Posted on 07/13/2007 1:34:58 PM PDT by NativeNewYorker
TORONTO, July 13 /CNW/ - The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) is encouraging all nurses to take advantage of a special promotion which offers them free admission to filmmaker Michael Moore's documentary SiCKO. Alliance Atlantis Canada has announced that all nurses in the country can attend the film for free from Monday, July 16 to Thursday, July 19.
Yesterday, Michael Moore was quoted in an Alliance Atlantis media release as saying "Nurses across Canada are on the front line in the battle against those forces who want to inch the Canadian health-care system toward the American way. They know that once a Canadian sees 'SiCKO', the last thing they will want is an American-style approach." Moore was applauding the United Nurses of Alberta who distributed 150 free tickets to his film to members of the public. Moore has offered to reimburse the union.
On behalf of all the nurses in Ontario, RNAO would like to thank Michael Moore and Alliance Atlantis for recognizing the key role nurses play in our health- care system. "Michael, nurses stand by you. We share your passion for a universal and not-for-profit health-care system and we thank you for your honest and courageous documentary. I've watched it twice and it is absolutely terrific!" says Doris Grinspun, RNAO's Executive Director, who lived in the US for six years before immigrating to Canada.
SiCKO provides an insightful analysis of the for-profit health-care system in the US and contrasts it with universal health-care systems in other countries, including Canada. "Nurses who see the film will learn more about the American health-care system and will feel proud that they live in Canada - a country where health care is a human right and not a commodity," says RNAO President Mary Ferguson-Paré.
Nurses' knowledge, expertise and compassion are central to the Medicare system established by Tommy Douglas. "We encourage nurses to use what they learn in Moore's film to engage their families, friends and neighbours in discussions about Medicare. These discussions are particularly important given the Ontario election this fall and the potential for a federal election," adds Ferguson- Paré.
All Registered Nurses (RNs), Registered Practical Nurses (RPNs) and Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) across the country are eligible for one free admission to SiCKO from Monday, July 16 to Thursday, July 19 at any Cineplex Entertainment, Empire or Landmark Theatre. In order to receive a free ticket, nurses must show photo identification and one of the following: their license, practice permit, registration card or union ID.
The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) is the professional association for registered nurses in Ontario. Since 1925, RNAO has lobbied for healthy public policy, promoted excellence in nursing practice, increased nurses' contribution to shaping the health-care system, and influenced decisions that affect nurses and the public they serve.
Nurses in Canada = the leaders of their Unions, it would appear.
Well if they are against ‘for profit’ then they should give back any part of their paycheck that they do not use for food, housing and uniforms. All else is ‘profit’.
“Nonprofit” healthcare system, eh? Guess all of those nurses will be willing to work for free, right?
Why sure they will.
Nurses in Canada like getting paid big for working small...
Mike can help
never happen..the liberal mantra is “touch everyone ELSES money, NOT mine”..
They have nurses in Cana-duh? What are they mooses filled with milk so Cannuks can suckle from their cheeses nips before they whine?
Canada....
Oh, you have to wait a few months for your surgery....no worries.
If the Canadian system is so good, why does Seattle treat over 50,000 Canadians for serious illness each year? A Canadian friend of mine was diagnosed with a heart problem and told she would be put on the waiting list for her operation in Toronto (300 miles away). She was told she'd have to wait 19 months. She died 2 months later.
Oh, and by the way, I don't think health care is a right. It is something you purchase, just like any other good or service. If your job doesn't pay health benefits, get a different job or buy it yourself. If you can find a better job or can't afford it, chances are pretty good you had more fun in high school than I did. While there are some cases where this hardline approach is wrong, they are damn few, and clearly not enough where the productive members of society need to take care of the unproductive members. Quit looking to the gov't to solve every problem and take some initiative yourself.
Only because her thumbs haven’t been sat on by michael moore. silly nurse...real thinkers don’t worship m.m.
See post #9.
I saw a couple of big, fat, ugly, US nurses’ union reps on TV praising moore. Figures the union goons would love him.
How surprising that a union leader would find anything insightful in a movie that contains no facts.
....and they come to NYC to visit...Canadian doctors who fled the socialist utopia of the north...
I've always wanted to ask these people who think US medicine is so awful a couple of questions. 1) According to the movie, the US insurance industry is bad because it won't pay for experimental treatments and drugs. How often does the government in Canada and Britain pay for these treatments? (Never) 2) If a great new drug comes on the market in the US can you get it in Canada? No. You get what the government has agreed to pay for. 3) If you have a very low birth weight infant in Canada or Europe will the government pay for the NICU costs? Is it even legal for you to get insurance to pay for such things? No. 4) If you need surgery like CABG or a hip replacement could you get it in a week in other countries? No. 5)What are the odds that Michael Moore goes to Cuba to take advantage of the "great care" they offer? Less than zero.
Just like a union. Teachers who don’t care about their students and nurses who don’t care about their patients.
I hope you sensed my sarcasm...I loath univeral healthcare, but I do believe our system needs to change. To give the public more chose...a freer market.
She probably thinks Michael Moore is sexy, too.
You need to look into buying private healthcare insurance. My neighbor has an twenty two year old daughter that had a battle with neuroblastoma when she was nine. She has been cancer free for over ten years, but she can’t get insurance on her own anywhere. she has only a few months before she has to be removed from her father’s policy, and she has zero chance of getting any insurance. Same for another friends son that has diabetes.
I am trying to find insurance now for 4 employees, and it is ridiculous. One has been treated in the past for asthma, which is causing her to be rejected for several policies. The other is 58 and is going to cost around 400 per month, if she qualifies.
The insurance situation in this country is a mess. I don’t think Michael Moore has any answers that I would agree with. However, there are many people who suffer from major health issues that must either work at the same company until they die or go on medicare, or be forever unable to get health insurance. Something needs to be done.
I don’t know why you don’t think NICU costs are paid. I know for a fact that they are. There is also a pretty serious wait in some places here in the US for some elective procedures. Not saying universal care is the answer, but I don’t like Michael Moore comparing the best of universal systems with the worst of ours. I also don’t like opponents of universal care misrepresenting how the system works in Europe/Canada. Neither healthcare system is perfect.
We need to change some things about our US healthcare system. It is far from perfect, and seems to be getting worse. Using accurate information can make it a lot easier to create workable solutions.
LOL!!!!
I saw a couple of big, fat, ugly, US nurses’ union reps on TV praising moore. Figures the union goons would love him.
______________________________________________
Agreed...I get at least 3 e-mails a month from the Union idiots wanting to make contact with Texas RN’s. This 36 year veteran of the Nursing profession has one thing to say... SCREW OFF. Unions are not the answer for Texas Nurses. I understand that Sicko is just a autobiography of Micheal Moore.
Amazing. I didn’t know that. I everything I’d read said that Europe doesn’t attempt to even save very low birth weight infants. Hillary Clinton made a speech several years ago touting the cost savings from just letting <500 gram infants die. I had no idea that Cuban medicine was so cutting edge in this regard. Thank you for enlightening me.
Could you give some reference to what you claim ? Perhaps then we'll know the why.
Because they want to live?
Perhaps, but socialized medicine and universal health care isn't it.
http://www.ccne-ethique.fr/english/pdf/avis065.pdf
This tells you about France and its policies regarding low birthweight babies. As you can see, they have NICU facilities and are actually very successful in delivering and sustaining life in low birthweight babies.
Babies less than 500 grams are one pound or less. They have a low survival rate, because typically 500 grams is the lower limit of survival. There are some very rare cases where babies at this birthweight have survived, but generally they die shortly after birth. It isn’t that it is too costly to save them, but generally that there is so much wrong, that they are reluctant to put the infant through many painful procedures, for an uncertain outcome, and likely numerous serious disabilities. Not providing resuscitation is common, not only in countries with universal care, but in the US as well. It generally doesn’t have anything to do with money.
Babies from 500 - 1500 grams run up a medical bill on average of 80 - $100,000, yet these babies are routinely resuscitated and have a survival rate of around 70 %. this happens in France, England, Germany and Canada. I am not sure about Cuba.
I don’t want universal healthcare and I certainly don’t want HillaryCare. I just think there are major problems with our current system, and am hopeful that there are some effective solutions. I think there are some good aspects to the French system in particular. Saying there are no NICU units in these countries is just inaccurate.
No, I agree. But, the current system is routinely causing problems for many, many people who would gladly purchase insurance, but can’t. There needs to be some form of health care for these people. Possible some form of universal care for those who have been assessed as uninsurable.
If this were implemented, wouldn't everyone suddenly develop an "uninsurable" condition and be placed in the welfare system?
My wife was bipolar and had some other medical issues and was uninsurable, so I understand where you are coming from. I've had 20 years to think through this problem, and I haven't heard of a better fix than doing away with insurance for routine medical and forcing people to start paying for their routine medical needs. Reserve insurance for catastrophic [greater than $x,000 (?)] bills.
When the recipient starts paying for the service, then doctors start competing for their business, then the recipient might start having an incentive to hold down medical costs. As it is, the single payer system (whether the "single payer" is your insurance company or your government or whomever) doesn't give the recipient of services any incentive to hold down costs.
If every cut of meat costs the same, who's going to buy hamburger when they can have steak? And who's going to produce steak when they get no more than they would for hamburger?
I think the medical savings accounts are a move in the right direction. I wish you well in your search. And I hope we can come up with a better solution to this problem someday.
Perhaps, however I see many more that pay their cell phone bill and do without insurance. Yes insurance is high, yes some with preexisting conditions have a hard time as well as those who are self employed because of the cost. But many people choose not to pay for health insurance that is offered by their jobs because they choose to spend the money elsewhere. Walk into any ER and ask to get treated and (by law) they are given health care. Remember there is a big difference between not having health insurance, and not having health care.
“If this were implemented, wouldn’t everyone suddenly develop an “uninsurable” condition and be placed in the welfare system?”
I don’t think so. Especially if it was priced similar to typical private insurance. Others would have no incentive to join. I don’t think most of the “uninsurable” are looking for a handout, only insurance.
IMO there is something seriously wrong with a system where a child can become ill, and be designated as uninsurable for the remainder of their life. I realize there are all kinds of people trying to take advantage of the system and looking for a handout. But, there are also a whole lot of decent people being denied insurance that they would be willing to pay for.
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