:08:19,622
It doesn't cover all the cost of the drugs
that he and his wife need.
100
00:08:22,401 --> 00:08:26,531
Being that I'm an employee here,
my medicine is for free.
101
00:08:26,606 --> 00:08:31,942
So that's why I gotta keep working.
Until I die.
102
00:08:32,011 --> 00:08:34,377
There is nothing wrong with that.
103
00:08:34,447 --> 00:08:36,244
OK.
104
00:08:36,315 --> 00:08:40,149
I always gotta keep my ears open
because there's always spillages.
105
00:08:40,219 --> 00:08:42,881
Sometimes you get a gallon of milk.
106
00:08:42,955 --> 00:08:49,360
Tomato sauce - oh, you're in trouble.
It'll take a half-hour to clean that up.
107
00:08:49,428 --> 00:08:52,090
And I look up on every aisle
so as everything is clean.
108
00:08:52,164 --> 00:08:56,931
If I see something I pick it up,
whether it's paper or garbage.
109
00:08:58,371 --> 00:09:02,432
One day I had the keys in my hand
and they went in there.
110
00:09:02,508 --> 00:09:05,841
And I had to climb in there
to get the keys out.
111
00:09:09,348 --> 00:09:12,112
It's a sad situation.
112
00:09:13,019 --> 00:09:18,355
If there are golden years,
I can't find 'em, I'll tell you that.
113
00:09:20,693 --> 00:09:23,059
She had a painkiller for her hip.
114
00:09:23,129 --> 00:09:27,862
The girl said, "Frank, this is $ 213."
"What, for a painkiller?"
115
00:09:27,934 --> 00:09:31,961
- I didn't take it.
- I backed off. I said, "I gotta come back."
116
00:09:32,038 --> 00:09:35,735
What's in them? What's in these
new drugs that they distribute?
117
00:09:35,808 --> 00:09:38,572
I don't believe you need
half of the things they tell you.
118
00:09:38,644 --> 00:09:42,842
I have never taken medication now,
as I'm getting older.
119
00:09:42,915 --> 00:09:45,247
I don't even like to take an aspirin.
120
00:09:45,318 --> 00:09:47,479
I do like a little brandy.
121
00:09:52,692 --> 00:09:58,358
I don't really know how this happened, but
the trunk came forward into the back seat.
122
00:09:58,431 --> 00:10:03,391
Laura Burnham was in a head-on
collision that knocked her out cold.
123
00:10:03,469 --> 00:10:08,099
Paramedics got her out of the car and into
an ambulance for a trip to the hospital.
124
00:10:08,174 --> 00:10:11,075
I get a bill from my insurance company
125
00:10:11,143 --> 00:10:14,943
telling me that the ambulance ride
was not going to be paid for,
126
00:10:15,014 --> 00:10:17,482
because it wasn't preapproved.
127
00:10:17,550 --> 00:10:21,145
I don't know exactly when I was supposed
to preapprove it, you know?
128
00:10:21,220 --> 00:10:26,351
Like after I gain consciousness in the car,
before I got in the ambulance?
129
00:10:26,425 --> 00:10:31,021
I should have grabbed my cellphone
off the street and called in the ambulance?
130
00:10:31,097 --> 00:10:33,930
I mean, it's just crazy.
131
00:10:38,137 --> 00:10:40,731
I applied for
HealthNet insurance for Jason.
132
00:10:40,806 --> 00:10:44,742
They rejected him
because of his height and weight.
133
00:10:44,810 --> 00:10:48,041
Jason is six feet tall
and 130 pounds.
134
00:10:52,018 --> 00:10:55,146
I applied for healthcare
through BlueCross BlueShield
135
00:10:55,221 --> 00:10:58,850
and they told me
that my body mass index was too high.
136
00:10:59,392 --> 00:11:02,054
I'm 5'1",
I weigh 175 pounds.
137
00:11:06,232 --> 00:11:11,169
I always thought health insurance
companies were there to help us.
138
00:11:11,237 --> 00:11:13,501
So I posted a note on the internet.
139
00:11:13,572 --> 00:11:16,439
Asking people if they had had
any similar stories
140
00:11:16,509 --> 00:11:19,672
about problems
with their insurance company.
141
00:11:21,180 --> 00:11:25,879
Within 24 hours.
I had over 3700 responses.
142
00:11:25,951 --> 00:11:29,318
And by the end of the week.
Over 25.000 people
143
00:11:29,388 --> 00:11:33,688
had sent me
their healthcare horror stories.
144
00:11:34,226 --> 00:11:38,356
Some of them decided
not to wait for me to get back to them.
145
00:11:38,431 --> 00:11:43,994
Like Doug Noe. Who took matters into
his own hands. Without my permission.
146
00:11:45,438 --> 00:11:50,239
His daughter was nine months old when
they discovered she was going deaf.
147
00:11:50,309 --> 00:11:52,607
His health insurance company.
CIGNA.
148
00:11:52,678 --> 00:11:55,977
Said they'd pay for an implant
in only one of her ears.
149
00:11:56,048 --> 00:11:58,107
According to the letter they sent.
150
00:11:58,184 --> 00:12:02,018
It's experimental
for her to hear in to ears.
151
00:12:02,088 --> 00:12:05,580
If a cochlear implant
is good for one ear,
152
00:12:05,658 --> 00:12:09,651
it doesn't even make any sense that
it wouldn't be good for the second ear.
153
00:12:09,729 --> 00:12:13,392
Especially when a child
is just starting to learn how to talk,
154
00:12:13,466 --> 00:12:17,061
she has to learn
from both sides of her head.
155
00:12:19,071 --> 00:12:21,904
That's when he sat down
to write CIGNA a letter.
156
00:12:21,974 --> 00:12:25,637
This is to CIGNA.
"Noted filmmaker Michael Moore
157
00:12:25,711 --> 00:12:28,771
is in the process of gathering information
for his next film."
158
00:12:28,848 --> 00:12:33,217
"I've sent information concerning CIGNA's
lack of caring for its policy holders."
159
00:12:33,285 --> 00:12:36,686
"Has your CEO ever been
in a film before?"
160
00:12:38,124 --> 00:12:43,460
Before he knew it. He received
a call on his voice mail from CIGNA.
161
00:12:43,529 --> 00:12:46,498
Tuesday. 8:54 am.
162
00:13:06,285 --> 00:13:11,746
Obviously all this worked because Annette
is going to get her second implant in July.
163
00:13:11,824 --> 00:13:14,156
"Dear Mike.
I work in the industry."
164
00:13:14,226 --> 00:13:15,921
"I work for an HMO."
165
00:13:15,995 --> 00:13:19,396
I started to get hundreds of letters
of a different sort
166
00:13:19,465 --> 00:13:22,923
from people who work inside
the healthcare industry.
167
00:13:23,002 --> 00:13:27,234
They'd seen everything
and they were fed up with it.
168
00:13:27,306 --> 00:13:30,571
"Health insurance
companies suck. Flat suck."
169
00:13:30,643 --> 00:13:35,137
Like Becky Malke. Who was
in charge of keeping sick people away
170
00:13:35,214 --> 00:13:38,012
from one of America's
top insurance companies.
171
00:13:38,083 --> 00:13:42,383
I work in a call center, so people
call in and ask for insurance quotes.
172
00:13:42,454 --> 00:13:46,322
There are certain preexisting conditions,
basically industry-wide,
173
00:13:46,392 --> 00:13:48,053
that will not be covered -
174
00:13:48,127 --> 00:13:52,188
diabetes, heart disease,
certain forms of cancer.
175
00:13:52,264 --> 00:13:56,894
If you have these conditions, you are likely
not going to get your health insurance.
176
00:13:56,969 --> 00:14:00,461
How long is this list of conditions
that make you ineligible?
177
00:14:00,539 --> 00:14:04,839
It would be a really long list.
It would be a long list.
178
00:14:04,910 --> 00:14:07,572
It could wrap around this house.
179
00:14:33,239 --> 00:14:37,107
Sometimes you know they're gonna
be declined at the end of the application,
180
00:14:37,176 --> 00:14:42,239
and they're like...
God, like one time I had a couple,
181
00:14:42,314 --> 00:14:44,544
and they were so happy to get...
I'm gonna cry.
182
00:14:44,617 --> 00:14:49,748
They were so happy that they were...
I took them through this application.
183
00:14:49,822 --> 00:14:53,280
And the husband was late for work.
184
00:14:53,359 --> 00:14:56,988
And the wife said to him,
"Don't worry, baby, it's gonna be OK."
185
00:14:57,062 --> 00:14:59,121
"We have health insurance now."
186
00:14:59,198 --> 00:15:02,326
And when I looked, I could tell
they were gonna get declined
187
00:15:02,401 --> 00:15:05,837
because of their health conditions.
And they were so happy.
188
00:15:05,905 --> 00:15:08,965
I thought, "God, they're gonna get
that call in a couple of weeks
189
00:15:09,041 --> 00:15:13,603
telling them
that they're not eligible for insurance."
190
00:15:13,679 --> 00:15:16,045
I just felt so bad
'cause I just really thought
191
00:15:16,115 --> 00:15:19,380
and I knew
and I couldn't say anything to them.
192
00:15:19,852 --> 00:15:21,843
I just felt like crap.
193
00:15:21,921 --> 00:15:24,355
That's why I'm such a bitch
on the phone to people,
194
00:15:24,423 --> 00:15:27,085
because I don't wanna
get to know them,
195
00:15:27,159 --> 00:15:30,390
I don't wanna know about their lives,
I just wanna get in and out,
196
00:15:30,462 --> 00:15:35,092
and get done with it
'cause I can't take the stress of it.
197
00:15:35,167 --> 00:15:38,967
In spite of Becky being
a bit of a pain on the phone.
198
00:15:39,038 --> 00:15:44,772
A quarter billion Americans
are still able to get health insurance.
199
00:15:46,979 --> 00:15:51,075
Let's meet some of these
happy insured customers.
200
00:15:51,150 --> 00:15:53,141
Maria has BlueShield.
201
00:15:53,218 --> 00:15:55,448
And Diane. Horizon BlueCross.
202
00:15:55,988 --> 00:15:58,081
BCS insures Laurel.
203
00:15:58,157 --> 00:16:01,422
And Caroline has CIGNA.
204
00:16:01,493 --> 00:16:04,462
And it's a good thing
that they're all fully covered.
205
00:16:04,530 --> 00:16:08,091
I ended up being diagnosed
with retroperitoneal cancer.
206
00:16:08,167 --> 00:16:09,964
- Brain tumor.
- Breast cancer.
207
00:16:10,035 --> 00:16:11,935
Brain tumor on the right temporal lobe.
208
00:16:12,004 --> 00:16:16,668
As they were insured. They got the
red-carpet treatment at the doctor's office.
209
00:16:16,742 --> 00:16:20,769
She requested for me
to see a neurologist.
210
00:16:20,846 --> 00:16:22,939
The way they would treat it
was to remove it.
211
00:16:23,015 --> 00:16:24,880
Surgery was scheduled
for December 9.
212
00:16:24,950 --> 00:16:27,350
There is a test that you can take
213
00:16:27,419 --> 00:16:32,379
that will show whether or not
you would benefit from chemo.
214
00:16:32,458 --> 00:16:36,861
They got their treatment. But not
before battling their insurance companies.
215
00:16:36,929 --> 00:16:39,955
Investigated whether or not
this was a preexisting condition.
216
00:16:40,032 --> 00:16:41,863
"It's not medically necessary."
217
00:16:41,934 --> 00:16:43,959
They claim that it's experimental.
218
00:16:44,036 --> 00:16:46,334
"We don't consider that life-threatening."
219
00:16:46,405 --> 00:16:49,806
Diane died
from her non life-threatening tumor.
220
00:16:49,875 --> 00:16:52,901
Laurel's cancer is now spread
throughout her body.
221
00:16:52,978 --> 00:16:57,347
Her "experimental test"
proved that Caroline needed chemo.
222
00:16:57,416 --> 00:17:00,647
While vacationing in Japan.
Maria became ill
223
00:17:00,719 --> 00:17:06,248
and got the MRI that BlueShield
of California had refused to approve.
224
00:17:06,325 --> 00:17:09,624
The doctors in Japan
told her she had a brain tumor.
225
00:17:10,329 --> 00:17:13,662
BlueShield had said repeatedly
she didn't have a tumor.
226
00:17:13,732 --> 00:17:18,931
That's when she said:
"Well. I'm pretty sure I have a lawyer."
227
00:17:20,172 --> 00:17:23,266
March 13, 2003.
228
00:17:23,342 --> 00:17:26,539
I'm gonna direct your attention
to exhibit one.
229
00:17:26,612 --> 00:17:29,137
Please describe for me what it is.
230
00:17:29,214 --> 00:17:35,813
It is a denial for referral
to an ophthalmologist.
231
00:17:35,888 --> 00:17:39,119
- Is it your signature on this?
- Yes.
232
00:17:39,191 --> 00:17:42,217
I'd like to direct your attention
to exhibit two.
233
00:17:42,294 --> 00:17:46,731
This is a denial
of a request for referral
234
00:17:46,799 --> 00:17:50,530
for a magnetic resonance imaging test
of the brain.
235
00:17:50,602 --> 00:17:52,627
- It has your signature?
- Yes.
236
00:17:52,704 --> 00:17:56,800
Directing your attention
to exhibit three. Please read this document.
237
00:17:56,875 --> 00:18:03,007
This is a denial of a referral
to a neurosurgeon.
238
00:18:03,082 --> 00:18:08,987
Can you explain for me
how you came to sign the denial letter?
239
00:18:09,054 --> 00:18:11,989
This is a standard signature
put on all denial letters.
240
00:18:12,057 --> 00:18:15,618
- Is it your signature or a stamp?
- That is a stamp.
241
00:18:15,694 --> 00:18:22,463
Did you ever see a denial letter
before your signature was stamped on it?
242
00:18:22,534 --> 00:18:27,028
No, but the denial letters
are fundamentally the same.
243
00:18:27,106 --> 00:18:29,700
The denial letters that are sent out...
244
00:18:29,775 --> 00:18:32,938
- The answer is no.
- No. All right.
245
00:18:33,745 --> 00:18:38,512
The definition of a good director was
somebody who saves the company money.
246
00:18:38,584 --> 00:18:42,884
Dr. Linda Peeno
was a medical reviewer for Humana.
247
00:18:42,955 --> 00:18:47,119
She left her job because she didn't like
their way of doing business.
248
00:18:47,192 --> 00:18:51,060
I was told when I started
that I had to keep a 10% denial.
249
00:18:51,130 --> 00:18:55,931
Then they were giving us reports weekly
that would have all the cases we reviewed,
250
00:18:56,001 --> 00:18:58,265
the percent approved
and the percent denied.
251
00:18:58,337 --> 00:19:01,170
And our actual percentage denial rate.
252
00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:05,802
Then there would be another report that
compared me to all the other reviewers.
253
00:19:05,878 --> 00:19:09,439
The doctor with the highest percent
of denials was gonna get a bonus.
254
00:19:09,515 --> 00:19:13,007
Really? So you, as a doctor,
working for the HMO,
255
00:19:13,085 --> 00:19:16,452
if you denied more people healthcare,
you got a bonus?
256
00:19:16,522 --> 00:19:18,456
That was how they set it up.
257
00:19:18,524 --> 00:19:22,756
Any payment for a claim
is referred to as a medical loss.
258
00:19:22,828 --> 00:19:25,228
That's the terminology
the industry uses.
259
00:19:25,297 --> 00:19:28,960
I mean, when you don't spend money
on somebody, you deny their care,
260
00:19:29,034 --> 00:19:33,368
or you make a decision that brings
money in and you don't have to spend it,
261
00:19:33,438 --> 00:19:35,929
it's a savings to the company.
262
00:19:37,843 --> 00:19:40,311
This is Tarsha Harris.
263
00:19:40,379 --> 00:19:42,711
BlueCross didn't deny her
her treatment.
264
00:19:42,781 --> 00:19:45,978
And actually approved her operation.
265
00:19:47,286 --> 00:19:51,086
But then they discovered
that in the distant past.
266
00:19:51,156 --> 00:19:54,387
She had had a yeast infection.
267
00:19:56,728 --> 00:20:00,664
Apparently it's common.
Men, women can get a yeast infection.
268
00:20:00,732 --> 00:20:07,262
So I was prescribed the yeast infection
cream, general cream, and it went away.
269
00:20:08,073 --> 00:20:10,064
She later applied for health insurance
270
00:20:10,142 --> 00:20:14,272
and that's what you're supposed
to be disclosing - serious ailments.
271
00:20:14,346 --> 00:20:19,807
The yeast infection is not a serious ailment.
There was nothing she could have done.
272
00:20:19,885 --> 00:20:23,480
It wasn't until they were gonna have
to spend money that they looked.
273
00:20:23,555 --> 00:20:27,082
If they'd taken five minutes
and wanted to clear up the yeast infection,
274
00:20:27,159 --> 00:20:30,185
they could've looked at her records
or talked to her doctor.
275
00:20:30,262 --> 00:20:33,459
Because of the undisclosed
yeast infection.
276
00:20:33,532 --> 00:20:36,126
BlueCross dropped Tarsha Harris.
277
00:20:36,201 --> 00:20:40,797
She thinks she's put this behind her.
And then BlueCross changes their mind,
278
00:20:40,872 --> 00:20:45,707
tells the doctors, "We're taking the money
back, go get the money from Tarsha."
279
00:20:45,777 --> 00:20:51,738
The fact of the matter is
it was a yeast infection, that's all it was.
280
00:20:51,817 --> 00:20:55,412
I'm still a little bitter because
I don't trust insurance companies now.
281
00:20:55,487 --> 00:20:59,753
To me, it seems they're always
gonna be looking for a way out.
282
00:20:59,825 --> 00:21:02,293
What happened to helping
the person that's sick?
283
00:21:02,361 --> 00:21:05,057
Don't make their problems worse.
284
00:21:06,598 --> 00:21:08,930
This is Lee Einer.
285
00:21:09,001 --> 00:21:12,903
If they weren't able to weed you out
in the application process.
286
00:21:12,971 --> 00:21:16,372
Or deny you the care
your doctor said you needed.
287
00:21:16,441 --> 00:21:19,933
And somehow ended up
paying for the operation.
288
00:21:20,812 --> 00:21:23,906
They send in Lee. Their hitman.
289
00:21:23,982 --> 00:21:28,851
His job is to get the company's money
back any way he can.
290
00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:33,220
All he has to do
is find one slip-up on your application.
291
00:21:33,292 --> 00:21:37,126
Or a preexisting condition
you didn't know you had.
292
00:21:37,195 --> 00:21:40,926
We're gonna go after this
like it's a murder case.
293
00:21:40,999 --> 00:21:43,559
And I mean the whole unit dedicated to
294
00:21:43,635 --> 00:21:47,571
going through your health history
for the last five years,
295
00:21:47,639 --> 00:21:50,369
looking for anything that would indicate
296
00:21:50,442 --> 00:21:54,173
that you concealed something,
you misrepresented something,
297
00:21:54,246 --> 00:21:56,976
so that they can cancel the policy
298
00:21:57,049 --> 00:22:00,485
or jack the rates so high
that you can't pay them.
299
00:22:01,687 --> 00:22:05,817
And if we couldn't find anything
you didn't disclose on the application,
300
00:22:05,891 --> 00:22:09,850
you can still get hit
with a preexisting denial,
301
00:22:09,928 --> 00:22:13,591
because you don't even have to have
sought medical treatment for it.
302
00:22:13,665 --> 00:22:18,568
In some states, it's legal to have
a prudent person preexisting condition.
303
00:22:18,637 --> 00:22:20,662
And that's a mouthful, I know,
304
00:22:20,739 --> 00:22:24,937
but what that says is
if prior to your insurance kicking in,
305
00:22:25,010 --> 00:22:30,812
you had any symptom which would incline
a normally prudent person
306
00:22:30,882 --> 00:22:33,851
to have sought medical care,
307
00:22:33,919 --> 00:22:40,085
then the condition of which that symptom
was a symptom is excluded.
308
00:22:43,362 --> 00:22:45,193
I know!
309
00:22:45,964 --> 00:22:49,695
It's labyrinthine, isn't it?
But that's how it works.
310
00:22:50,268 --> 00:22:52,327
They're supposed to be even-handed,
311
00:22:52,404 --> 00:22:55,999
but with an insurance company,
it's their frigging money!
312
00:22:56,074 --> 00:23:00,511
So it's not unintentional,
it's not a mistake,
313
00:23:00,579 --> 00:23:04,481
it's not an oversight,
you're not slipping through the cracks.
314
00:23:04,549 --> 00:23:09,179
Somebody made that crack
and swept you towards it.
315
00:23:09,254 --> 00:23:12,883
And the intent
is to maximize profits.
316
00:23:14,025 --> 00:23:17,256
Looking back,
I don't know that I killed anybody.
317
00:23:17,329 --> 00:23:19,854
Did I do harm in people's lives?
318
00:23:19,931 --> 00:23:22,593
Yeah. Hell, yeah.
319
00:23:25,404 --> 00:23:28,202
I haven't worked for insurance companies
for a long time,
320
00:23:28,273 --> 00:23:32,539
and I don't think
that really serves to atone
321
00:23:32,611 --> 00:23:36,775
for my participation in that mess.
322
00:23:38,350 --> 00:23:40,841
I am glad I'm out of it, though.
323
00:23:43,989 --> 00:23:48,187
Julie Pierce was struggling
to get care for her husband Tracy.
324
00:23:48,260 --> 00:23:51,627
Who was suffering
from kidney cancer.
325
00:23:51,696 --> 00:23:55,530
Julie works in the intensive care unit
at St. Joseph's Medical Center
326
00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:57,864
in Kansas City. Missouri.
327
00:23:57,936 --> 00:24:00,871
Which provided her family
with health insurance.
328
00:24:00,939 --> 00:24:04,500
Every month, there was a new drug
that the doctor wanted to try.
329
00:24:04,576 --> 00:24:09,878
My insurance denied it. One letter
might say, "not a medical necessity,"
330
00:24:09,948 --> 00:24:15,011
one letter might say, "it's not
for this particular type of cancer,"
331
00:24:15,086 --> 00:24:17,611
and they denied it.
332
00:24:17,689 --> 00:24:21,989
Then we came up with the bone marrow.
It has showed to stop it,
333
00:24:22,060 --> 00:24:25,496
sometimes to completely get rid of it.
334
00:24:25,564 --> 00:24:29,261
Tracy's doctors said
this treatment had been successfully tried
335
00:24:29,334 --> 00:24:31,666
on many other patients.
336
00:24:32,404 --> 00:24:36,204
If one of Tracy's brothers turned out
to be a suitable donor.
337
00:24:36,274 --> 00:24:42,645
There were promising bone marrow
treatments for beating Tracy's cancer.
338
00:24:42,714 --> 00:24:46,741
Two weeks later, the bone marrow
nurse at KU called me and she goes:
339
00:24:46,818 --> 00:24:51,778
"We've got the results back. His youngest
brother is a perfect donor match."
340
00:24:51,857 --> 00:24:53,984
We were ecstatic.
341
00:24:54,059 --> 00:24:58,291
You know, I think that's the happiest
I had seen him...
342
00:25:00,632 --> 00:25:03,157
in a while.
343
00:25:03,235 --> 00:25:07,604
So we submitted it
and they denied it.
344
00:25:07,672 --> 00:25:09,697
Said it was "experimental."
345
00:25:11,076 --> 00:25:15,103
So I found out that there is
a board of trustees over our medical plan
346
00:25:15,180 --> 00:25:17,171
that actually work at my hospital.
347
00:25:17,249 --> 00:25:22,687
And they are the final decision-makers
on what gets approved and what doesn't.
348
00:25:22,754 --> 00:25:26,121
Julie and her husband
and their son. Tracy Junior.
349
00:25:26,191 --> 00:25:29,718
Demanded a meeting
with the health plan's board of trustees.
350
00:25:29,794 --> 00:25:33,730
The very people
who had the power to approve their claim.
351
00:25:33,798 --> 00:25:37,825
They told Julie that they were
sympathetic to her situation.
352
00:25:37,903 --> 00:25:41,862
I said, "Your sympathy does me no good
when I'm burying him next year."
353
00:25:41,940 --> 00:25:47,640
And I told them, I said if I was...
Bruce van Cleve was our CEO.
354
00:25:47,712 --> 00:25:53,810
I said, "I bet if it was Bruce van Cleve's
wife, it would get approved."
355
00:25:53,885 --> 00:25:56,012
"No, it's nothing like that."
356
00:25:56,087 --> 00:25:58,749
I said, "Or maybe
if my husband was white."
357
00:25:58,823 --> 00:26:01,223
And I got up
and walked out of the room.
358
00:26:02,460 --> 00:26:06,760
When we got home,
I found him up in the bathroom.
359
00:26:06,831 --> 00:26:12,235
And I knocked on the door and said,
"What are you doing in there?""Nothing."
360
00:26:12,304 --> 00:26:16,764
I opened the door 'cause usually he'll say:
"What do you think I'm doing in here?"
361
00:26:16,841 --> 00:26:20,538
And he was sitting in there
and he was crying.
362
00:26:21,646 --> 00:26:25,241
And he said, "Why me?
I'm a good person."
363
00:26:25,817 --> 00:26:29,275
And I said,
"But we're not done fighting this."
364
00:26:29,354 --> 00:26:33,814
"We're strong, yeah."
And then he said...
365
00:26:33,892 --> 00:26:37,726
You know, he goes,
"I can see now that I'm gonna die."
366
00:26:37,796 --> 00:26:43,928
He said, "I can leave everything,
but I don't want to leave you and Tracy."
367
00:26:48,306 --> 00:26:51,935
The doctor told me
he would die in three weeks.
368
00:26:52,010 --> 00:26:54,001
And...
369
00:26:55,547 --> 00:26:58,846
On January 13th,
which was my birthday,
370
00:26:59,718 --> 00:27:01,709
he went to sleep.
371
00:27:03,221 --> 00:27:06,315
And he died five days later,
here at home.
372
00:27:07,626 --> 00:27:10,117
He was my best friend.
373
00:27:10,996 --> 00:27:14,830
He was my soul mate.
He was my son's father.
374
00:27:17,135 --> 00:27:19,729
I mean, we were to grow old together.
375
00:27:21,072 --> 00:27:24,473
They took away
everything that matters.
376
00:27:26,845 --> 00:27:30,008
I wanna know why,
why my husband?
377
00:27:31,583 --> 00:27:34,780
Why wasn't he given
the chance to live?
378
00:27:36,187 --> 00:27:40,590
You preach these vision and values that
we care for the sick, the dying, the poor.
379
00:27:40,659 --> 00:27:44,493
That we're a healthcare
that leaves no one behind.
380
00:27:44,562 --> 00:27:48,726
You left him behind.
You didn't even give him a start.
381
00:27:49,868 --> 00:27:52,029
It was as if he was nothing.
382
00:27:53,505 --> 00:27:56,201
And I want them
to have a conscience about it.
383
00:27:56,274 --> 00:28:01,610
And I don't think they do.
I don't think it has fazed them one bit.
384
00:28:03,281 --> 00:28:05,272
At all.
385
00:28:07,852 --> 00:28:10,514
There was one person
in the healthcare industry
386
00:28:10,588 --> 00:28:12,681
who did have a conscience.
387
00:28:12,757 --> 00:28:17,854
Dr. Linda Peeno.
A former medical reviewer at Humana.
388
00:28:17,929 --> 00:28:19,419
My name is Linda Peeno.
389
00:28:19,964 --> 00:28:24,333
I am here today
to make a public confession.
390
00:28:24,402 --> 00:28:28,805
In the spring of 1987,
as a physician,
391
00:28:28,873 --> 00:28:32,104
I denied a man
a necessary operation
392
00:28:32,177 --> 00:28:36,705
that would have saved his life,
and thus caused his death.
393
00:28:37,482 --> 00:28:41,077
No person and no group
has held me accountable for this,
394
00:28:41,152 --> 00:28:47,819
because, in fact, what I did was I saved
the company a half a million dollars for this.
395
00:28:47,892 --> 00:28:51,419
And, furthermore, this particular act
secured my reputation
396
00:28:51,496 --> 00:28:53,964
as a good medical director,
397
00:28:54,032 --> 00:28:58,093
and it insured my continued advancement
in the healthcare field.
398
00:28:58,169 --> 00:29:02,162
I went from making a few hundred dollars
a week as a medical reviewer
399
00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:07,371
to an escalating six-figure income
as a physician executive.
400
00:29:07,445 --> 00:29:13,213
In all my work, I had one primary duty,
and that was to use my medical expertise
401
00:29:13,284 --> 00:29:17,721
for the financial benefit
of the organization for which I worked.
402
00:29:17,789 --> 00:29:21,316
And I was told repeatedly
that I was not denying care,
403
00:29:21,392 --> 00:29:23,758
I was simply denying payment.
404
00:29:23,828 --> 00:29:27,093
I know how managed care
maims and kills patients.
405
00:29:27,165 --> 00:29:30,931
So I'm here to tell you
about the dirty work of managed care.
406
00:29:31,002 --> 00:29:33,596
And I'm haunted by the thousands
of pieces of paper
407
00:29:33,671 --> 00:29:36,902
on which I have written
that deadly word - "denied."
408
00:29:36,975 --> 00:29:38,272
Thank you.
409
00:29:42,580 --> 00:29:47,108
How did we get to the point
of doctors at health insurance companies
410
00:29:47,185 --> 00:29:51,918
actually being responsible
for the deaths of patients?
411
00:29:53,224 --> 00:29:55,556
Who invented this system?
412
00:29:57,295 --> 00:29:59,286
How did this all begin?
413
00:30:02,233 --> 00:30:04,667
Where did the HMO start?
414
00:30:09,174 --> 00:30:13,201
Thanks to the wonders of magnetic tape.
We know.
415
00:31:15,173 --> 00:31:19,974
I am proposing today
a new national health strategy.
416
00:31:20,044 --> 00:31:23,104
The purpose of this program
is simply this -
417
00:31:23,181 --> 00:31:26,912
I want America to have
the finest healthcare in the world,
418
00:31:26,985 --> 00:31:32,719
and I want every American to be able
to have that care when he needs it.
419
00:31:34,125 --> 00:31:38,255
The plan hatched
beteen Nixon and Edgar Kaiser worked.
420
00:31:38,329 --> 00:31:42,390
In the ensuing years.
Patients were given less and less care...
421
00:31:42,467 --> 00:31:47,370
Bigger logjams at the nearby
hospital and less quality medical care.
422
00:31:47,438 --> 00:31:50,271
Been here about 18 hours,
since 7:00 this morning.
423
00:31:50,341 --> 00:31:54,300
What looks cramped
and unsightly can also be dangerous.
424
00:31:54,379 --> 00:31:57,576
...while health insurance
companies became wealthy.
425
00:31:57,649 --> 00:31:59,708
The system was broken.
426
00:31:59,784 --> 00:32:03,948
37 million Americans are without protection
against catastrophic illness.
427
00:32:04,022 --> 00:32:08,391
The losers are the poor.
Who may now postpone urgent healthcare
428
00:32:08,459 --> 00:32:10,359
until it's too late.
429
00:32:10,428 --> 00:32:12,988
This went on for years.
430
00:32:13,064 --> 00:32:15,760
Until this man rode into town.
431
00:32:16,701 --> 00:32:19,226
Bringing with him his little lady.
432
00:32:25,843 --> 00:32:27,834
Sassy.
433
00:32:29,580 --> 00:32:31,571
Smart.
434
00:32:34,585 --> 00:32:36,576
Sexy.
435
00:32:39,557 --> 00:32:41,957
Some men couldn't handle it.
436
00:32:42,860 --> 00:32:45,158
Today I am announcing the formation
437
00:32:45,229 --> 00:32:48,528
of the President's Task Force
on National Health Reform,
438
00:32:48,599 --> 00:32:51,625
chaired by the First Lady,
Hillary Rodham Clinton.
439
00:32:51,703 --> 00:32:56,970
Hillary Clinton decided to make
healthcare for everyone her top priority.
440
00:32:57,041 --> 00:32:59,874
Universal coverage now.
441
00:32:59,944 --> 00:33:02,674
It will not depend upon
where you work, whether you work,
442
00:33:02,747 --> 00:33:04,715
or if you have a preexisting condition.
443
00:33:04,782 --> 00:33:07,717
Healthcare that can never
be taken away.
444
00:33:07,785 --> 00:33:12,449
Some Republicans complain
Mrs. Clinton is getting a free ride.
445
00:33:12,523 --> 00:33:15,788
It's fairly risky business
what President Clinton did,
446
00:33:15,860 --> 00:33:19,455
to put his wife in charge of
some big policy program.
447
00:33:19,530 --> 00:33:22,727
And while I don't share the chairman's joy
at our holding hearings
448
00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:26,327
on a government-run healthcare system,
449
00:33:26,404 --> 00:33:30,170
I do share his intention to make the debate
and the legislative process
450
00:33:30,241 --> 00:33:35,076
- as exciting as possible.
- I'm sure you will do that, Mr. Armey.
451
00:33:35,146 --> 00:33:39,981
- We'll do the best we can.
- You and Dr. Kevorkian, I think.
452
00:33:44,589 --> 00:33:49,549
I have been told about your charm
and wit, and let me say...
453
00:33:49,627 --> 00:33:52,721
Reports on your charm are overstated
454
00:33:52,797 --> 00:33:57,029
- and reports on your wit are understated.
- Thank you. Thank you very much.
455
00:33:57,702 --> 00:34:00,603
She drove Washington insane.
456
00:34:00,671 --> 00:34:03,367
Do you want the government
to control your healthcare?
457
00:34:03,441 --> 00:34:05,739
You won't have the choice
of your own doctors.
458
00:34:05,810 --> 00:34:07,710
- Less government.
- More control.
459
00:34:07,779 --> 00:34:10,373
- More government.
- Less control for you and your family.
460
00:34:10,448 --> 00:34:14,612
When your mama gets sick, she might talk
to a bureaucrat instead of a doctor.
461
00:34:14,685 --> 00:34:17,779
This is a total mess,
and it's about to get messier.
462
00:34:17,855 --> 00:34:20,790
Not this bureaucratic,
socialistic plan that they have.
463
00:34:20,858 --> 00:34:23,349
- Socialist takeover...
- Socialized medicine.
464
00:34:23,428 --> 00:34:27,728
What really amounts to
a giant social experiment.
465
00:34:29,200 --> 00:34:32,397
Ooh!
Socialized medicine.
466
00:34:32,470 --> 00:34:36,839
Nothing put more fear in us
than the thought of that.
467
00:34:36,908 --> 00:34:40,400
And the chief fearmongers
against socialized medicine
468
00:34:40,478 --> 00:34:43,140
have always been the good doctors
469
00:34:43,214 --> 00:34:45,205
of the American Medical Association.
470
00:34:45,283 --> 00:34:48,480
This would put the government
smack into your hospital,
471
00:34:48,553 --> 00:34:51,852
defining services, setting standards,
472
00:34:51,923 --> 00:34:55,188
establishing committees, calling for reports,
473
00:34:55,259 --> 00:34:57,625
deciding who gets in and who gets out.
474
00:34:57,695 --> 00:35:01,791
After all, the government has to treat
everyone fair and equal, don't you know?
475
00:35:01,866 --> 00:35:06,803
Take us all the way down the road to
a new system of medicine for everybody.
476
00:35:06,871 --> 00:35:09,806
Yes. Medicine for everyone.
477
00:35:09,874 --> 00:35:12,138
The AMA didn't want that.
478
00:35:13,144 --> 00:35:15,408
And to drive the point home further.
479
00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:19,075
They held thousands of coffeeklatsches
all over the country.
480
00:35:19,150 --> 00:35:23,450
Where they invited their neighbors
to come and listen to a record
481
00:35:23,521 --> 00:35:28,618
made by a well-known actor
on the evils of socialized medicine.
482
00:35:28,693 --> 00:35:30,786
My name is Ronald Reagan.
483
00:35:30,862 --> 00:35:35,629
One of the traditional methods of imposing
statism or socialism on a people.
484
00:35:35,700 --> 00:35:38,498
Has been by way of medicine.
485
00:35:38,569 --> 00:35:43,199
The doctor begins to lose freedoms. It's
like telling a lie. And one leads to another.
486
00:35:43,274 --> 00:35:46,266
A doctor decides he wants
to practice in one town.
487
00:35:46,344 --> 00:35:49,177
The government says to him.
"You can't live in that town.
488
00:35:49,247 --> 00:35:53,149
They already have enough doctors.
You have to go someplace else."
489
00:35:53,217 --> 00:35:56,812
All of us can see what happens
once you establish the precedent
490
00:35:56,888 --> 00:36:02,758
that the government can determine
a man's working place and his methods.
491
00:36:02,827 --> 00:36:05,261
And behind it will come
other federal programs
492
00:36:05,329 --> 00:36:09,095
that will invade every area of freedom
as we have known it in this country.
493
00:36:09,167 --> 00:36:14,104
Until one day. We will awake
to find that we have socialism.
494
00:36:18,042 --> 00:36:20,806
The White House
said to tone down the rhetoric.
495
00:36:20,878 --> 00:36:23,278
Reacting to burning an effigy
of Hillary Clinton.
496
00:36:23,347 --> 00:36:27,613
The times may have changed.
But the scare tactics hadn't.
497
00:36:27,685 --> 00:36:30,950
The healthcare industries spent
over a hundred million dollars
498
00:36:31,022 --> 00:36:35,823
to defeat Hillary's healthcare plan.
And they succeeded.
499
00:36:35,893 --> 00:36:39,192
And I want now
to introduce to you the president,
500
00:36:39,263 --> 00:36:42,494
because he loves the Easter egg roll.
501
00:36:42,567 --> 00:36:45,229
For the next seven years
in the White House.
502
00:36:45,303 --> 00:36:47,533
She wasn't allowed to bring it up again.
503
00:36:47,605 --> 00:36:49,539
Is anybody here older than two?
504
00:36:49,607 --> 00:36:52,007
A decade and a half went by.
505
00:36:52,076 --> 00:36:55,375
And still America
had no universal health plan.
506
00:36:55,947 --> 00:37:00,350
The United States slipped to number 37
in healthcare around the world.
507
00:37:00,418 --> 00:37:03,285
Just slightly ahead of Slovenia.
508
00:37:07,992 --> 00:37:13,328
But that's understandable. Because
Congress was busy with other matters.
509
00:37:13,397 --> 00:37:15,991
Mr. Speaker, today I rise
to offer congratulations
510
00:37:16,067 --> 00:37:18,934
to the confectioners
at Just Born Incorporated,
511
00:37:19,003 --> 00:37:21,233
as they celebrate the 50th anniversary
512
00:37:21,305 --> 00:37:24,240
of one of their most recognized
and celebrated products,
513
00:37:24,308 --> 00:37:27,334
not to mention my daughter's favorite,
Marshmallow Peeps.
514
00:37:28,079 --> 00:37:32,982
And thus. The healthcare industry
went unchecked into the 21 st century.
515
00:37:33,050 --> 00:37:37,612
Humana more than doubles its fourth
quarter profit, lifts its earning for the year...
516
00:37:37,688 --> 00:37:39,883
United Health has tripled
its share prices.
517
00:37:39,957 --> 00:37:42,653
Making obscene profits...
518
00:37:42,727 --> 00:37:44,558
...better-than-expected earnings.
519
00:37:44,629 --> 00:37:47,223
There's a lot of
wealthy shareholders out there.
520
00:37:47,298 --> 00:37:49,562
Are they willing to share
some of that wealth?
521
00:37:49,634 --> 00:37:53,092
...turning their CEOs
into billionaires.
522
00:37:53,771 --> 00:37:57,366
And skirting the law
whenever they wanted.
523
00:37:58,709 --> 00:38:03,169
But their biggest accomplishment
was buying our United States Congress.
524
00:38:03,247 --> 00:38:07,980
This is Washington at work.
Lobbying has become so brazen...
525
00:38:08,052 --> 00:38:11,078
With four times
as many healthcare lobbyists
526
00:38:11,155 --> 00:38:13,248
than there are members of Congress.
527
00:38:13,324 --> 00:38:16,293
They even managed to buy off old foes.
528
00:38:17,094 --> 00:38:19,927
For her silence.
Hillary was rewarded.
529
00:38:19,997 --> 00:38:23,558
And she became the second largest
recipient in the Senate
530
00:38:23,634 --> 00:38:26,967
of healthcare industry contributions.
531
00:38:30,841 --> 00:38:35,642
We've given the entire healthcare system
over to the insurance industry.
532
00:38:35,713 --> 00:38:40,343
- And they have total control.
- Well. Not total control.
533
00:38:40,418 --> 00:38:44,718
Drug companies like to buy
their members of Congress too.
534
00:38:44,789 --> 00:38:48,156
Here's what it costs
to buy these men.
535
00:38:48,225 --> 00:38:50,216
And this woman.
536
00:38:52,029 --> 00:38:54,156
This guy.
537
00:38:54,231 --> 00:38:56,722
And this guy. And him too.
538
00:38:58,502 --> 00:39:03,064
Ladies and gentlemen,
the President of the United States.
539
00:39:03,140 --> 00:39:07,543
And the biggest check
was saved for last.
540
00:39:07,611 --> 00:39:10,273
Why did they hand out all this cash?
541
00:39:10,348 --> 00:39:15,809
They wanted a bill passed - a bill
to help seniors with their prescriptions.
542
00:39:15,886 --> 00:39:18,116
Let there be no mistake about it.
543
00:39:18,189 --> 00:39:21,681
Republicans love their mothers,
their fathers and their grandparents
544
00:39:21,759 --> 00:39:26,992
as much as anybody else on this hill,
and we're gonna take care of them.
545
00:39:27,064 --> 00:39:32,161
Of course. It was really a bill
to hand over 800 billion of our tax dollars
546
00:39:32,236 --> 00:39:34,500
to the drug and health insurance industry.
547
00:39:34,572 --> 00:39:38,201
By letting the drug companies
charge whatever they wanted.
548
00:39:38,275 --> 00:39:41,506
And making the private health insurance
companies the middleman.
549
00:39:41,579 --> 00:39:44,514
Everybody was going to get their cut.
550
00:39:44,582 --> 00:39:47,244
The man they appointed
to get the job done
551
00:39:47,318 --> 00:39:49,912
was congressman Billy Tauzin.
552
00:39:49,987 --> 00:39:55,220
He was the right man for the job
because he had a secret weapon.
553
00:39:55,292 --> 00:39:59,456
There's no one in this house loves
their mother more than I love my mother.
554
00:39:59,530 --> 00:40:00,963
I challenge you on that, sir.
555
00:40:01,031 --> 00:40:06,162
Nobody in this body that loves their mother
any more or any less than any one of us.
556
00:40:06,904 --> 00:40:08,462
I love that woman.
557
00:40:08,539 --> 00:40:11,633
Do you think for a second
you love your moms and dads
558
00:40:11,709 --> 00:40:13,677
any more than we love ours?
559
00:40:13,744 --> 00:40:17,305
Do you think Republicans
and Democrats who will vote...
560
00:40:17,381 --> 00:40:21,078
Do you really believe that, Mr. Stoddard?
God bless you.
561
00:40:21,152 --> 00:40:24,280
Oh. They all loved their mothers.
562
00:40:24,355 --> 00:40:28,553
It's just that they didn't
love our mothers as much.
563
00:40:28,626 --> 00:40:34,929
Now I'm honored and pleased
to sign this historic piece of legislation -
564
00:40:34,999 --> 00:40:38,992
the Medicare Prescription Drug,
Improvement, and Modernization Act
565
00:40:39,069 --> 00:40:41,060
of 2003.
566
00:40:43,140 --> 00:40:46,837
What they didn't tell us was
that the elderly could end up paying more
567
00:40:46,911 --> 00:40:49,778
for their prescriptions than they did before.
568
00:40:49,847 --> 00:40:56,275
Over to thirds of senior citizens
could still pay over $ 2.000 a year.
569
00:40:56,353 --> 00:41:01,313
And when it was over. 14 congressional
aids who worked on the bill
570
00:41:01,392 --> 00:41:07,297
quit their jobs on the Hill and went
to work for the healthcare industry.
571
00:41:07,364 --> 00:41:09,662
As did one congressman.
572
00:41:09,733 --> 00:41:13,760
# 'Cause I've got a golden ticket...
573
00:41:13,838 --> 00:41:18,275
Billy Tauzin left Congress
to become the CEO of PhRMA.
574
00:41:18,342 --> 00:41:20,367
The drug industry lobby.
575
00:41:20,444 --> 00:41:23,072
For a salary of $ 2 million a year.
576
00:41:25,616 --> 00:41:28,881
Oh. It was a happy day in Washington.
577
00:41:28,953 --> 00:41:34,914
Many Americans knew they were never
going to see universal healthcare.
578
00:41:34,992 --> 00:41:40,225
And that's why some of them
decided to look elsewhere for help.
579
00:41:44,935 --> 00:41:47,870
We're driving across
the Detroit river.
580
00:41:47,938 --> 00:41:51,237
Back there is the Renaissance Center,
you can see it.
581
00:41:51,308 --> 00:41:55,642
General Motors' headquarters,
downtown Detroit, the skyline.
582
00:41:55,713 --> 00:41:58,944
You get a really nice view
from driving over the bridge.
583
00:41:59,016 --> 00:42:02,383
This is Adrian Campbell.
A single mother.
584
00:42:02,453 --> 00:42:06,583
Who at the age of 22
came down with cancer.
585
00:42:06,657 --> 00:42:11,026
I got cervical cancer and I was
denied through the insurance company.
586
00:42:11,095 --> 00:42:15,191
They said, "We're not paying for it
because you're 22 and you don't have..."
587
00:42:15,266 --> 00:42:18,895
"You shouldn't be having cervical cancer.
You're too young."
588
00:42:18,969 --> 00:42:22,427
Forced into debt.
But now cancer free.
589
00:42:22,506 --> 00:42:25,669
Adrian was fed up
with the American healthcare system.
590
00:42:25,743 --> 00:42:27,768
She had a new plan.
591
00:42:27,845 --> 00:42:30,609
I have everything ready
before I even hit the border.
592
00:42:30,681 --> 00:42:34,617
I got my passports ready,
I got my money out.
593
00:42:34,685 --> 00:42:37,950
It's three dollars and 25 cents
to get across one way.
594
00:42:38,022 --> 00:42:43,756
And I got everything just sitting
up here on my visor just ready to go.
595
00:42:47,831 --> 00:42:50,322
Aurora, be very quiet.
596
00:42:53,671 --> 00:42:55,866
- Citizenships?
- US.
597
00:42:55,940 --> 00:42:57,635
- Where do you live?
- Michigan.
598
00:42:57,708 --> 00:43:00,040
- That's not on, right?
- No.
599
00:43:00,978 --> 00:43:03,412
She may live in Michigan.
600
00:43:03,480 --> 00:43:09,146
But ten blocks across the border.
Adrian becomes a Canadian.
601
00:43:09,219 --> 00:43:12,052
How long have you been living here?
Three months?
602
00:43:12,122 --> 00:43:16,491
A couple.
I haven't applied for the OHIP card yet.
603
00:43:16,560 --> 00:43:19,051
- I still have mine.
- It takes ten minutes.
604
00:43:19,129 --> 00:43:22,621
That's fine, I don't mind.
OK, thank you.
605
00:43:22,700 --> 00:43:25,260
I put down Kyle's address at the clinic,
606
00:43:25,336 --> 00:43:28,134
and when they ask, you know,
what my relationship is,
607
00:43:28,205 --> 00:43:32,301
I put down that I was
his common-law partner.
608
00:43:32,376 --> 00:43:34,435
I don't like to lie and I don't like liars.
609
00:43:34,511 --> 00:43:40,416
It's little white lies, but it's...
You know, I'm saving the money.
610
00:43:40,484 --> 00:43:45,820
You don't bring a checkbook when you
go to the hospital here. It's provided to us.
611
00:43:45,889 --> 00:43:50,053
It's something you don't have to worry
about or go out of your way to get.
612
00:43:50,127 --> 00:43:51,788
Stress free.
613
00:43:56,767 --> 00:43:59,565
- They called the cops.
- The presence of our camera
614
00:43:59,637 --> 00:44:01,696
alerted the clinic
that something was up.
615
00:44:01,772 --> 00:44:04,172
And I don't think
I'm gonna get seen now.
616
00:44:04,241 --> 00:44:06,766
So I have another idea.
617
00:44:06,844 --> 00:44:09,870
I'm gonna go down to the other clinic.
618
00:44:09,947 --> 00:44:13,678
There is a clinic down...
one that we passed.
619
00:44:14,718 --> 00:44:17,812
The police showed up over there.
Look.
620
00:44:19,390 --> 00:44:23,759
Yes. What Adrian was doing
was illegal. But we're Americans.
621
00:44:23,827 --> 00:44:26,489
We go into other countries
when we need to.
622
00:44:27,164 --> 00:44:29,860
It's tricky. But it's allowed.
623
00:44:33,003 --> 00:44:35,733
It's kind of frustrating having...
I mean...
624
00:44:35,806 --> 00:44:39,003
Just get married and that'd solve
everything - she'd be covered.
625
00:44:39,076 --> 00:44:42,842
Americans marry Canadians
just for the healthcare!
626
00:44:42,913 --> 00:44:46,371
- I'm being used.
- Sounds like a good idea.
627
00:44:46,450 --> 00:44:50,477
See if it works.
Start something. Start a trend.
628
00:44:52,623 --> 00:44:54,955
In Canada they give everybody
free healthcare.
629
00:44:55,025 --> 00:44:57,858
- Doesn't it work up there?
- No, unfortunately it doesn't.
630
00:44:57,928 --> 00:45:01,523
We wait months to get treatment
you can get in a week or a few days here.
631
00:45:01,598 --> 00:45:06,262
In Canada you have to wait
nine to ten months for bypass surgery.
632
00:45:06,336 --> 00:45:11,364
Many Canadians believe
it's the healthcare system itself that's sick.
633
00:45:11,442 --> 00:45:13,342
They pay their doctors less.
634
00:45:13,410 --> 00:45:16,846
A surgeon can only do
a certain number of operations each year.
635
00:45:16,914 --> 00:45:19,678
With only so many
expensive new pieces of equipment.
636
00:45:19,750 --> 00:45:23,914
It's easier for your cat or dog
to receive an MRI here in America.
637
00:45:23,987 --> 00:45:28,447
You die of cancer waiting for chemo 'cause
all of Ottawa has one chemo machine.
638
00:45:28,525 --> 00:45:32,985
If you think socialized medicine
is a good idea, ask a Canadian.
639
00:45:34,565 --> 00:45:40,526
I thought who better to ask than
my Canadian relatives. Bob and Estelle.
640
00:45:40,604 --> 00:45:43,903
But they wouldn't cross the border
into America.
641
00:45:43,974 --> 00:45:47,705
They wanted me to meet them
at Sears. In Canada.
642
00:45:47,778 --> 00:45:51,077
What are you guys doing here?
643
00:45:51,148 --> 00:45:55,414
- We're buying insurance.
- We're going to the States to see you.
644
00:45:55,486 --> 00:45:57,477
Right, that's just across the river.
645
00:45:57,554 --> 00:45:59,112
Yeah.
646
00:45:59,189 --> 00:46:03,489
You wouldn't go over to see us in Michigan
for a couple of hours without insurance?
647
00:46:03,560 --> 00:46:07,963
No, we wouldn't. We're just adamant
about it. We would not do it.
648
00:46:08,031 --> 00:46:12,297
If somebody punches us in the mouth
or something, something like that...
649
00:46:12,369 --> 00:46:15,736
You don't want to get caught
in the American health system thing?
650
00:46:15,806 --> 00:46:21,073
We have nothing against Americans
or America, or anything like that at all.
651
00:46:21,145 --> 00:46:27,641
- We're a nice and simple people.
- Not very simple, but certainly very nice.
652
00:46:29,219 --> 00:46:32,620
I decided to explore
their anti-American views further.
653
00:46:32,689 --> 00:46:34,987
Over some fine Canadian cuisine.
654
00:46:35,058 --> 00:46:38,789
We have a friend who went to Hawaii.
655
00:46:38,862 --> 00:46:43,094
And he sustained a head injury
while he was there.
656
00:46:43,167 --> 00:46:45,931
And before he was
well enough to come home,
657
00:46:46,003 --> 00:46:50,030
he had chalked up a bill
of over $600,000.
658
00:46:51,341 --> 00:46:55,675
So what middle-class Canadian
could absorb that?
659
00:46:55,746 --> 00:47:00,115
I guess I feel bad that you would
have to worry about something like that.
660
00:47:00,184 --> 00:47:04,177
We're not criticizing your country,
we're just giving you the facts,
661
00:47:04,254 --> 00:47:08,884
that we could not afford
to be without insurance.
662
00:47:08,959 --> 00:47:12,520
- Even for a day?
- Even for a day.
663
00:47:13,797 --> 00:47:17,756
To prove their point even further.
They sent me over to a local golf course
664
00:47:17,835 --> 00:47:23,899
to talk to Larry Godfrey. Who had a golfing
accident while on vacation in Florida.
665
00:47:23,974 --> 00:47:28,877
I could hear a noise and feel a pain,
and the tendon snapped off this bone here
666
00:47:28,946 --> 00:47:31,244
that holds the bicep in place.
667
00:47:31,315 --> 00:47:34,876
So this bicep muscle was released,
like on an elastic,
668
00:47:34,952 --> 00:47:37,386
and it ended up here on my chest.
669
00:47:37,454 --> 00:47:40,685
- The muscle ended up in your chest?
- Right. Ended up here.
670
00:47:41,558 --> 00:47:44,891
Like all good golfers.
Larry finished his round
671
00:47:44,962 --> 00:47:47,954
before seeking medical attention.
672
00:47:48,031 --> 00:47:50,795
That's when he got the bad news.
673
00:47:50,868 --> 00:47:53,496
I wasn't too worried as I had
out-of-country insurance,
674
00:47:53,570 --> 00:47:57,529
but when he told me
it was 23 or 24,000, then I...
675
00:47:57,608 --> 00:48:01,044
- 24,000?
- Dollars, yes.
676
00:48:01,111 --> 00:48:04,877
So if you'd stayed in the United States,
this would have cost you $ 24,000?
677
00:48:04,948 --> 00:48:09,442
Instead, you went back to Canada,
and Canada paid your total expenses?
678
00:48:09,519 --> 00:48:12,010
- Everything.
- Paid for the operation. It cost you?
679
00:48:12,089 --> 00:48:13,420
- Nothing.
- Zero.
680
00:48:13,490 --> 00:48:15,958
Zero. Zero.
681
00:48:16,026 --> 00:48:20,190
I'm wondering why you expect your fellow
Canadians, who don't have your problem,
682
00:48:20,264 --> 00:48:25,361
why should they, through their tax dollars,
have to pay for a problem you have?
683
00:48:25,435 --> 00:48:29,064
Because we would
do the same for them.
684
00:48:29,139 --> 00:48:33,542
It's just the way it's always been
and it's the way we hope it'll always be.
685
00:48:33,610 --> 00:48:36,340
Right, but if you
just had to pay for your problem,
686
00:48:36,413 --> 00:48:40,144
and don't pay for everybody else's
problem, just take care of yourself?
687
00:48:40,217 --> 00:48:43,948
Well, there are a lot of people who aren't
in a position to be able to do that.
688
00:48:44,021 --> 00:48:46,581
And somebody has to look after them.
689
00:48:46,657 --> 00:48:48,750
Are you a member of the Socialist Party?
690
00:48:48,825 --> 00:48:51,293
- No. No.
- Green Party?
691
00:48:51,361 --> 00:48:56,731
No. Well, actually, I'm a member
of the Conservative Party.
692
00:48:56,800 --> 00:48:58,961
Is that bad?
693
00:48:59,836 --> 00:49:03,328
- Well, it's just a little confusing.
- Well...
694
00:49:03,407 --> 00:49:05,807
It shouldn't be. I think that...
695
00:49:05,876 --> 00:49:09,209
Where medical matters are concerned,
it wouldn't matter in Canada
696
00:49:09,279 --> 00:49:13,511
what party you were affiliated with, if any.
697
00:49:13,583 --> 00:49:16,575
But, to us,
as we look across the river here,
698
00:49:16,653 --> 00:49:19,247
you know, why don't you think
we don't believe that?
699
00:49:19,323 --> 00:49:21,848
What's wrong on this issue with us?
700
00:49:21,925 --> 00:49:28,057
I guess the powers that be
don't share our beliefs
701
00:49:28,131 --> 00:49:30,497
that healthcare ought to be universal.
702
00:49:30,567 --> 00:49:35,630
I mean, Canadians didn't until we met up
with a guy named Tommy Douglas,
703
00:49:35,706 --> 00:49:39,836
who pretty much
changed everyone's mind.
704
00:49:39,910 --> 00:49:43,676
- One guy?
- One guy, yeah. One guy did it, he...
705
00:49:43,747 --> 00:49:46,716
- Can he come over and visit us?
- He's dead, unfortunately.
706
00:49:46,783 --> 00:49:48,774
In fact, he was...
707
00:49:48,852 --> 00:49:54,154
He's just most recently been revered as
Canada's singular most important person.
708
00:49:54,224 --> 00:49:57,057
- We think so much of...
- You mean in your history?
709
00:49:57,127 --> 00:49:59,061
In our whole history.
710
00:49:59,129 --> 00:50:01,996
- More than your first prime minister?
- Absolutely, yeah.
711
00:50:02,065 --> 00:50:04,556
Even more than Wayne Gretzky.
712
00:50:04,634 --> 00:50:07,569
- No way!
- Absolutely. Yeah.
713
00:50:07,637 --> 00:50:11,596
- More than C�line Dion?
- Great singer. More than C�line, yeah.
714
00:50:11,675 --> 00:50:14,508
- More than Rocky and Bullwinkle?
- Maybe.
715
00:50:20,250 --> 00:50:23,117
As the blade went through,
it caught the glove I was wearing
716
00:50:23,186 --> 00:50:29,056
and it sliced through the entire group
of fingers, completely taking them off.
717
00:50:29,126 --> 00:50:32,459
And I realized
that I needed help immediately.
718
00:50:33,497 --> 00:50:36,694
Obviously, putting on
amputated fingers or arms or limbs
719
00:50:36,767 --> 00:50:38,962
is one of the more dramatic things
we can do.
720
00:50:39,036 --> 00:50:43,166
If you're looking at five fingers,
you're looking at a 24-hour operation.
721
00:50:43,240 --> 00:50:47,040
There actually was four surgeons,
as well as all the nurses
722
00:50:47,110 --> 00:50:51,638
and two different anesthetists
to carry out an operation of that magnitude.
723
00:50:51,715 --> 00:50:56,448
When Brad came in, we didn't have to
worry about whether he could afford it.
724
00:50:56,520 --> 00:51:01,958
He needed help and we could concentrate
on the best way to bring him through it.
725
00:51:02,893 --> 00:51:08,126
I met this American, he'd cut off
the ends of two of his fingers with a saw.
726
00:51:08,198 --> 00:51:13,795
So when he arrived at the hospital, they
told him one finger's gonna cost $60,000,
727
00:51:13,870 --> 00:51:16,634
and the other one was gonna be $12,000.
728
00:51:16,706 --> 00:51:20,039
He had to choose
which finger he could afford.
729
00:51:20,110 --> 00:51:22,476
Down. Bend the long finger down.
730
00:51:22,546 --> 00:51:26,710
We've never told someone
that they couldn't put a finger back on
731
00:51:26,783 --> 00:51:28,774
because the system wouldn't allow it.
732
00:51:28,852 --> 00:51:34,222
I'm very glad I work within a system that
allows me the freedom to look after people,
733
00:51:34,291 --> 00:51:36,782
and not have to
make choices like that.
734
00:51:36,860 --> 00:51:40,591
It seems nothing we were told
about the Canadian system was true.
735
00:51:40,664 --> 00:51:43,098
Maybe I was just
in the wrong part of town.
736
00:51:43,166 --> 00:51:47,125
So I went across the city
to a crowded hospital waiting room.
737
00:51:47,204 --> 00:51:49,468
How long did you have to wait here
to get help?
738
00:51:49,539 --> 00:51:51,973
- 20 minutes.
- 45 minutes.
739
00:51:52,042 --> 00:51:55,443
- I got helped right away.
- You can see how crowded this is.
740
00:51:55,512 --> 00:51:58,003
They really do an amazing job.
741
00:51:58,081 --> 00:52:01,278
Did you have to get permission
to come to this hospital?
742
00:52:01,351 --> 00:52:02,909
- No.
- No.
743
00:52:02,986 --> 00:52:04,977
We can go anywhere we want.
744
00:52:05,055 --> 00:52:08,991
You don't have to get it
preapproved by your insurance company?
745
00:52:09,059 --> 00:52:12,620
- Oh, heavens, no.
- Can you choose your doctor?
746
00:52:12,696 --> 00:52:14,994
- Oh, yes.
- What's your deductible?
747
00:52:15,065 --> 00:52:17,533
- Nothing.
- I don't think we have any.
748
00:52:17,601 --> 00:52:21,264
I don't know.
I don't think there's any, as far as I know.
749
00:52:21,338 --> 00:52:23,363
- So what did this cost?
- Nothing.
750
00:52:23,440 --> 00:52:26,136
We know in America
people pay for their healthcare,
751
00:52:26,209 --> 00:52:31,010
but I guess we don't understand that,
'cause we don't have to deal with that.
752
00:52:31,081 --> 00:52:34,573
And we're dealing with
Parkinson's, stroke, heart attack.
753
00:52:34,651 --> 00:52:37,142
We're very, very lucky.
Really we are.
754
00:52:37,220 --> 00:52:40,553
I mean, we complain.
People complain about everything, right?
755
00:52:40,624 --> 00:52:45,357
- Right, you're Canadian.
- But on the whole, it's a fabulous system
756
00:52:45,428 --> 00:52:51,128
for making sure that the least of us
and the best of us are taken care of.
757
00:52:51,201 --> 00:52:56,468
It turns out that Canadians
live three years longer than we do.
758
00:52:56,540 --> 00:53:02,342
That's not hard to believe
when you meet fellow Americans like Erik.
759
00:53:02,412 --> 00:53:06,746
# Oh, England, here we go
760
00:53:09,052 --> 00:53:13,455
Erik Turnbow of Olympia.
Washington. Saved up his whole life
761
00:53:13,523 --> 00:53:18,290
so that he could visit the famed
Abbey Road crosswalk in London.
762
00:53:18,361 --> 00:53:22,695
But it wasn't enough for Erik to just
walk across the road like The Beatles did.
763
00:53:22,766 --> 00:53:25,929
He had to do it his own special way.
764
00:53:26,903 --> 00:53:32,205
Here's Erik, about to walk
on his hands across Abbey Road.
765
00:53:33,143 --> 00:53:35,134
Ready?
766
00:53:35,879 --> 00:53:37,870
Ugh!
767
00:53:39,382 --> 00:53:40,474
Try it again.
768
00:53:49,593 --> 00:53:51,458
- Are you in pain?
- Yeah.
769
00:53:55,699 --> 00:54:01,365
The British hospital
didn't charge Erik anything for his stay.
770
00:54:01,438 --> 00:54:06,705
And only about ten bucks
for all the way-cool drugs they gave him.
771
00:54:06,776 --> 00:54:10,678
- You're all slung up.
- I'm gonna be OK.
772
00:54:14,317 --> 00:54:19,687
I decided to go to Great Britain to
find out how a hospital stay could be free.
773
00:54:19,756 --> 00:54:23,089
And drugs could cost only ten dollars.
774
00:54:25,362 --> 00:54:30,629
If I come in here and I have a prescription
and it requires 30 pills, how much is that?
775
00:54:30,700 --> 00:54:33,498
It's L6.65.
That's the standard charge.
776
00:54:33,570 --> 00:54:37,006
L6.65?
So that's what? Ten dollars or so?
777
00:54:37,073 --> 00:54:40,133
- Yes.
- What if I needed 60 pills, how much is it?
778
00:54:40,210 --> 00:54:42,405
- Same charge.
- 120 pills?
779
00:54:42,479 --> 00:54:44,913
- L6.65 still.
- It doesn't matter how many pills?
780
00:54:44,981 --> 00:54:48,747
- No.
- What if it's an HIV drug or a cancer drug?
781
00:54:48,818 --> 00:54:50,445
Still L6.65.
782
00:54:50,520 --> 00:54:55,981
If they are under 16 or over 60,
they're automatically exempt.
783
00:54:56,059 --> 00:55:01,122
So only a working adult
who earns enough money pays the L6.65?
784
00:55:01,197 --> 00:55:03,324
Everybody else gets medication free?
785
00:55:03,400 --> 00:55:06,028
- No money being exchanged here?
- No, nothing.
786
00:55:06,102 --> 00:55:09,629
- There's no money being exchanged?
- I'm over 60. We don't pay.
787
00:55:09,706 --> 00:55:11,970
What's the purpose
of the cash register?
788
00:55:14,177 --> 00:55:19,444
I'm just wondering where's the bread
and the milk and the candy in here?
789
00:55:19,516 --> 00:55:22,917
I can't pick up
any laundry detergent here?
790
00:55:22,986 --> 00:55:27,980
No. I haven't been trained for that many
years to be selling detergents, so no.
791
00:55:39,469 --> 00:55:45,806
I next went to a state-run hospital.
Operated by the National Health Service.
792
00:55:46,776 --> 00:55:51,110
I'm due in seven weeks
and I get six months off, paid.
793
00:55:51,181 --> 00:55:55,584
And then I can have six months off unpaid
as well, so I'm actually taking a year.
794
00:55:55,652 --> 00:55:58,519
Well, that sounds
like a luxury where I'm from.
795
00:55:58,588 --> 00:56:03,685
Oh, really, it's not like that in the US?
No? Not at all, no?
796
00:56:04,194 --> 00:56:06,526
So what do you pay
for a stay here?
797
00:56:06,596 --> 00:56:08,928
No one pays.
798
00:56:10,367 --> 00:56:12,892
They were asking how do people pay.
799
00:56:12,969 --> 00:56:15,403
I said there isn't...
You don't, you just leave.
800
00:56:15,472 --> 00:56:19,966
It's national insurance.
There's no bill at the end of it, as it were.
801
00:56:22,445 --> 00:56:26,245
Even with insurance.
There's bound to be a bill somewhere.
802
00:56:26,316 --> 00:56:29,877
- So where's the billing department?
- There isn't a billing department.
803
00:56:29,953 --> 00:56:31,921
There's no such thing.
804
00:56:32,522 --> 00:56:34,615
What did they charge
for that baby?
805
00:56:34,691 --> 00:56:37,717
- Sorry?
- You gotta pay before you can get out?
806
00:56:37,794 --> 00:56:41,753
- No. This is NHS.
- No, no. Everything is on NHS.
807
00:56:41,831 --> 00:56:44,322
You know, it's not America.
808
00:56:46,703 --> 00:56:52,642
Maybe I'd have better luck in the
part where things get seriously expensive.
809
00:56:52,709 --> 00:56:57,078
This guy broke his ankle.
How much will this cost him?
810
00:56:57,147 --> 00:57:01,709
The emergency room visit. He'll have
some huge bill when he's done, right?
811
00:57:01,785 --> 00:57:04,845
Here... NHS, everything is free.
812
00:57:04,921 --> 00:57:08,220
I'm asking about hospital charges
and you're laughing.
813
00:57:08,291 --> 00:57:12,022
I was never asked this question
in the emergency department, that's why.
814
00:57:13,830 --> 00:57:16,993
I was starting to fall
for this "everything is free" bit.
815
00:57:17,066 --> 00:57:19,057
And then I discovered this.
816
00:57:20,403 --> 00:57:24,339
So this is where people come to pay
their bill when they're done staying here?
817
00:57:24,407 --> 00:57:27,467
No, this is the NHS hospital,
so you don't pay the bill.
818
00:57:27,544 --> 00:57:30,342
You get to just go home?
819
00:57:30,413 --> 00:57:35,146
Why does it say "cashier" here
if people don't have to pay a bill?
820
00:57:35,218 --> 00:57:37,812
All we have is a little man
who stands behind a counter
821
00:57:37,887 --> 00:57:41,948
and he gives people money
if they've had to pay for transport.
822
00:57:42,025 --> 00:57:46,086
Those who have reduced means
get their travel expenses reimbursed.
823
00:57:46,162 --> 00:57:47,254
Thank you.
824
00:57:47,330 --> 00:57:52,597
So in British hospitals. Instead
of money going into the cashier's window.
825
00:57:52,669 --> 00:57:54,227
Money comes out.
826
00:57:54,304 --> 00:57:57,273
The criteria for letting you out
are not if you've paid,
827
00:57:57,340 --> 00:58:00,673
the criteria are, are you fit to go
and are you going somewhere safe?
828
00:58:00,743 --> 00:58:03,974
Clearly. I was just
the butt of a joke here.
829
00:58:09,085 --> 00:58:12,282
What I needed
was a good old-fashioned American
830
00:58:12,355 --> 00:58:14,880
who would have some understanding.
831
00:58:14,958 --> 00:58:18,519
I first came to London in 1992.
832
00:58:18,595 --> 00:58:22,895
And we just ended up staying
and we had three children here.
833
00:58:22,966 --> 00:58:28,268
Well, I had them all on the NHS, which is
the British National Health Service.
834
00:58:28,338 --> 00:58:32,069
I think, like a lot of Americans,
assumed that a socialized medicine
835
00:58:32,141 --> 00:58:35,110
was just bottom of the rung treatment,
836
00:58:35,178 --> 00:58:39,171
that the only way would be horrible
and it would be like the Soviet Union.
837
00:58:39,249 --> 00:58:41,217
I mean, that's kind of how...
838
00:58:41,284 --> 00:58:45,778
- And it's terrible that that's what I thought.
- That's what I thought. Too.
839
00:58:45,855 --> 00:58:49,450
After having a baby.
It's right back to the wheat fields.
840
00:59:13,983 --> 00:59:17,180
And then it occurred to me
that back home in America.
841
00:59:17,253 --> 00:59:20,154
We've socialized a lot of things.
842
00:59:44,747 --> 00:59:50,652
I kind of like having a police department
and fire department and the library.
843
00:59:50,720 --> 00:59:56,590
And I got to wondering. Why don't we
have more of these free. Socialized things.
844
00:59:56,659 --> 00:59:58,149
Like healthcare?
845
00:59:58,227 --> 01:00:03,130
When did this whole idea that every British
citizen should have a right to healthcare?
846
01:00:03,199 --> 01:00:06,532
Well, if you go back,
it all began with democracy.
847
01:00:06,603 --> 01:00:11,370
Before we had the vote all the power
was in the hands of rich people.
848
01:00:11,441 --> 01:00:14,069
If you had money, you could get
healthcare, education,
849
01:00:14,143 --> 01:00:16,043
look after yourself when you were old.
850
01:00:16,112 --> 01:00:21,106
And what democracy did
was to give the poor the vote.
851
01:00:21,184 --> 01:00:25,314
And it moved power from the marketplace
to the polling station.
852
01:00:25,388 --> 01:00:27,948
From the wallet to the ballot.
853
01:00:28,024 --> 01:00:30,083
And what people said was very simple.
854
01:00:30,159 --> 01:00:34,255
They said, "In the 1930s,
we had mass unemployment."
855
01:00:34,317 --> 01:00:36,877
"But we don't have unemployment
during the war."
856
01:00:36,953 --> 01:00:39,285
"If you can have full employment
by killing Germans,
857
01:00:39,356 --> 01:00:44,055
why can't we have it by building hospitals,
schools, recruiting nurses and teachers?"
858
01:00:44,127 --> 01:00:49,463
If you can find money to kill people,
you can find money to help people.
859
01:00:49,532 --> 01:00:50,362
Right.
860
01:00:50,433 --> 01:00:54,164
This leaflet that was issued
was very, very straightforward.
861
01:00:54,237 --> 01:00:56,933
- What year was this?
- This was 1948.
862
01:00:57,007 --> 01:01:00,170
"Your new National Health Service
begins on the 5th of July."
863
01:01:00,243 --> 01:01:02,234
"What is it? How do you get it?"
864
01:01:02,312 --> 01:01:07,147
"It will provide you with all
medical, dental and nursing care."
865
01:01:07,217 --> 01:01:12,280
"Everyone, rich or poor, man, woman
or child, can use it or any part of it."
866
01:01:12,355 --> 01:01:15,552
"There are no charges,
except for a few special items."
867
01:01:15,625 --> 01:01:19,721
"There is no insurance qualifications,
but it is not a charity."
868
01:01:19,796 --> 01:01:22,458
"You are paying for it
mainly as taxpayers,
869
01:01:22,532 --> 01:01:26,730
and it will relieve your money worries
in times of illness."
870
01:01:26,803 --> 01:01:30,762
Now, somehow,
the few words sum the whole thing up.
871
01:01:36,579 --> 01:01:41,414
I was amazed
when he said this all started in 1948.
872
01:01:41,918 --> 01:01:46,821
The British had come out of a devastating
experience through World War II.
873
01:01:46,890 --> 01:01:50,155
The country was destroyed
and nearly bankrupt.
874
01:01:50,226 --> 01:01:52,751
They had nothing.
875
01:01:52,829 --> 01:01:55,491
In just one eight-month period.
876
01:01:55,565 --> 01:01:59,433
Over 42.000 civilians lost their lives.
877
01:02:00,270 --> 01:02:03,501
What we went through
in to hours on 911.
878
01:02:03,573 --> 01:02:06,599
They went through
nearly every single day.
879
01:02:08,445 --> 01:02:14,611
Remember how we all felt after 911?
All of us pulling together?
880
01:02:14,684 --> 01:02:17,118
I guess that's how they felt.
881
01:02:18,121 --> 01:02:21,579
And the first way that they decided
to pull together after the war
882
01:02:21,658 --> 01:02:26,425
was to provide free medical care
for everyone.
883
01:02:26,496 --> 01:02:31,934
Even Mrs. Thatcher said, "The National
Health Service is safe in our hands."
884
01:02:32,001 --> 01:02:34,799
It's as non-controversial
as votes for women.
885
01:02:34,871 --> 01:02:37,396
Nobody could say,
"Why should women have the vote?" now.
886
01:02:37,474 --> 01:02:40,068
People wouldn't have it,
they wouldn't in Britain.
887
01:02:40,143 --> 01:02:44,773
They wouldn't accept the deterioration or
destruction of the National Health Service.
888
01:02:44,848 --> 01:02:48,443
If Thatcher or Blair said, "I'm going
to dismantle national healthcare..."
889
01:02:48,518 --> 01:02:50,179
There would have been a revolution.
890
01:02:59,696 --> 01:03:05,157
A report from the AMA
into the health of 55- to 64-year-olds
891
01:03:05,235 --> 01:03:08,102
says Brits are far healthier
than Americans.
892
01:03:08,171 --> 01:03:12,972
For every illness that we looked
at. Americans had more of it than English.
893
01:03:13,042 --> 01:03:16,671
Cancer. Heart disease.
Hypertension. Strokes. Lung disease.
894
01:03:16,746 --> 01:03:19,408
All significantly higher for Americans.
895
01:03:19,482 --> 01:03:21,313
Even the poorest people in England
896
01:03:21,384 --> 01:03:25,650
with all the environmental factors that give
them the worst health in the country
897
01:03:25,722 --> 01:03:31,024
can expect to live longer
than the wealthiest people in America.
898
01:03:38,101 --> 01:03:42,003
I was wondering. Though.
What's it like for the doctors here in Britain.
899
01:03:42,071 --> 01:03:45,700
Who have to live
under this kind of state control?
900
01:03:45,775 --> 01:03:47,436
And you're a family doctor?
901
01:03:47,510 --> 01:03:50,843
Yeah, I suppose we'd call them GPs
or general practitioners here.
902
01:03:50,914 --> 01:03:54,315
- Right, so you have a family practice?
- Yeah, it's an NHS practice.
903
01:03:54,384 --> 01:03:56,375
We have nine doctors in that practice.
904
01:03:56,452 --> 01:03:58,443
- Paid for by the government?
- Yeah.
905
01:03:58,521 --> 01:04:01,684
You work for the government?
You're a government-paid doctor.
906
01:04:01,758 --> 01:04:04,886
A patient comes to you.
Before you treat them, do you have to call
907
01:04:04,961 --> 01:04:07,759
the government insurance company
before you treat them?
908
01:04:07,831 --> 01:04:11,562
No, I don't deal with money at all
on an everyday basis.
909
01:04:11,634 --> 01:04:14,865
Have you ever had to say no to someone
who was sick and needed help?
910
01:04:14,938 --> 01:04:18,237
- No, never.
- Have you heard of anyone
911
01:04:18,308 --> 01:04:22,108
being in the hospital and being removed
because they couldn't pay their bill?
912
01:04:22,178 --> 01:04:24,738
No, never.
And I wouldn't want to work in that system.
913
01:04:24,814 --> 01:04:28,750
So working for the government,
you probably have to use public transport?
914
01:04:28,818 --> 01:04:31,810
No. I have a car that I use
and I drive to work.
915
01:04:31,888 --> 01:04:33,879
An old beater?
916
01:04:39,963 --> 01:04:42,227
You live in a rough part of town?
917
01:04:42,298 --> 01:04:46,291
I live in a terrific part of town.
It's called Greenwich.
918
01:04:49,973 --> 01:04:52,601
It's a lovely house.
It's a three-story house.
919
01:04:52,675 --> 01:04:55,405
How many other families
have to live with you?
920
01:04:55,478 --> 01:05:00,472
There's four bedrooms for my wife
and my son. It's just the three of us there.
921
01:05:00,550 --> 01:05:05,487
- How much did you pay for that?
- L550,000. Yes, almost.
922
01:05:05,555 --> 01:05:07,546
So, a million dollars?
923
01:05:07,624 --> 01:05:12,721
You're a government-paid doctor on a
national health insurance healthcare plan,
924
01:05:12,795 --> 01:05:15,787
- and you live in a million-dollar home?
- Yes.
925
01:05:20,370 --> 01:05:24,363
- I think my friends think we do quite well.
- Really? How well do you do?
926
01:05:24,440 --> 01:05:27,204
I earn around 85,000,
including pension.
927
01:05:27,277 --> 01:05:29,745
- L85,000?
- L85,000 a year.
928
01:05:29,812 --> 01:05:32,610
And that includes pension
that they would pay in to me.
929
01:05:32,682 --> 01:05:35,651
They probably earn just
over L100,000 within my practice.
930
01:05:35,718 --> 01:05:39,745
- L100,000? So that's almost $ 200,000?
- Yes, absolutely.
931
01:05:39,822 --> 01:05:42,791
The money that we earn,
we get paid by what we do.
932
01:05:42,859 --> 01:05:46,727
So the better we do for our patients,
then the more we get paid.
933
01:05:46,796 --> 01:05:49,924
- What do you mean?
- There's a new system.
934
01:05:49,999 --> 01:05:54,527
And in that new system, if the most number
of your patients have low blood pressures,
935
01:05:54,604 --> 01:05:57,038
or you get most of your patients
to stop smoking,
936
01:05:57,106 --> 01:06:00,906
or you get your patients to have
mental health reviews if they're unwell,
937
01:06:00,977 --> 01:06:03,445
or low cholesterols,
then you get paid more.
938
01:06:03,513 --> 01:06:07,609
This year, if you get more people
that are your patients to stop smoking,
939
01:06:07,684 --> 01:06:09,845
you'll get more money,
you'll earn more?
940
01:06:09,919 --> 01:06:11,284
Oh, yeah. Absolutely.
941
01:06:11,354 --> 01:06:18,055
So doctors in America do not have to fear
having a universal healthcare?
942
01:06:18,127 --> 01:06:22,587
No. I think if you want to have
two or three million-dollar homes
943
01:06:22,665 --> 01:06:26,431
and four or five nice cars
and six or seven nice televisions,
944
01:06:26,502 --> 01:06:30,336
then maybe, yeah, you need to practice
somewhere where you can earn that.
945
01:06:30,406 --> 01:06:32,567
But I think we live comfortably here.
946
01:06:32,642 --> 01:06:35,475
London is expensive,
but I think we live comfortably.
947
01:06:35,545 --> 01:06:39,914
You're getting by OK on the million-dollar
home, the Audi, and the flat-screen TV?
948
01:06:39,983 --> 01:06:42,577
Yeah, we're coping with those.
949
01:06:43,753 --> 01:06:46,813
I think democracy is the most
revolutionary thing in the world.
950
01:06:46,889 --> 01:06:50,347
Far more revolutionary than
socialist ideas, or anybody else's idea.
951
01:06:50,426 --> 01:06:56,092
Because if you have power, you use it
to meet the needs of your community.
952
01:06:56,165 --> 01:07:00,761
And this idea of choice which capital
talks about, "you've got to have a choice,"
953
01:07:00,837 --> 01:07:02,964
choice depends
on the freedom to choose.
954
01:07:03,039 --> 01:07:06,202
If you're shackled with debt,
you don't have a freedom to choose.
955
01:07:06,275 --> 01:07:10,974
It seems it benefits the system if
the average person is shackled with debt.
956
01:07:11,047 --> 01:07:14,915
People in debt become hopeless,
and hopeless people don't vote.
957
01:07:14,984 --> 01:07:16,975
They always say
everyone should vote,
958
01:07:17,053 --> 01:07:21,046
but I think if the poor in Britain
or the United States
959
01:07:21,124 --> 01:07:24,025
voted for people
who represented their interests,
960
01:07:24,093 --> 01:07:26,789
it would be a real democratic revolution.
961
01:07:26,863 --> 01:07:30,822
So they don't want it to happen. So keeping
people hopeless and pessimistic...
962
01:07:30,900 --> 01:07:34,700
See, I think there are two ways
in which people are controlled.
963
01:07:34,771 --> 01:07:39,003
First of all, frighten people,
and secondly, demoralize them.
964
01:07:39,075 --> 01:07:42,841
An educated, healthy and confident
nation is harder to govern.
965
01:07:42,912 --> 01:07:46,211
And I think there's an element
in the thinking of some people:
966
01:07:46,282 --> 01:07:50,048
"We don't want people to be
educated, healthy and confident,
967
01:07:50,119 --> 01:07:52,917
because they would get out of control."
968
01:07:52,989 --> 01:07:57,119
The top 1 % of the world's population
own 80% of the world's wealth.
969
01:07:57,193 --> 01:08:01,186
It's incredible that people put up with it,
but they're poor,
970
01:08:01,264 --> 01:08:03,732
they're demoralized, they're frightened.
971
01:08:03,800 --> 01:08:06,667
And therefore, they think
perhaps the safest thing to do
972
01:08:06,736 --> 01:08:09,569
is to take orders and hope for the best.
973
01:08:13,876 --> 01:08:16,208
And hope for the best
is what we do.
974
01:08:16,279 --> 01:08:18,873
Right from the moment we're born.
975
01:08:18,948 --> 01:08:22,714
We've got the worst infant mortality rate
in the western world.
976
01:08:22,785 --> 01:08:25,777
A baby born in El Salvador
has a better chance of surviving
977
01:08:25,855 --> 01:08:27,880
than a baby born in Detroit.
978
01:08:27,957 --> 01:08:30,551
But it gets better
when we go to school.
979
01:08:30,626 --> 01:08:33,652
Classrooms with 40 students.
Schools with no labs.
980
01:08:33,729 --> 01:08:37,221
No wonder the majority
of our adults can't find Britain on a map.
981
01:08:37,300 --> 01:08:39,768
But that's OK.
There's always college.
982
01:08:39,836 --> 01:08:42,304
By the time we graduate.
Our ass is so in hock.
983
01:08:42,371 --> 01:08:45,067
We're in debt before our first job.
984
01:08:45,141 --> 01:08:50,443
I'm at about... we'll say about $35,000
in debt. That's for my third year in college.
985
01:08:50,513 --> 01:08:54,449
You'll be the employee they're
looking for - one who needs this job.
986
01:08:54,517 --> 01:08:57,350
3,904, 3,905...
987
01:08:57,420 --> 01:09:00,787
What employer wouldn't employ someone
thousands of dollars in debt.
988
01:09:00,857 --> 01:09:04,088
Because they won't cause any trouble?
989
01:09:04,160 --> 01:09:08,529
In addition to paying off your college debt.
You need a job with health insurance.
990
01:09:08,598 --> 01:09:11,123
It would be horrible
to lose that job. Wouldn't it?
991
01:09:11,200 --> 01:09:15,762
You can always quit, you know. There's
no law that says you have to work here.
992
01:09:15,838 --> 01:09:18,932
If that one job
doesn't pay all the bills. Don't worry.
993
01:09:19,008 --> 01:09:22,876
You can get another one.
And another one. And another one.
994
01:09:22,945 --> 01:09:26,540
I work three jobs,
and I feel like I contribute.
995
01:09:26,616 --> 01:09:29,244
- You work three jobs?
- Three jobs, yes.
996
01:09:29,318 --> 01:09:33,846
Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean,
that is fantastic that you're doing that.
997
01:09:34,924 --> 01:09:36,016
Get any sleep?
998
01:09:36,092 --> 01:09:39,061
If you're not sleeping.
Take pharmaceuticals.
999
01:09:39,128 --> 01:09:41,619
You're tired all the time.
You feel sad.
1000
01:09:41,697 --> 01:09:43,995
If you suffer
from excessive worry...
1001
01:09:44,066 --> 01:09:46,227
Generalized anxiety disorder.
1002
01:09:46,302 --> 01:09:48,668
It could be adult ADD.
1003
01:09:48,738 --> 01:09:51,502
- Ask your doctor.
- Ask your doctor.
1004
01:09:51,574 --> 01:09:55,135
Yes. Ask your doctor.
And ask him for more drugs.
1005
01:09:55,211 --> 01:09:58,078
That should keep you doped up
until it's time to retire.
1006
01:09:58,147 --> 01:10:00,479
Did I say retire?
1007
01:10:01,384 --> 01:10:04,080
If you make it to 80.
Your pension will still be there.
1008
01:10:04,153 --> 01:10:07,987
Unlike the new employees for these
companies. Who'll never see a pension.
1009
01:10:08,057 --> 01:10:12,994
But I'm sure our kids will take care of us.
Considering the great life we've given 'em.
1010
01:10:13,062 --> 01:10:16,964
Remember. Let's defeat the terrorists over
there so we don't have to fight them here.
1011
01:10:18,601 --> 01:10:22,469
Kaiser Permanente
is the largest HMO in the country.
1012
01:10:22,538 --> 01:10:27,168
And Dawnelle Keyes was fortunate
enough to be fully insured by them.
1013
01:10:27,243 --> 01:10:31,646
It's a good thing. Because one night.
Her 18-month-old daughter. Mychelle.
1014
01:10:31,714 --> 01:10:34,410
Developed a fever of over 104.
1015
01:10:35,384 --> 01:10:38,842
So. Like any responsible mom.
She called 911.
1016
01:10:38,921 --> 01:10:42,789
And the ambulance took Mychelle
to the closest hospital.
1017
01:10:42,858 --> 01:10:44,883
The hospital checked with her HMO
1018
01:10:44,961 --> 01:10:48,624
and they were told that Kaiser would not
cover the tests and the antibiotics
1019
01:10:48,698 --> 01:10:51,963
necessary to treat Mychelle.
1020
01:10:52,034 --> 01:10:56,835
She would have to take her to
an in-netork. Kaiser-owned hospital.
1021
01:10:56,906 --> 01:11:01,866
Kaiser said that I should
bring her by car to the hospital,
1022
01:11:01,944 --> 01:11:05,311
and that she shouldn't be treated
at Martin Luther King.
1023
01:11:05,381 --> 01:11:10,318
I just continued to ask them
to treat her, and they refused.
1024
01:11:11,887 --> 01:11:16,051
My daughter got worse
and she had a seizure.
1025
01:11:17,159 --> 01:11:23,291
Dawnelle begged doctors to not
listen to Kaiser and to treat her daughter.
1026
01:11:23,366 --> 01:11:29,236
I was escorted out of the hospital
because they felt that I was a threat.
1027
01:11:30,039 --> 01:11:34,032
After hours of delay.
She was transported to Kaiser.
1028
01:11:34,110 --> 01:11:38,740
And got there just in time
to go into cardiac arrest.
1029
01:11:38,814 --> 01:11:43,478
They worked on her for about 30 minutes,
trying to revive her.
1030
01:11:43,552 --> 01:11:49,957
And the doctors came in
and let us know that she had expired.
1031
01:11:53,129 --> 01:11:58,533
I was in a daze, a real daze.
It just didn't seem real.
1032
01:11:59,702 --> 01:12:01,431
I just held her.
1033
01:12:01,504 --> 01:12:05,873
I held her and I told her
that Mommy tried her best to help her,
1034
01:12:05,941 --> 01:12:11,709
to make sure that she was gonna
get the treatment she needed to receive.
1035
01:12:11,781 --> 01:12:15,911
And that I was sorry
that I wasn't able to help her.
1036
01:12:21,557 --> 01:12:23,650
Simon says: Give the answer.
1037
01:12:28,097 --> 01:12:29,826
Uh-oh.
1038
01:12:30,399 --> 01:12:33,300
This is Karena
and her daughter Zo�.
1039
01:12:33,369 --> 01:12:36,930
Karena is a graduate
of Michigan State University.
1040
01:12:37,006 --> 01:12:40,464
And a native of my hometown
of Flint. Michigan.
1041
01:12:40,543 --> 01:12:44,343
Six months ago. Zo�.
Like Dawnelle's baby Mychelle.
1042
01:12:44,413 --> 01:12:46,574
Came down with a high fever.
1043
01:12:46,649 --> 01:12:49,846
What happened
is she stopped breathing for a little while,
1044
01:12:49,919 --> 01:12:53,218
turned blue and passed out
in my arms, which was...
1045
01:12:53,289 --> 01:12:57,453
It was the most horrible moment
in my life, I think,
1046
01:12:57,526 --> 01:13:01,018
just because I thought
that she was either dead or dying.
1047
01:13:01,097 --> 01:13:03,292
And I had no clue what to do.
1048
01:13:03,866 --> 01:13:08,269
At the hospital, they gave her
some medicine to bring the fever down,
1049
01:13:08,337 --> 01:13:10,771
and examined her, took some blood.
1050
01:13:10,840 --> 01:13:14,003
- What was wrong with her?
- It was a throat infection.
1051
01:13:14,076 --> 01:13:17,739
But we stayed at the hospital
from Friday to Sunday,
1052
01:13:17,813 --> 01:13:20,907
- just so they could keep an eye on her.
- You stayed there that long?
1053
01:13:20,983 --> 01:13:24,111
Yeah. They just basically
kept an eye on her.
1054
01:13:24,186 --> 01:13:27,986
And how much did all this cost you,
the three-plus days in the hospital?
1055
01:13:28,057 --> 01:13:29,388
- Nothing.
- Nothing?
1056
01:13:29,458 --> 01:13:33,656
- Nothing. Nothing at all.
- And that's because?
1057
01:13:34,663 --> 01:13:37,154
- I live in France.
- You live in France?
1058
01:13:37,233 --> 01:13:38,325
Yeah.
1059
01:13:40,970 --> 01:13:42,938
Ah. France.
1060
01:13:43,005 --> 01:13:47,738
They enjoy their wine.
Their cigarettes and their fatty foods.
1061
01:13:47,810 --> 01:13:50,870
And yet.
Just like the Canadians and the Brits.
1062
01:13:50,946 --> 01:13:53,506
They live much longer than we do.
1063
01:13:53,582 --> 01:13:57,484
Something about that
seemed grossly unfair.
1064
01:13:59,155 --> 01:14:00,850
This is Alexi Cremieux.
1065
01:14:00,923 --> 01:14:06,452
He spent his entire adult life in the US
without health insurance.
1066
01:14:07,997 --> 01:14:12,161
I lived in America for 13 years.
I loved my life there.
1067
01:14:12,234 --> 01:14:16,534
But then when I discovered that I had
a tumor and I didn't have health insurance,
1068
01:14:16,605 --> 01:14:19,403
unfortunately,
I had to come back here.
1069
01:14:19,475 --> 01:14:22,672
Even though I had never paid taxes
in France 'cause I never worked here -
1070
01:14:22,745 --> 01:14:25,339
I left when I was 18,
I had no Social Security number -
1071
01:14:25,414 --> 01:14:28,315
for them it was,
"He needs treatment, he has no income,
1072
01:14:28,384 --> 01:14:32,445
so we're gonna give him,
you know, the treatment he needs."
1073
01:14:33,355 --> 01:14:36,256
- How are you doing now?
- I'm healthy now,
1074
01:14:36,325 --> 01:14:38,384
but I had three months
of chemotherapy.
1075
01:14:38,461 --> 01:14:42,261
So after three months, I saw my doctor
and he said, "You wanna go back to work?"
1076
01:14:42,331 --> 01:14:44,822
I said, "No, I don't feel like it."
1077
01:14:44,900 --> 01:14:47,869
"Right now, I'm not ready."
He said, "How much do you need?"
1078
01:14:47,937 --> 01:14:51,168
I said, "Well, I don't know."
He said, "Would three months be OK?"
1079
01:14:51,240 --> 01:14:53,902
I said, "I think three months
would be fine."
1080
01:14:53,976 --> 01:14:58,572
He said, "OK, so take three months off."
So he wrote me a note
1081
01:14:58,647 --> 01:15:01,309
that I gave to my employer
to make sure I got paid.
1082
01:15:02,351 --> 01:15:06,879
- So I went to the south of France...
- Wait a minute, three months off with pay?
1083
01:15:06,956 --> 01:15:08,924
Yes. Yes.
1084
01:15:08,991 --> 01:15:13,985
I get 65% paid by the government,
1085
01:15:14,063 --> 01:15:17,794
and then the other 35%
is paid by my employer.
1086
01:15:17,867 --> 01:15:20,893
To make sure you get 100%.
1087
01:15:21,637 --> 01:15:26,631
So it was April, it was spring again. So
I started right away, sucking up some sun.
1088
01:15:26,709 --> 01:15:32,477
And that really helped me a lot,
to recharge my batteries.
1089
01:15:32,548 --> 01:15:37,349
I mean, it was like night and day. In three
months, I went from a 95-year-old man
1090
01:15:37,419 --> 01:15:40,547
to a 35-year-old man again.
1091
01:15:40,623 --> 01:15:44,389
But that's because I had that time
to take care of myself.
1092
01:15:49,999 --> 01:15:56,302
I'm not in a position to make any judgment
concerning the American system.
1093
01:15:56,372 --> 01:15:59,603
I think the United States
is a great, great country.
1094
01:15:59,675 --> 01:16:02,508
Americans are great people.
I really love them.
1095
01:16:02,578 --> 01:16:07,777
But as a doctor first, as a citizen second,
1096
01:16:07,850 --> 01:16:10,375
and eventually, as a patient third,
1097
01:16:10,452 --> 01:16:12,886
I'm very glad to be in France.
1098
01:16:13,622 --> 01:16:15,749
It's kind of a luxury here.
1099
01:16:15,824 --> 01:16:20,022
You are sick, you step in a hospital,
you get the care you need.
1100
01:16:20,095 --> 01:16:23,360
It doesn't depend on your premiums.
It depends on what you need.
1101
01:16:23,432 --> 01:16:26,401
One of the principles is solidarity.
1102
01:16:26,468 --> 01:16:30,837
People who are better off
pay for those who are worse off.
1103
01:16:31,674 --> 01:16:35,405
You pay according to your means
and you receive according to your needs.
1104
01:16:35,477 --> 01:16:39,004
Do you think
that will ever work in America?
1105
01:16:39,081 --> 01:16:40,946
No.
1106
01:16:41,016 --> 01:16:45,112
He could barely contain
his seething anti-Americanism.
1107
01:16:45,187 --> 01:16:49,214
And I just didn't want
to listen to any more of it.
1108
01:16:53,162 --> 01:16:57,428
So I found a group of Americans
currently living in Paris.
1109
01:16:57,499 --> 01:17:00,627
Who I know would tell me the truth.
1110
01:17:00,703 --> 01:17:04,104
I was diagnosed five years ago
with Type I diabetes.
1111
01:17:04,173 --> 01:17:09,338
- I was a bit nervous to tell them I had...
- To tell the French?
1112
01:17:09,411 --> 01:17:12,539
There's a place to check off
if you have a chronic condition.
1113
01:17:12,615 --> 01:17:15,607
I was nervous that they
were going to charge me more.
1114
01:17:15,684 --> 01:17:19,484
And instead, I went into a hospital,
and had round-the-clock care.
1115
01:17:19,555 --> 01:17:23,150
And they do an amazing amount
of preventative care.
1116
01:17:23,225 --> 01:17:25,659
They asked if you have
a preexisting condition,
1117
01:17:25,728 --> 01:17:28,891
not to punish you,
but to give you more help?
1118
01:17:28,964 --> 01:17:31,125
- Yes.
- I was in the hospital for a year.
1119
01:17:31,200 --> 01:17:37,161
As soon as I was in, it was,
"Well, don't worry, just rest."
1120
01:17:37,239 --> 01:17:41,073
- People said "Rest."
- How many sick days do you get a year?
1121
01:17:41,143 --> 01:17:43,839
- I think it's unlimited.
- Unlimited?
1122
01:17:43,912 --> 01:17:48,144
Yes. How can you limit sick days?
If you're sick, you're sick.
1123
01:17:48,217 --> 01:17:52,483
I've gone to emergency rooms
numerous times, with four boys.
1124
01:17:52,554 --> 01:17:54,920
And have never waited
more than an hour. Never.
1125
01:17:54,990 --> 01:17:57,788
I can call and somebody comes
to the house in half an hour.
1126
01:17:57,860 --> 01:18:01,352
No way? Making a house call?
At your place?
1127
01:18:01,430 --> 01:18:04,126
How many of you have had
a house call from a doctor? No!
1128
01:18:04,199 --> 01:18:07,327
- 3:00am last Friday.
- And how much does this cost you?
1129
01:18:07,403 --> 01:18:09,667
- Nothing.
- What's this service called?
1130
01:18:15,144 --> 01:18:16,270
Where are we going?
1131
01:18:19,348 --> 01:18:22,511
We are going to see a man
who has abdominal pain.
1132
01:18:22,584 --> 01:18:24,745
- Abdominal pain?
- Yeah.
1133
01:19:06,462 --> 01:19:09,727
- Where do we go next?
- The next visit?
1134
01:19:43,398 --> 01:19:45,866
I say to anyone who asks me
why I'm in this country
1135
01:19:45,934 --> 01:19:49,927
is that I think it's one of the friendliest
countries that I know of.
1136
01:19:50,005 --> 01:19:54,169
And talk about family values -
I mean, childcare, healthcare...
1137
01:19:54,243 --> 01:19:56,074
We don't pay for day care.
1138
01:19:56,145 --> 01:20:00,548
The day care where I send my daughter -
and I was a teacher - standards are high.
1139
01:20:04,186 --> 01:20:08,247
So how much does it cost you to have
two children here? How much per hour?
1140
01:20:14,730 --> 01:20:17,460
Are you happy
with how they're cared for?
1141
01:20:33,048 --> 01:20:39,009
Here, my kids are sure that they are going
to get a certain level of care, education,
1142
01:20:39,087 --> 01:20:42,682
- college I don't have to worry about...
- What do you mean?
1143
01:20:42,758 --> 01:20:44,783
- It's free.
- You're kidding?
1144
01:20:44,860 --> 01:20:47,852
- You can get a college education for free.
- No way.
1145
01:20:47,930 --> 01:20:51,195
- Yes.
- There's not a sense of desperation.
1146
01:20:51,266 --> 01:20:53,325
They rest, they enjoy life.
1147
01:20:53,402 --> 01:20:57,065
They spend time with their kids,
there's vacations, family time.
1148
01:20:57,139 --> 01:21:00,302
- How many weeks of paid vacation?
- Minimum five weeks.
1149
01:21:00,375 --> 01:21:03,208
Five weeks?
Minimum of five weeks?
1150
01:21:03,278 --> 01:21:06,645
If you work for a large company,
you get sometimes eight, ten weeks.
1151
01:21:06,715 --> 01:21:10,583
- Remember that there is a 35-hour week.
- The productivity rate is so high here.
1152
01:21:10,652 --> 01:21:13,849
I read it was higher
than the United States.
1153
01:21:13,922 --> 01:21:17,881
If they're working more than 35 hours
a week, they'll get extra days off.
1154
01:21:17,960 --> 01:21:20,394
That is for part-time
and full-time employees.
1155
01:21:20,462 --> 01:21:24,023
You get five weeks paid vacation
even if you're a part-time employee?
1156
01:21:24,099 --> 01:21:25,532
- Of course.
- Everybody.
1157
01:21:25,601 --> 01:21:29,594
If you get married, you get an extra week
or seven days for your honeymoon.
1158
01:21:29,671 --> 01:21:33,072
- In addition to your five weeks.
- You're paid to take your honeymoon?
1159
01:21:33,141 --> 01:21:34,836
Also if you move.
1160
01:21:34,910 --> 01:21:37,606
You mean if you move
from one apartment to another?
1161
01:21:37,679 --> 01:21:39,146
You get one day.
1162
01:21:39,214 --> 01:21:43,548
- You get a day to move and they pay you?
- These are the laws here.
1163
01:21:43,619 --> 01:21:46,782
When my daughter was three months old,
they sent somebody to you
1164
01:21:46,855 --> 01:21:51,690
to give you tips on what to do
with your child, every single day, for free.
1165
01:21:51,760 --> 01:21:55,161
And they'll come to your house
and do your laundry!
1166
01:21:55,230 --> 01:21:57,755
- They will! Sure!
- No!
1167
01:21:57,833 --> 01:21:59,824
Stop! Stop!
1168
01:21:59,902 --> 01:22:02,996
- When you have a baby.
- When you have a baby.
1169
01:22:05,274 --> 01:22:06,673
What are you doing?
1170
01:22:12,814 --> 01:22:14,406
You from the government?
1171
01:22:17,519 --> 01:22:21,182
- Can she do anything else?
- If I want, yes.
1172
01:22:21,256 --> 01:22:24,555
She's, of course,
taking care of the children.
1173
01:22:24,626 --> 01:22:30,087
And I think if I ask her
to prepare a meal for tonight,
1174
01:22:30,165 --> 01:22:32,360
she can do it.
1175
01:22:37,606 --> 01:22:39,767
No problem.
1176
01:22:39,841 --> 01:22:42,469
She's coming twice a week.
1177
01:22:43,412 --> 01:22:45,972
Four hours a day.
So I can do everything I want,
1178
01:22:46,048 --> 01:22:49,916
for me, for the house,
for my husband, during four hours.
1179
01:22:49,985 --> 01:22:51,976
It's very precious for me.
1180
01:22:52,587 --> 01:22:55,784
You don't have any associations?
Nothing to help like that?
1181
01:22:55,857 --> 01:23:00,521
No. Nobody from the government
comes to your home in America
1182
01:23:00,595 --> 01:23:05,157
and does your laundry for you,
if you're a new mother.
1183
01:23:05,233 --> 01:23:07,827
- It's difficult.
- Yeah.
1184
01:23:08,403 --> 01:23:12,965
Something that I experience
a lot of with my own family is guilt.
1185
01:23:13,041 --> 01:23:15,339
Guilt for being here almost,
1186
01:23:15,410 --> 01:23:19,779
and seeing the advantages and
the benefits I have at such a young age.
1187
01:23:19,848 --> 01:23:25,582
Things that my parents worked their whole
life for and haven't come close to touching.
1188
01:23:25,654 --> 01:23:28,521
It's really hard
to know that you're here
1189
01:23:28,590 --> 01:23:32,219
in a very privileged position,
you know, not living the highlife,
1190
01:23:32,294 --> 01:23:38,028
but in comparison, definitely.
And that seems completely unfair.
1191
01:23:38,834 --> 01:23:41,803
One of the things
that keeps everything running here
1192
01:23:41,870 --> 01:23:44,464
is that the government
is afraid of the people.
1193
01:23:44,539 --> 01:23:49,238
They're afraid of protests,
they're afraid of reactions from the people.
1194
01:23:49,311 --> 01:23:54,874
In the States, people are afraid of the
government. They're afraid of acting up.
1195
01:23:54,950 --> 01:23:57,714
They're afraid of protesting,
afraid of getting out.
1196
01:23:57,786 --> 01:23:59,981
In France, that's what people do.
1197
01:24:40,996 --> 01:24:44,488
Free college education.
Free medical care.
1198
01:24:44,566 --> 01:24:46,557
Government-issued nannies.
1199
01:24:46,635 --> 01:24:50,162
I began to wonder
how do they pay for all this?
1200
01:24:50,238 --> 01:24:53,935
And then I realized
they're drowning in taxes!
1201
01:24:54,009 --> 01:24:58,139
I wanted to see what effect
this would have on a nice French family.
1202
01:24:58,213 --> 01:25:00,408
So I went to find out.
1203
01:25:04,352 --> 01:25:07,150
- Hello. Welcome.
- Hello. Thank you.
1204
01:25:07,989 --> 01:25:10,457
It's very nice.
1205
01:25:19,668 --> 01:25:22,501
- It's the news.
- Yes.
1206
01:25:24,306 --> 01:25:29,039
What is your combined income for
the two of you together for, say one month?
1207
01:25:34,483 --> 01:25:37,611
All right. You're an engineer
and she's an assistant? Not bad.
1208
01:25:47,696 --> 01:25:49,687
How much is your mortgage?
1209
01:25:57,839 --> 01:26:00,672
- How many cars do you own?
- Two.
1210
01:26:00,742 --> 01:26:03,006
Do you owe money
from medical bills?
1211
01:26:05,547 --> 01:26:08,015
Is there any other debt? Loans, anything?
1212
01:26:09,451 --> 01:26:14,514
- Only the apartment.
- What are your other expenses?
1213
01:26:14,589 --> 01:26:16,580
The fish.
1214
01:26:17,926 --> 01:26:20,360
Fish. Vegetables.
1215
01:26:20,428 --> 01:26:22,988
Vegetables are a big
monthly expense for you.
1216
01:26:23,064 --> 01:26:26,830
- Yes. And fruit. Yogurt.
- Yogurt.
1217
01:26:27,369 --> 01:26:29,166
What are your other big expenses?
1218
01:26:30,839 --> 01:26:33,239
Very important.
1219
01:26:48,056 --> 01:26:50,650
- Kenya?
- We liked.
1220
01:26:50,725 --> 01:26:53,626
- Are you happy?
- Yes.
1221
01:27:12,681 --> 01:27:16,947
After seeing all this.
I began to wonder.
1222
01:27:17,018 --> 01:27:20,112
Was there a reason
our government and our media
1223
01:27:20,188 --> 01:27:22,986
wants us to hate the French?
1224
01:27:28,196 --> 01:27:31,757
Are they worried
we might like the French?
1225
01:27:36,338 --> 01:27:38,932
Or like their ways of doing things?
1226
01:27:47,148 --> 01:27:51,312
It was enough to make me
put away my freedom fries.
1227
01:28:01,463 --> 01:28:03,693
Meanwhile. Back at home.
1228
01:28:03,765 --> 01:28:06,598
Hospitals had found a new way
to deal with patients
1229
01:28:06,668 --> 01:28:08,795
who didn't have health insurance
1230
01:28:08,870 --> 01:28:11,100
and couldn't pay their bill.
1231
01:28:12,974 --> 01:28:18,640
I was standing against the wall and I saw
a cab do a U-turn and pull up to the curb.
1232
01:28:18,713 --> 01:28:22,444
I watched to see what was happening
'cause I had a feeling what would occur,
1233
01:28:22,517 --> 01:28:24,644
'cause it's not a new thing.
1234
01:28:24,719 --> 01:28:27,552
They pulled up right here
by this yellow fire hydrant
1235
01:28:27,622 --> 01:28:30,750
and dropped Carol off
and immediately pulled away.
1236
01:28:30,825 --> 01:28:34,659
And as soon as they pulled away, she
walked out into the street about up to here.
1237
01:28:34,729 --> 01:28:38,790
She then walked all the way down to the
driveway down here, completely confused,
1238
01:28:38,867 --> 01:28:42,303
has no shoes on whatsoever
and just a hospital gown.
1239
01:28:42,370 --> 01:28:44,031
And those gowns are thin.
1240
01:28:44,539 --> 01:28:48,839
That's when one of our staff members went
and asked Carol if she needed assistance
1241
01:28:48,910 --> 01:28:52,846
and found out that she was disoriented
and didn't know where she was.
1242
01:30:07,555 --> 01:30:12,492
Kaiser Permanente in Bellflower hospital
had put her in a cab
1243
01:30:12,560 --> 01:30:16,496
and directed them
to bring her to this drop-off point.
1244
01:30:16,564 --> 01:30:21,126
But the names of the hospitals had been
taken off both bracelets before she arrived.
1245
01:30:21,202 --> 01:30:26,367
I have seen others that have come through
our doors who have IVs still in their arms.
1246
01:30:26,441 --> 01:30:29,137
They told me that.
At their shelter alone.
1247
01:30:29,210 --> 01:30:32,805
Over 50 patients
had been dumped there by hospitals.
1248
01:30:32,881 --> 01:30:36,112
The options are few. We either open
the front door and let them out,
1249
01:30:36,184 --> 01:30:38,709
which is not the humane thing to do,
1250
01:30:38,787 --> 01:30:41,722
or we try to find someplace for them to go.
1251
01:30:41,790 --> 01:30:45,021
And right now,
skid row is the best bed in town.
1252
01:30:46,661 --> 01:30:48,754
The night
before we were there.
1253
01:30:48,830 --> 01:30:53,062
The county hospital run by
the University of Southern California.
1254
01:30:53,134 --> 01:30:55,625
One of the richest private schools
in the country.
1255
01:30:55,703 --> 01:30:59,002
Dumped another patient off on the curb.
1256
01:31:00,008 --> 01:31:03,705
A woman unable to pay her hospital bill.
1257
01:31:06,414 --> 01:31:08,746
- Do you know how you got here?
- In the cab.
1258
01:31:08,817 --> 01:31:11,047
- In the cab?
- From General Hospital.
1259
01:31:11,119 --> 01:31:13,280
They gave him the voucher.
1260
01:31:15,490 --> 01:31:19,893
He dropped me off there,
he actually forced me out of the car.
1261
01:31:19,961 --> 01:31:23,692
Ma'am, are you in pain right now?
Are you in pain?
1262
01:31:23,765 --> 01:31:26,029
- Yes.
- Is there anything we can do?
1263
01:31:26,100 --> 01:31:29,399
She, at this time, has broken ribs,
broken collarbone,
1264
01:31:29,471 --> 01:31:32,702
and stitches that are not completely healed
1265
01:31:32,774 --> 01:31:35,402
across the top of her head
and on the side of her head.
1266
01:31:35,477 --> 01:31:38,605
Now let me ask you, ma'am.
Before they dropped you off,
1267
01:31:38,680 --> 01:31:41,513
did they ask you
if you knew where you were going?
1268
01:31:41,583 --> 01:31:42,641
No.
1269
01:31:42,717 --> 01:31:45,584
They didn't ask you any questions
about your orientation,
1270
01:31:45,653 --> 01:31:48,850
or whether or not
you knew what was going on?
1271
01:31:48,923 --> 01:31:52,518
No, they just told me
to take care of myself.
1272
01:31:55,864 --> 01:32:01,734
May I take a minute to ask
a question that's been on my mind?
1273
01:32:01,803 --> 01:32:03,964
Who are we?
1274
01:32:05,106 --> 01:32:07,666
Is this what we've become?
1275
01:32:07,742 --> 01:32:12,577
A nation that dumps its own citizens like
so much garbage on the side of the curb.
1276
01:32:12,647 --> 01:32:16,515
Because they can't pay
their hospital bill?
1277
01:32:17,252 --> 01:32:22,053
I always thought. And believe to this day.
That we're a good and generous people.
1278
01:32:22,123 --> 01:32:24,819
This is what we do
if somebody's in trouble.
1279
01:32:24,893 --> 01:32:28,192
Anybody gets sick,
we all get together and help.
1280
01:32:28,263 --> 01:32:30,458
People with a good heart...
1281
01:32:30,532 --> 01:32:35,697
You feel like you're sacrificing,
but you get a blessing from doing this.
1282
01:32:35,770 --> 01:32:37,362
...and a good soul.
1283
01:32:37,438 --> 01:32:41,898
We've got a lot of support and we're gonna
all keep working until we locate this child.
1284
01:32:41,976 --> 01:32:46,413
Neighbors quick to lend a helping
hand to anyone in their hour of need.
1285
01:32:46,481 --> 01:32:50,349
I deliver meals to them,
but my life has been so blessed
1286
01:32:50,418 --> 01:32:53,979
that this is just the least that I can do.
1287
01:32:54,055 --> 01:32:57,047
They say that you
can judge a society
1288
01:32:57,125 --> 01:33:01,186
by how it treats those
who are the worst off.
1289
01:33:01,262 --> 01:33:07,861
But is the opposite true? That you can
judge a society by how it treats its best?
1290
01:33:09,404 --> 01:33:11,463
Its heroes?
1291
01:33:11,839 --> 01:33:15,240
The firefighters and police,
rescue and recovery workers
1292
01:33:15,310 --> 01:33:17,574
have responded with true heroism.
1293
01:33:18,813 --> 01:33:24,115
It was their initial heroism
that thwarted the objectives of the terrorists.
1294
01:33:24,185 --> 01:33:29,589
Without regard, in many instances,
to their own safety and security.
1295
01:33:29,657 --> 01:33:35,220
- They truly are heroes.
- We owe them everything!
1296
01:33:35,296 --> 01:33:39,528
Here they are, the men and women who
have been on the front lines for New York,
1297
01:33:39,567 --> 01:33:45,437
and for all of us in America!
Tonight is dedicated to you!
1298
01:33:52,013 --> 01:33:55,972
Don't forget about the raffles going on
over there - one dollar each.
1299
01:33:56,618 --> 01:33:58,984
I spent two and a half years down there.
1300
01:33:59,053 --> 01:34:02,454
I got upper and lower
breathing problems.
1301
01:34:02,523 --> 01:34:06,084
I need a double lung transplant,
but was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis.
1302
01:34:06,160 --> 01:34:10,859
I haven't slept in a bed in over five years,
I sleep on a chair with a blanket,
1303
01:34:10,932 --> 01:34:12,923
because if I lay down I can't breathe.
1304
01:34:13,001 --> 01:34:16,164
There were hundreds
of rescue workers on 911
1305
01:34:16,237 --> 01:34:18,364
who were not city employees.
1306
01:34:18,439 --> 01:34:22,808
But rather ran down to Ground Zero
on their own to help out.
1307
01:34:22,877 --> 01:34:25,141
We need volunteers for first aid!
1308
01:34:25,213 --> 01:34:29,547
And many developed
serious respiratory illnesses.
1309
01:34:29,617 --> 01:34:31,812
That's when the government said:
1310
01:34:31,886 --> 01:34:36,585
"They're not our responsibility
because they weren't on our payroll."
1311
01:34:38,626 --> 01:34:43,859
John Graham is an EMT volunteer
from Paramus. New Jersey.
1312
01:34:43,931 --> 01:34:47,423
He was in Lower Manhattan
when he heard the planes hit.
1313
01:34:47,502 --> 01:34:49,970
And rushed over to help.
1314
01:34:50,038 --> 01:34:53,235
He worked in the rescue effort
for the next few months.
1315
01:34:53,307 --> 01:34:57,971
But then had trouble
receiving benefits for his illness.
1316
01:34:58,046 --> 01:35:03,484
They just deny you for any reason.
It's just a terrible waiting game.
1317
01:35:03,551 --> 01:35:07,647
I really feel like
they're waiting for you to die.
1318
01:35:07,722 --> 01:35:11,556
It's terrible.
I never thought that we would do this,
1319
01:35:11,626 --> 01:35:14,527
that the United States would do this.
1320
01:35:14,595 --> 01:35:18,895
William Maher is a volunteer
member of New Jersey's fire service.
1321
01:35:18,966 --> 01:35:22,333
He spent to months
working near The Pile at Ground Zero.
1322
01:35:22,403 --> 01:35:26,533
Recovering bodies or body parts.
And it deeply affected him.
1323
01:35:26,607 --> 01:35:30,043
I'm experiencing
a lot of disturbing dreams,
1324
01:35:30,111 --> 01:35:32,306
or whatever you'd like to call them,
1325
01:35:32,380 --> 01:35:35,281
and it affected
what I was doing at night,
1326
01:35:35,349 --> 01:35:37,476
and unaware of it because I was asleep
1327
01:35:37,552 --> 01:35:40,112
and I just kept
grinding and grinding my teeth.
1328
01:35:40,188 --> 01:35:43,021
The upper fronts are damaged,
practically beyond repair,
1329
01:35:43,091 --> 01:35:46,083
because of my constant grinding
over the last three years.
1330
01:35:46,160 --> 01:35:50,654
I've been before a workers' comp board
already for the 9/11 volunteers' fund.
1331
01:35:50,732 --> 01:35:56,796
I've been denied three times, and hopefully
I will go on my fourth appeal soon,
1332
01:35:56,871 --> 01:36:01,171
if I can get the necessary documentation.
1333
01:36:01,809 --> 01:36:05,108
Of course.
There was a $50 million fund set up
1334
01:36:05,179 --> 01:36:07,807
supposedly to help rescue workers.
1335
01:36:07,882 --> 01:36:11,215
Ladies and gentlemen,
the governor of New York, George Pataki.
1336
01:36:11,285 --> 01:36:14,846
But the government.
Like the health insurance companies.
1337
01:36:14,922 --> 01:36:18,449
Made it very difficult
for people to receive help.
1338
01:36:18,526 --> 01:36:22,462
You have to have spent
a certain amount of time at Ground Zero,
1339
01:36:22,530 --> 01:36:25,590
you have to be able to establish that.
1340
01:36:25,666 --> 01:36:30,399
You do have to file an affidavit
within the next year,
1341
01:36:30,471 --> 01:36:32,939
relating your work experiences
at Ground Zero.
1342
01:36:33,007 --> 01:36:36,067
And then, even with all of that,
it's not automatic.
1343
01:36:36,144 --> 01:36:39,011
There is a presumption
when certain illnesses occur,
1344
01:36:39,080 --> 01:36:43,881
but that presumption can be rebutted
by other medical evidence.
1345
01:36:43,951 --> 01:36:48,149
We think it is a very fair approach
that protects our heroes.
1346
01:36:55,263 --> 01:36:56,457
I'm sorry.
1347
01:36:56,531 --> 01:37:01,696
Reggie Cervantes was
a volunteer medical technician on 911.
1348
01:37:01,769 --> 01:37:08,072
Nothing makes it go away sometimes.
Not water, not cough medicine, anything.
1349
01:37:08,142 --> 01:37:14,570
It's just burning in my throat and irritated
and it just gets me to coughing.
1350
01:37:14,649 --> 01:37:20,315
Sometimes I have trouble breathing
'cause I can't catch my breath.
1351
01:37:21,255 --> 01:37:24,747
Reggie spent her days
at Ground Zero carrying bodies
1352
01:37:24,826 --> 01:37:27,454
and treating other rescue workers.
1353
01:37:27,528 --> 01:37:30,725
My airway was totally burnt
that first week,
1354
01:37:30,798 --> 01:37:33,289
and I had trouble breathing by then.
1355
01:37:33,367 --> 01:37:36,200
But we wanted to see
if we could dig anybody up alive,
1356
01:37:36,270 --> 01:37:42,072
we wanted to see if we had lost anybody,
if we were still missing somebody.
1357
01:37:42,643 --> 01:37:46,704
I wanted to help.
I was trained for this.
1358
01:37:46,781 --> 01:37:51,582
You know, you see somebody
who is in need, you help 'em.
1359
01:37:52,787 --> 01:37:56,052
Reggie had difficulty
getting treatment.
1360
01:37:56,123 --> 01:37:58,921
Too sick to work and with no income.
1361
01:37:58,993 --> 01:38:01,120
She was forced to quit her job.
1362
01:38:01,195 --> 01:38:06,132
And used her savings
to move her and her kids out of the city.
1363
01:38:07,768 --> 01:38:10,566
It's hard to figure out
how you're supposed to get help.
1364
01:38:10,638 --> 01:38:14,039
We're trying to go about it the right way.
1365
01:38:15,076 --> 01:38:17,442
But we're ignored.
1366
01:38:17,511 --> 01:38:22,642
But not everyone after 911
was ignored by the government.
1367
01:38:22,717 --> 01:38:27,848
We're now approaching the five-year
anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
1368
01:38:27,922 --> 01:38:31,756
So I'm announcing today
that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,
1369
01:38:31,826 --> 01:38:35,193
Abu Zubaydah, Ramzi Binalshibh,
1370
01:38:35,263 --> 01:38:38,289
and 11 other terrorists in CIA custody,
1371
01:38:38,366 --> 01:38:42,234
have been transferred to
the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay.
1372
01:38:44,105 --> 01:38:49,372
On that island are some of the
world's most hardened enemy combatants.
1373
01:38:49,443 --> 01:38:53,436
These detainees are deadly
and include the 20th hijacker,
1374
01:38:53,514 --> 01:38:57,177
as well as a number of Osama bin Laden's
personal bodyguards
1375
01:38:57,251 --> 01:39:01,449
and others who had a direct role
in the September 11 attacks.
1376
01:39:02,123 --> 01:39:07,891
The kind of people held at Guantanamo
include terrorist trainers, bomb-makers...
1377
01:39:07,962 --> 01:39:13,662
Many of them have American blood on
their hands and are the elite of al-Qaida.
1378
01:39:13,734 --> 01:39:16,032
It seems to me we have an obligation
1379
01:39:16,103 --> 01:39:21,063
to treat these individuals
as enemy combatants.
1380
01:39:21,142 --> 01:39:25,636
And then I learned
it wasn't all bad news at Gitmo.
1381
01:39:30,985 --> 01:39:34,751
Detainees representing a threat
to our national security
1382
01:39:34,822 --> 01:39:37,347
are given access
to top-notch medical facilities.
1383
01:39:37,425 --> 01:39:42,362
They have acute care 24 hours a day,
in which surgical procedures,
1384
01:39:42,430 --> 01:39:46,924
everything can be performed right there
in the detainee camps.
1385
01:39:47,001 --> 01:39:49,492
This is the dental clinic,
or the health clinic.
1386
01:39:49,570 --> 01:39:54,098
We have a physical therapy department,
X- ray capabilities with digital X-rays.
1387
01:39:54,175 --> 01:39:56,302
We have one single operating room.
1388
01:39:56,377 --> 01:40:01,610
Health personnel to detainee ratio
is one to four, remarkably high.
1389
01:40:01,682 --> 01:40:05,982
They do sick call on the blocks three times
per week, care for them there if they can,
1390
01:40:06,053 --> 01:40:09,181
or bring that detainee back to the clinic
to be seen there.
1391
01:40:09,256 --> 01:40:11,315
Screening for cancer has taken place.
1392
01:40:11,392 --> 01:40:16,056
Colonoscopy is a procedure which
is performed there on a routine basis.
1393
01:40:16,130 --> 01:40:19,395
We have diabetes,
high blood pressure, high cholesterol.
1394
01:40:19,467 --> 01:40:22,402
We monitor the weight
and nutrition of the detainees,
1395
01:40:22,470 --> 01:40:26,099
so that we can track those detainees
to make sure we see them frequently,
1396
01:40:26,173 --> 01:40:28,573
monitoring their labs
and their overall health.
1397
01:40:28,642 --> 01:40:35,013
Their medical attention... They get way
better medical treatment than I've ever had.
1398
01:40:35,082 --> 01:40:39,451
- You think it's as good as most US HMOs?
- Certainly very similar and as good, sir.
1399
01:40:39,520 --> 01:40:43,616
I leave with an impression
that healthcare there is clearly better
1400
01:40:43,691 --> 01:40:45,955
than they received at home,
1401
01:40:46,027 --> 01:40:50,930
and as good as many people receive
in the United States of America.
1402
01:40:50,998 --> 01:40:55,401
Wow! So there is actually
one place on American soil
1403
01:40:55,469 --> 01:40:58,563
that had free universal healthcare.
1404
01:40:58,639 --> 01:41:01,107
That's all I needed to know.
1405
01:41:03,010 --> 01:41:05,240
I went down to Miami. Florida.
1406
01:41:06,247 --> 01:41:08,579
Got myself a boat.
1407
01:41:09,050 --> 01:41:11,245
And loaded up Bill.
1408
01:41:11,318 --> 01:41:14,253
And Reggie and John.
1409
01:41:14,755 --> 01:41:16,518
John, welcome, sir.
1410
01:41:16,590 --> 01:41:21,391
And anyone else I could find who needed
to see a doctor and couldn't afford one.
1411
01:41:21,462 --> 01:41:25,421
So many people showed up.
I had to get a couple extra boats.
1412
01:41:25,499 --> 01:41:30,368
And I called up Donna Smith from Denver.
Who is now on nine different medications.
1413
01:41:30,438 --> 01:41:33,100
And asked her
if she'd like to come along.
1414
01:41:33,174 --> 01:41:37,235
I figured she'd like to get out
of her daughter's basement for a while.
1415
01:41:37,311 --> 01:41:38,642
All right, let's go.
1416
01:41:55,396 --> 01:41:59,560
Which way to Guantanamo Bay?
Can we go?
1417
01:41:59,633 --> 01:42:02,796
We're not going to Cuba!
We're going to America!
1418
01:42:03,404 --> 01:42:05,929
It's American soil!
1419
01:42:41,942 --> 01:42:43,933
We made it.
1420
01:42:58,826 --> 01:43:01,693
There it is.
There's the runway.
1421
01:43:01,762 --> 01:43:04,492
That's the prison over there
where the detainees are.
1422
01:43:04,565 --> 01:43:09,093
- We're very close.
- Yeah, we're very close.
1423
01:43:11,005 --> 01:43:14,771
The white building is the hospital, I think.
1424
01:43:15,276 --> 01:43:17,267
OK, let's go.
1425
01:43:21,715 --> 01:43:28,245
We commandeered a fishing boat
and sailed into Guantanamo Bay.
1426
01:43:28,322 --> 01:43:33,225
As we approached the line in the water
beteen the American and Cuban side.
1427
01:43:33,294 --> 01:43:36,195
We were told to be careful for mines.
1428
01:43:38,832 --> 01:43:43,428
Permission to enter.
I have three 9/11 rescue workers.
1429
01:43:43,504 --> 01:43:46,405
They need some medical attention.
1430
01:43:50,511 --> 01:43:55,244
These are 9/11 rescue workers!
They just want some medical attention!
1431
01:43:55,316 --> 01:43:58,615
The same kind that al-Qaida is getting.
1432
01:44:00,721 --> 01:44:05,385
They don't want any more than
you're giving the evildoers, just the same!
1433
01:44:06,594 --> 01:44:08,459
Hello.
1434
01:44:08,529 --> 01:44:13,330
No one in the guard tower was
responding and then we heard a siren.
1435
01:44:13,400 --> 01:44:16,164
We figured it was time
to get out of here.
1436
01:44:16,237 --> 01:44:21,072
But what was I supposed to do with these
sick people and no one to help them?
1437
01:44:21,141 --> 01:44:25,407
I mean. Here we were stuck in some
godforsaken Third World country.
1438
01:44:25,479 --> 01:44:30,940
And communists. No less. When I was
a kid. These people wanted to kill us.
1439
01:44:31,018 --> 01:44:33,350
What was I supposed to do?
1440
01:44:53,240 --> 01:44:57,609
Excuse me, we're looking for a doctor.
Is there a doctor here in Cuba?
1441
01:44:57,678 --> 01:44:59,475
Any doctors?
1442
01:45:05,319 --> 01:45:06,479
All in this one block?
1443
01:45:12,760 --> 01:45:15,194
All right, thank you very much.
Thank you.
1444
01:45:15,696 --> 01:45:20,861
OK. OK. I know what you're
thinking. Cuba is where Lucifer lives.
1445
01:45:23,771 --> 01:45:29,073
The worse place on Earth.
The most evil nation ever created.
1446
01:45:29,143 --> 01:45:33,842
How do we know that? 'Cause that's
what we've been told for over 45 years.
1447
01:45:33,914 --> 01:45:37,816
A series of offensive missile sites
can be none other
1448
01:45:37,885 --> 01:45:42,481
than to provide a nuclear strike capability
against the western hemisphere.
1449
01:45:42,556 --> 01:45:47,755
I'm not gonna yield until Fidel Castro
allows freedom on the island.
1450
01:45:47,828 --> 01:45:50,729
That's a...
You can count on it.
1451
01:45:52,433 --> 01:45:54,765
Put it in the bank.
1452
01:45:55,969 --> 01:45:59,063
It seems that
what really bugged us about Castro
1453
01:45:59,139 --> 01:46:02,540
was that he overthrew
the dictator that we liked.
1454
01:46:02,609 --> 01:46:06,841
And replaced him with a guy
we didn't like - himself.
1455
01:46:07,781 --> 01:46:11,979
And so now. After all these years.
One thing is clear -
1456
01:46:12,052 --> 01:46:16,182
the Cuban people
have free universal healthcare.
1457
01:46:16,256 --> 01:46:20,920
They've become known as having not
only one of the best healthcare systems.
1458
01:46:20,994 --> 01:46:24,452
But as being one of the most generous
countries in providing doctors
1459
01:46:24,531 --> 01:46:28,592
and medical equipment
to Third World countries.
1460
01:46:28,669 --> 01:46:33,663
In the US. Healthcare costs
run nearly $ 7.000 per person.
1461
01:46:33,741 --> 01:46:37,802
But in Cuba. They spend only $ 251.
1462
01:46:37,878 --> 01:46:42,838
And yet the Cubans are able to have
a lower infant mortality rate than the US.
1463
01:46:42,916 --> 01:46:46,750
A longer average life span
than the United States.
1464
01:46:46,820 --> 01:46:49,380
They believe in preventive medicine.
1465
01:46:49,456 --> 01:46:53,415
And it seems like there's a doctor
on every block.
1466
01:46:53,494 --> 01:46:56,258
Their only sin
when it comes to healthcare
1467
01:46:56,330 --> 01:46:59,731
seems to be
that they don't do it for a profit.
1468
01:46:59,800 --> 01:47:04,328
Anybody need medication right now
from the pharmacy?
1469
01:47:08,575 --> 01:47:11,066
- Are you the pharmacist?
- Yes.
1470
01:47:11,145 --> 01:47:13,170
Do you have this?
1471
01:47:14,882 --> 01:47:19,979
- Is this one similar to yours?
- Yeah. It's $120 in the US.
1472
01:47:20,053 --> 01:47:22,613
- This is $120 in the US?
- Yes.
1473
01:47:26,326 --> 01:47:30,695
- How much is that in American dollars?
- It's like five cents.
1474
01:47:30,764 --> 01:47:32,823
- Five cents?
- Yeah. More or less.
1475
01:47:45,345 --> 01:47:49,213
Thank you very much.
Muchas gracias.
1476
01:47:49,283 --> 01:47:51,274
$120 is a lot of money
1477
01:47:51,351 --> 01:47:57,517
when you get $1,000 in social security
disability and need one or two a month.
1478
01:47:57,591 --> 01:48:01,755
Five cents here?
It's like the biggest insult.
1479
01:48:01,829 --> 01:48:04,389
It just doesn't make any sense.
1480
01:48:05,199 --> 01:48:07,531
It doesn't make any sense.
1481
01:48:07,601 --> 01:48:12,038
I wanna fill a suitcase up
and go back home with it.
1482
01:48:36,563 --> 01:48:39,794
I took my group
of sick Americans to a hospital
1483
01:48:39,867 --> 01:48:43,303
to see if they could get some care.
1484
01:48:43,370 --> 01:48:46,897
They didn't ask for money
or an insurance card.
1485
01:48:50,010 --> 01:48:51,238
Just their name...
1486
01:48:52,880 --> 01:48:53,608
and date of birth.
1487
01:48:57,150 --> 01:49:00,449
That was the entire intake session.
1488
01:49:19,940 --> 01:49:23,137
Thank you very much
for doing this.
1489
01:49:24,845 --> 01:49:27,541
I asked them to give us
the same exact care
1490
01:49:27,614 --> 01:49:30,139
they give their fellow Cuban citizens.
1491
01:49:30,217 --> 01:49:32,708
No more. No less.
1492
01:49:32,786 --> 01:49:34,777
And that's what they did.
1493
01:49:34,855 --> 01:49:37,790
I'm Dr. Roque.
I'm an internal medicine specialist.
1494
01:49:37,858 --> 01:49:40,292
- John Graham.
- How are you feeling?
1495
01:49:40,360 --> 01:49:42,692
My lungs hurt. I have pain.
1496
01:49:42,763 --> 01:49:45,960
I get pretty severe nosebleeds at times.
1497
01:49:46,033 --> 01:49:48,024
I get terrible headaches in the night,
1498
01:49:48,101 --> 01:49:51,593
but I haven't been evaluated
for the sleep apnea for nine years.
1499
01:49:51,672 --> 01:49:55,699
- Yeah, I have...
- Many medications for lung problems.
1500
01:49:55,776 --> 01:49:58,609
Almost every medication
for lung problems, I've got.
1501
01:49:58,679 --> 01:50:02,581
After 9/11, things have happened,
my teeth started falling out.
1502
01:50:02,649 --> 01:50:05,880
Because of certain conditions,
I was grinding.
1503
01:50:05,953 --> 01:50:11,118
There's one test that they recommended
I take, it's about $5,000 to $ 7,000.
1504
01:50:11,191 --> 01:50:16,652
The dentist that I talked to,
it's like $15,000 or more.
1505
01:50:16,730 --> 01:50:21,793
It's two years I have no medical coverage,
so I can't go for the last part of the test.
1506
01:50:24,071 --> 01:50:26,972
It's OK, everything's gonna be OK.
Right?
1507
01:50:27,040 --> 01:50:29,600
Yes. I am so...
1508
01:50:29,676 --> 01:50:34,875
It's so hard for me to digest
somebody saying it's free.
1509
01:50:36,016 --> 01:50:40,953
Because 20 years of our lives
have been spent fighting.
1510
01:50:41,021 --> 01:50:44,081
So I am so grateful.
1511
01:50:45,959 --> 01:50:48,450
No, you don't need to say that.
1512
01:50:49,496 --> 01:50:51,862
- Thank you. Thank you.
- OK.
1513
01:50:51,932 --> 01:50:54,457
Come on, don't cry.
Everything's gonna be OK, right?
1514
01:50:54,534 --> 01:50:58,129
- Thank you.
- At least what we can do, right?
1515
01:52:19,453 --> 01:52:24,186
Reggie was diagnosed with
pulmonary and bronchial problems.
1516
01:52:24,257 --> 01:52:28,887
The Cuban doctors gave her
a treatment plan to follow back home.
1517
01:52:28,962 --> 01:52:32,398
Along with some of those
five cent inhalers.
1518
01:52:33,233 --> 01:52:37,067
William Maher received a number
of treatments on his neck and his back.
1519
01:52:37,137 --> 01:52:42,473
Having ground down his teeth for
three years due to post-traumatic stress.
1520
01:52:42,542 --> 01:52:45,443
He left Cuba with a new set of teeth.
1521
01:52:47,481 --> 01:52:51,542
After a series of tests
on his heart. Lungs. Blood and stomach.
1522
01:52:51,618 --> 01:52:54,280
John now knew
what his ailments were.
1523
01:52:54,354 --> 01:52:58,552
He was given a strict plan to follow.
Plus a number of treatments
1524
01:52:58,625 --> 01:53:01,992
and was feeling better
than he had in years.
1525
01:53:02,062 --> 01:53:07,125
The Cuban doctors were able to take
Donna off five of her nine medications.
1526
01:53:07,200 --> 01:53:11,136
And with a correct diagnosis.
Gave her a treatment plan
1527
01:53:11,204 --> 01:53:14,105
to help her live a more normal life.
1528
01:53:19,546 --> 01:53:21,810
When firefighters
and paramedics in Havana
1529
01:53:21,882 --> 01:53:24,544
heard that the 911 rescue workers
were in town.
1530
01:53:24,618 --> 01:53:27,883
They invited them over
to one of their firehouses.
1531
01:53:27,954 --> 01:53:30,218
And so. On our last day there.
1532
01:53:30,290 --> 01:53:32,986
As we arrived. They stood at attention
1533
01:53:33,059 --> 01:53:38,156
because. They said.
They wanted to honor the heroes of 911.
1534
01:54:16,236 --> 01:54:21,299
S�. Somos familia. Y los hermanos
que perdimos en las Torres Gemelas
1535
01:54:21,374 --> 01:54:24,002
se sinti� en el mundo completo.
1536
01:54:25,178 --> 01:54:29,842
The brothers we lost on 9/11
was felt around the world.
1537
01:54:29,916 --> 01:54:32,510
- Mis hermanos.
- Mis hermanos.
1538
01:54:35,555 --> 01:54:38,251
Don't hesitate to hug a brother.
1539
01:54:43,196 --> 01:54:47,189
It's very important for them to wear
the SCBA so they don't end up like me.
1540
01:54:47,267 --> 01:54:49,701
- They're lungs.
- These tanks.
1541
01:54:49,769 --> 01:54:52,260
SCBA. Self-Contained
Breathing Apparatus.
1542
01:54:52,339 --> 01:54:55,467
Tenemos una reserva tambi�n en el carro.
1543
01:54:55,542 --> 01:54:57,669
Es un placer poder venir aqu�.
1544
01:54:57,744 --> 01:55:00,474
Esto es lo �nico
que tenemos nosotros...
1545
01:55:02,682 --> 01:55:05,014
F- F-F.
1546
01:55:05,085 --> 01:55:06,245
Three Fs.
1547
01:55:15,595 --> 01:55:19,292
If this is what can happen
beteen supposed enemies.
1548
01:55:19,366 --> 01:55:23,268
If one enemy can hold out his hand
and offer to heal.
1549
01:55:23,336 --> 01:55:25,497
Then what else is possible?
1550
01:55:29,476 --> 01:55:32,036
That's when I heard
that the man who runs the biggest
1551
01:55:32,112 --> 01:55:34,876
anti-Michael Moore website
on the internet
1552
01:55:34,948 --> 01:55:37,781
was going to have to shut it down.
1553
01:55:37,851 --> 01:55:42,413
He could no longer afford to keep it up
because his wife was ill
1554
01:55:42,489 --> 01:55:46,755
and they couldn't afford to pay
for her health insurance.
1555
01:55:46,826 --> 01:55:52,822
He was faced with a choice of either keep
attacking me or pay for his wife's health.
1556
01:55:53,833 --> 01:55:56,734
Fortunately. He chose his wife.
1557
01:55:57,771 --> 01:56:02,071
But something seemed wrong
about being forced into such a decision.
1558
01:56:02,142 --> 01:56:06,442
Why. In a free country. Shouldn't he
be able to have health insurance
1559
01:56:06,513 --> 01:56:11,974
and exercise his First Amendment right
to run me into the ground?
1560
01:56:12,752 --> 01:56:17,189
So I wrote a check for the $ 12.000
he needed to keep his wife insured
1561
01:56:17,257 --> 01:56:21,387
and in treatment.
And sent it to him anonymously.
1562
01:56:23,663 --> 01:56:28,965
His wife got better
and his website is still going strong.
1563
01:56:34,808 --> 01:56:38,505
It was hard for me to acknowledge
that in the end.
1564
01:56:38,578 --> 01:56:40,842
We truly are all in the same boat.
1565
01:56:41,581 --> 01:56:44,277
And that. No matter what our differences.
1566
01:56:44,351 --> 01:56:47,377
We sink or swim together.
1567
01:56:47,454 --> 01:56:50,981
That's how it seems to be
everywhere else.
1568
01:56:51,558 --> 01:56:55,858
They take care of each other.
No matter what their disagreements.
1569
01:56:57,364 --> 01:57:02,961
You know. When we see a good idea
from another country. We grab it.
1570
01:57:03,036 --> 01:57:06,733
If they build a better car. We drive it.
1571
01:57:06,806 --> 01:57:10,139
If they make a better wine. We drink it.
1572
01:57:11,277 --> 01:57:14,508
So if they've come up with
a better way to treat the sick.
1573
01:57:14,581 --> 01:57:16,572
To teach their kids.
1574
01:57:17,650 --> 01:57:20,141
To take care of their babies.
1575
01:57:21,154 --> 01:57:24,055
To simply be good to each other.
1576
01:57:24,124 --> 01:57:26,752
Then what's our problem?
1577
01:57:26,826 --> 01:57:29,158
Why can't we do that?
1578
01:57:29,229 --> 01:57:32,687
They live in a world of "we."
Not "me."
1579
01:57:33,767 --> 01:57:38,704
We'll never fix anything
until we get that one basic thing right.
1580
01:57:38,772 --> 01:57:41,900
And powerful forces
hope that we never do.
1581
01:57:42,575 --> 01:57:46,306
And that we remain the only country
in the western world
1582
01:57:46,379 --> 01:57:49,371
without free universal healthcare.
1583
01:57:50,150 --> 01:57:54,143
You know. If we ever did remove
the chokehold of medical bills.
1584
01:57:54,754 --> 01:57:57,723
College loans. Day care.
1585
01:57:57,791 --> 01:58:01,955
And everything else
that makes us afraid to step out of line.
1586
01:58:02,028 --> 01:58:04,724
Well. Watch out.
1587
01:58:04,798 --> 01:58:08,325
'Cause it'll be a new day in America.
1588
01:58:08,401 --> 01:58:10,392
In the meantime.
1589
01:58:10,470 --> 01:58:14,406
I'm gonna go get the government
to do my laundry.