Nurses Welcome Arrival of 'Sicko'

Nurses Welcome Arrival of 'Sicko'

Michael Moore's Stunning New Film Could Help Reframe the National Healthcare Debate

LOS ANGELES, May 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Michael Moore's tour de force on the U.S. health care crisis -- which premiered to overwhelming acclaim today in Cannes -- could help "reframe and move the national healthcare toward genuine reform for a more humane healthcare system," California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro said today.

DeMoro notes she was "privileged to get to be among 50 people" mostly those in the film or who worked on the film who were invited to an intimate special viewing of "Sicko" this week in New York. She called the film both an "indictment of an indefensible healthcare industry in the U.S. and a rejoinder for those who think we can fix the soulless monster by tinkering with an unconscionable system."

The film, she said, "should bolster the spirits of those dedicated to achieving fundamental reform and embarrass those who promote the lowest common denominator with proposals that reinforce the existing system."

"Sicko" presents an emotional portrait of an array of people, including volunteer rescue heroes of the September 11 attack, who are denied needed care -- despite the fact that most are insured. And it points a finger at the source of the crisis, a profit-driven insurance industry whose "biggest accomplishment is buying our U.S. Congress" to prevent real reform.

The film also presents a solution to the crisis -- the type of medical system in place in other industrialized countries, where care "doesn't depend on your premiums, it depends on your needs." Such a transformation in the U.S., said DeMoro, "is not just a dream -- it's legislation." CNA/NNOC is campaigning for HR 676 in Congress and SB 840 in California, both of which would establish a type of an expanded Medicare for all system.

"Michael Moore has demonstrated compassion and courage in a film that, true to his career, doesn't bend to political expediency," DeMoro said. "He goes right at the treachery of abandoning people in our country, and contrasts that with other countries where when it comes to the nation's health, they know the distinction between the 'we' and the 'me'. "Sicko" offers "inspiration, vision, and hope and the nurses of CNA/NNOC look forward to working with Moore to bring that promise to all Americans," DeMoro said.

The California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing represents 75,000 RNs from California to Maine. Learn more at www.CalNurses.org

Source: California Nurses Association

CONTACT: Chuck Idelson of California Nurses Association,
+1-415-559-8991

Web site:

http://www.calnurses.org/

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