Insurance Companies Game-Plan To Attack Sicko and Michael Moore

[lame54]

Run time: 05:38 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv1FwOCNoZ8   Posted on YouTube: July 10, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: July 11, 2009 By DU Member: lame54 Views on DU: 5955

 
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=1265

Friday, July 10th, 2009
Bill Moyers Show Reveals Insurance Lobby's Secret Plan to Attack 'Sicko' and Michael Moore

ALERT: We've just been informed that Bill Moyers, on his show tonight, will expose for the first time the health insurance industry's secret campaign against Michael Moore and his film, "Sicko." It contains a stunning revelation and admission by a top health insurance executive -- the former head of publicity for CIGNA, one of the top health insurance companies in the country -- that the disinformation and attacks on Michael and the film were extensive and well-planned. Their job was to stop the movie from reaching a wide audience (and, more importantly, from having the widespread political impact the industry feared "Sicko" would have).

Wendell Potter, former Head of Corporate Communications at CIGNA (which provides health insurance to nearly 70 percent of the Fortune 100 companies) admits that, in fact, "Sicko" "hit the nail on the head" and told the real truth about how much better people in other countries have it when it comes to their health care.

[lob1]

1. K&R. More people on DU should see this, as there seems to be a few

Michael Moore haters here. I hope those people realize they've swallowed the bait.

[valerief]

2. Anyone who hates Michael Moore hates America. nt

[GreenTea]

17. Where are those idiot delusional Michael Moore haters that always come crawling out of the woodwork?

They come out on DU screaming bullshit all the time about Moore, Malloy, Olbermann, Maddow, Maher, Schultz, Moyers, Hartmann, etc...They are sickening people...they do nothing themselves to help liberal progressive causes...but always bitch & complain, then lie misinterpret and point fingers at people who do try to help like Michael Moore and others I mentioned.

[bulloney]

35. The Michael Moore bashing takes the same pattern every time.

First, Moore releases a documentary/film that attacks a big, powerful institution. Immediately, the RW bashes it, saying the film is loaded with baseless accusations and launches a full-court press against it. They distort the message of the film and get the dialogue away from the talking points Moore attempts to lay out. Things settle down and it's learned that the Moore film is accurate if not spot-on. The detractors crawl back into their hole and wait for the next film.

We saw it with Roger & Me, Bowling For Columbine, Fahrenheit 9-11 and Sicko.

[warren pease]

42. Yeah, that's exactly how things work in the ministry of propaganda biz...

It's axiomatic in the spin-meister business that as long as you can confine the terms of the so-called debate within an acceptable set of talking points -- with both "sides" perpetuating the status quo and subverting even the most feeble efforts at real progressive reform -- you can't lose.

And that's how big biz -- and increasingly, big gummint -- deals with dissent these days. There's no need to go to war to protect corporate "values," assuming there actually are such things. Nor is there any reason to use physical repression to deal with political or ideological dissent at the federal or state level.

Just hire a few serious-looking-and-sounding mofessional "communicators" from central casting, run them through a week of high-intensity "message training," then place them on pundit pap panels and high-volume radio and TV talk shows 24/7 for a couple of weeks.

People will get the point long before that, but two weeks of this ensures a bond between the gullible rube and the propaganda pushers that will never break, absent some personal tragedy or tipping point that proves the paid pitchman is just another fucking corporate liar and his stories are about as useful as soliciting sex with porcupines.

By then, the damage is done. Tens of millions of parrots hatch and start hanging out in break rooms, at fast food poison palaces, in line for a beer between innings at ballgames, in silent whooshing limos, in airport "medallion" and "platinum club" waiting areas, in cheap diners and expensive chop houses, even in union halls... and the lie spreads across the land, measurably... you can watch its progress in the local polls as it infests public consciousness like a fluorescent dye injected into the carotid artery.

Like that scene in my all-time favorite corny movie -- The Ten Commandments -- when Charlton the gun fatality apologist stretches his magic staff across the Nile and it turns into a blood red vector... starting right at the point where this ultra-high-tech wand touches the muddy river water.

Anyway, nice analysis. From the board rooms to the spin meisters to the pitch-people to the bullshit consumers... all packaged for easy intake; all wrapped in familiar good ol' American themes from the parallel universe; all easily digested by kids and non-critical adults alike.

And if all that doesn't work, and there's still a significant number of pissed off activists out there stirring up shit, there's always today's newly militarized city cops and our tireless drug warriors ready to step in and dish out a little instant compliance.

After spending zillions on high tech weaponry and Blackwater training camps, the bosses have to justify those grants somehow. The local cops can't resist the whine of the taser or the smell of burning skin it unleashes when the probes find their target. Nor can the federales resist a low-altitude recon flight in an Apache, buzzing the city streets and inserting themselves and their amazingly cool weaponry into the modern urban zeitgeist.

Gotcha comin' and goin', it seems. And even Canada won't take us anymore, eh.


sf

[earth mom]

48. The same thing is happening here on DU with Obama. The spin miesters have control on the unwreck

button and they are controlling the message for all it's worth.

There is NOT one negative thread about Obama on the greatest page and there never will be again.

Bank on it.

[warren pease]

55. I'd prefer a president who's not also a cult figure...

Much easier to hold humans accountable than it is to slam the hammer down on tin-plated demigods. See "Bush, George W.; beer with" for details.


sf

[Faygo Kid]

51. Agreed. Just saw it from a DU one-issue gun nut this week.

Won't name names, of course, but they show up to hijack any threads mentioning Michael Moore. Expect it here.

[proud2BlibKansan]

60. Yes I saw that too

:)

[redqueen]

54. I was shocked to see one the other day.

I doubt facts could do much to change their opinion of him.

[tomreedtoon]

61. Wrong! More people OFF DU need to see this.

People on DU are pretty much aware of the issues. It's the people who AREN'T here that need to know. They aren't terribly happy with their insurance, especially when they get sick, but they don't know how much of their premiums are going to sabotage them. They need to find out.

And frankly, talking about it here does absolutely no good. This needs to be taken to the vast audience that doesn't go on DU, doesn't read anything, and listen to Limbaugh and Beck. To break through that noise barrier will probably take tactics that nobody here has the courage to utilize.

Like...when was the last time either of those individuals ever heard a discouraging word and let it get out on the air? It would take some kind of FORCE to take over their airwaves. Does that word "Force" scare you? If it does, you understand now why nothing will change.

[Lautremont]

3. There's a good moment at around 3:33

where the guy is talking about the threats the insurance companies' lobby group would make to Democratic politicians: "...we won't contribute to your campaigns, or we'll contribute to your-- competitor's campaigns."

There's a little hitch where he realizes that the correct word would be "opponent," but it's too late so he carries on with using the corporatist word "competitor."

Maybe that is more accurate after all.

[destes]

29. Brilliant observation, I laud you with a high-five, Lautremont

"When the unspoken is deafening the truth can but be very near."

Me, 2009:)

[quark219]

4. PROFOUNDLY sad

I hardly know what to say. I'll tell you this: I went to see *SICKO* as soon as it was released and was blown away by it--what a great and important movie! So I came home to write a review for Yahoo Movies. As soon as I logged onto the site, I was astonished to see well over a hundred 1-star reviews with titles like "Don't see this movie!!!", "More propaganda from Michael Moore--Save your money!!!", "Liberal brainwashing!!!" How could ANY open-minded American who'd seen the movie think it wasn't worth seeing?

It made no sense. I thought at the time that the insurance industry had prearranged for shills to discredit the movie on the Web. And now I know I was right.

I don't understand it anymore and it's driving me crazy (so forgive the full caps): HOW CAN AMERICANS LEARN THEY'VE BEEN LIED TO, GAMED, AND MANIPULATED BY THE INSURANCES INDUSTRY--THE VERY SAME INDUSTRY THAT'S KILLING THEM FOR PROFIT--AND JUST SIT THERE AND TAKE IT? WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE? WHEN IS ENOUGH ENOUGH?

WHY IN GOD'S NAME ARE PEOPLE *NOT* UP IN ARMS?

[izquierdista]

5. A technicality

It's the tobacco companies that are killing them; the insurance companies just take their money, invest it in tobacco company stock, and when they need a lung taken out or a respirator, they deny them coverage because they had a preexisting condition (smokers' cough).

[lame54]

6. isn't not saving them the same as killing them

[truedelphi]

10. It is negligent homicide, fer sure.

Why there are not more lawsuits addressing such things, I don't know.

[provis99]

15. its Depraved Indifference to Human Life

that's 3rd degree murder. The insurance corporations are a bunch of mass murderers.

[truedelphi]

19. You are using the correct expression - that one is the legalese

Exactly what they are doing And I always forget that term.

[whatacountry09]

18. GOD YOU ARE SOOOOOOOOOOO RIGHT!

I couldn't agree more. After seeing this interview, my blood was boiling. I believed the movie when it came out, but there are way too many people that won't even watch it. WHAT A SAD, SAD SHAME. WAKE UP AMERICA.

Of course this is the wrong website to be preaching too... WE ALL know - the Fox viewers should be reading this stuff - they are the ones that need to wake up and join the fight... or at least help start one.

[bulloney]

36. Just like the dumb sheep many Americans are, they just listen to the Canadian system bashing

and repeat it in conversations with friends and in the streets. I have to think that most people in the northern third of the U.S. has been in contact with at least one Canadian. How hard is it to ask them for their opinion of their health care system. I've done it with several. They're honest. They all say it has its flaws, but they prefer it to the U.S.

[warren pease]

30. Because they've been trained to believe that protesting intolerable conditions is unpatriotic...

Americans behave like a conquered, pacified population -- much like Vichy France in WW II.

The Bushies milked the maximum out of "the events of 9/11"(tm), their own personal Reichstag Fire, and that's one of the most convenient, if completely predictable, outcomes.

"Convenient" if you're a corporatist thug, that is -- a term that fits so many, many members of the Bushies' Flaming Nazi Fourth Reich Soul Review and International Crime Cartel, LLC.

How else do you explain the sad fact that an entire country that used to scorn gullible rubes and laugh at suckers and marks -- in public, anyway -- is now so scared to show any hint of individuality or independent thought that we gladly do that ridiculous striptease for our TSA "protectors" just to board an airliner.

Amazingly, we're still doing it today even though anyone with half a brain knows the real "terrorists" operated for eight straight years out of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. and a few dozen offices in the Senate and House office buildings, not some elaborate cave deep in the Hindu Kush.

It's been a lot longer than just those eight years, but this time the velvet gloves finally began wearing out and the iron fists started showing through the seams.


sf

[mnhtnbb]

34. WHY IN GOD'S NAME ARE PEOPLE *NOT* UP IN ARMS? Because they're afraid.

Moore documented that in the movie. Remember the interview with the French citizen?

"The French government is afraid of its people and Americans are afraid of their government."--or closely
paraphrased.

[Divine Discontent]

7. kick....

I used to work for those bastards.

[AzNick]

8. Sicko is likely to turn a lot of people against their HMOs

I wonder if Moore would be likely to accept a free release of his movie?

[quidam56]

9. Lies may come and go, but the truth remains what it is.

As a former health care giver, I am shocked and saddened to see what has become of health care in America. $ 1. 4 million is being spent per day in DC by the health care lobbyists so your elected representative is getting taken care of and has quality health care we pay for and can't afford ourselves for our families, I know what is deemed, defended and supported in Tennessee and Virginia as quality health care and clearly profit care comes ahead of patient care. http://www.wisecountyissues.com/?p=62 MRSA ( methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureas ) is infesting our communities because filthy, uncaring hospitals and emergency rooms are breeding them and spreading them into our schools, homes, restaurants. How many more Americans' will be diseased or die while 74 % of Americans' are begging for health care reform ? More people died in America last year from MRSA complications than AIDS. When MRSA and a flu bug start mixing, it won't be pretty and we are being infected by the very health care system we depend on and trust to keep us safe and healthy.

[Grinchie]

39. Don't forget teh overcrowded Prison System, where it is purposefully underdiagnosed

I read a story about a prison and it's employees that were upset about being exposed to MRSA. But you know that MRSA runs rampant in the penal system, of which America has the most prisoners in the world (Because it is for profit, of course)

[jeff30997]

11. K&R

The link doesn't work for me so I watched it at M.Moore's site.

[PSzymeczek]

12. The entire interview is excellent.

It runs about 36 minutes and is at http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07102009/watch2.html

[classof56]

13. I watched as much of it as I could stand--and really wanted to throw something at the TV

Guess I should be glad my current medical insurance includes mental health coverage, though not much. This stuff is truly making me crazy. But as has been pointed out, the people who should see and heed this will not do so. And so the tragedies continue...

I say bless Michael Moore for what his courage and dedication to getting the word out there. Have this sick and sinking feeling, though, that it's way to late to make a difference.

Let's keep trying!

[slipslidingaway]

14. And we will not even discuss their systems :(( n/t

[Historic NY]

16. Its time to unshelve Sicko with a new & improve sequel.

[cabluedem]

28. If Sicko was shown on TV we would have our single payer care. nt

[tridim]

41. I've seen it on cable a few times..

But it gets much less attention than "Bowling For Columbine" for instance.

It should be shown on Sunday evening prime-time on network TV.

[cabluedem]

62. I agree. nt

[GivePeaceAchance]

20. It only shows what a hero Michael Moore is really.

[knixphan]

22. Indeed.

[knixphan]

21. BIG K & BIG R

[wantoutnow]

23. Michael Moore speaks truth to power

Thats why corporate interests hate him. His detractors on here are of the same ilk. They dont like to look in the mirror and see themselves for what they are.

[Grinchie]

40. You mean the DLC?

Hate to say it, but the DLC is fully in control of this Administration, which explains the lack of attention Single Payer has received until the outcry became louder than an avalanche.

The DLC are just as beholdin to Corporate interests as Bush was.

[Moochy]

52. And it also explains the total lack of "Ignoreds"

on this thread. Let it Sink seems to be plan A for the DLC boosters here, failing that use your immunity to flamebait a topic closed, and now the more subtle option of anonymously unrec.

[PretzelWarrior]

24. people need to know this. those on the wrong side of the issue try to hide and deceive.

it is horrible.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

25. K&R

Just 15 years ago I was insured with Blue Shield through my job. Had a double by-pass and spent 5 days in the hospital. The hospital bill was around $95,000 as I recall, and my total outlay was $100. Then 3 follow up doctor appointments were $10.00 each out of pocket co-pays. No doubt we were all healthier back then.

[Juche]

26. Very few people are safe

People used to assume if your job had coverage you were good. But back in 1993 about 75% of jobs offered healthcare. now it is around 56% and still shrinking and the ones that do offer coverage offer less coverage, higher deductibles and may not cover family.

Not only that but if you do get sick your employer could always fire you to save on healthcare costs, or the insurer could dump your employer, or you could be too sick to work and get fired that way. Even if you are covered the insurance company could find some way to rescind the payments after the fact.

All in all, there is no healthcare security for most of us. This illusion that only the uninsured (of which I am one since I have pre existing conditions) suffer is bull and Moore was the first person to publically talk about it. Before Moore most of the debate was framed as those who are safe (ie insured) and the uninsured. Moore showed that almost everyone dependent on the current system is not safe.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

27. E-mail from michaelmoore.com

Bill Moyers Show Tonight Reveals Insurance Lobby's Secret Plan to Attack 'Sicko' and Michael Moore

Friday, July 10th, 2009

ALERT: We've just been informed that Bill Moyers, on his show later tonight, will expose for the first time the health insurance industry's secret campaign against Michael Moore and his film, "Sicko." It contains a stunning revelation and admission by a top health insurance executive -- the former head of publicity for CIGNA, one of the top health insurance companies in the country -- that the disinformation and attacks on Michael and the film were extensive and well-planned. Their job was to stop the movie from reaching a wide audience (and, more importantly, from having the widespread political impact the industry feared "Sicko" would have).

Wendell Potter, former Head of Corporate Communications at CIGNA (which provides health insurance to nearly 70 percent of the Fortune 100 companies) admits that, in fact, "Sicko" "hit the nail on the head" and told the real truth about how much better people in other countries have it when it comes to their health care.

The show airs tonight at 9:00 PM on PBS. (Check your local listings for exact times. Many areas show it on Saturday night, too.)

You can check out the segment about Michael and "Sicko" here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv1FwOCNoZ8

Be sure to tune into Bill Moyers Journal tonight at 9:00 PM for the full program. Check here for local listings (and rebroadcasts):

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/about/airdates.html

If you get this email too late, their website will soon post the full show soon:

http://www.pbs.org/moyers

Finally, the truth comes out. From one of their own. Amazing.

Yours truly, Webmaster
MichaelMoore.com
[e-mail]

[ShadesOfGrey]

31. Rec 50

[mnhtnbb]

32. Watched the whole program on Friday night. Stunning, is right.

One of top former health insurance execs talks candidly about our whole health care mess and role of insurance industry--not just regarding "Sicko". Worth watching.

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/index-flash.html

[mnhtnbb]

33. Rec 51--hid the Unrec. Bwwwaaahhh--trolls.

[Number_Six]

37. Saw it all the other night...

I wasn't shocked in the least. Moyers' guest sums up what most of us have known for some time:

-The insurance companies FIRST priority is kissing stockholder ass, and if you believed otherwise, you need a clue and fast.

-Mike spoke the truth, again. We need to clone him, and fire all the news networks, Mike's got it down, as always.

-And once again, we know what our nation's true motto is: "Money talks, bullshit walks."

God help us.

[Grinchie]

38. This presention is Platinum, because it spells out the techniques they use

Anyone who watches this will recognize the term "Junk Insurance" and identify with the statement "Illusion of Insurance", and I can vouch for that, because I was subjected to this myself. The Insurance company I was using, suddenly rasied the copay up to the same amount as the annual premium! After that tidy sume was lifted out of my pocket, I was entitle to pay a smaller copay on every prescription and every office visit.

To add to the insult, the pharmacy was unable to understand the new terms of the policy, since the software had been outsorced to a vendor in Idia, and had returned as a menu driven system, with menul levels up to 10 layers deep. I remember getting a shock for the sudden astronomical amounts in my meds, and since I always like to pay in cash (It helps me with budgeting things) I asked to return some items until I could verify that there was no error. It took them 45 minutes to figure out how to work the system and adjust the bill.

Then, I looked at the damage on the receipt, expecting a clear breakdown and record of what I received. Hah hah hah.. They was nothing but a few lines of 8 digit numbers, that purportedly identified the meds. There was no copay amount, only an aggregate lump sum. I asked about this sorry excuse for a receipt, and they sad that it was the "New" format, but I could get all that information my requesting it from the business office.

I went to the business office, and was presented with a HIPAA form that I would have to mail in and get the information in 6 to 8 weeks.

I did what any sane person would do after I left. I crunched the numbers to see what my meds would cost vs the real costs of this new improved "Junk Insurance" that 3 dollars more in premiums per month, but now was doubled via huge deductible.

It turned out that the deductible would cover my meds for one full year. Precisely. Bought without insurance, for cash at the local pharmacy down the street.

At that point, it was very clear that the health insurance was nothing more than the Illusion of Health Insurance. I made one last appointment with the so called doctor, and I asked him all about new technologies, UV electrophoresis, Ozone, Hydrogen Peroxide, and he was unaware of all of them. I asked him how the lung removes microparticulates, and all he could come up with is that you cough it out.

It was clear that doctors are no longer scientists, they are processors. They process people like the butcher porcesses cows.

I decided to forgo paying the premium and wuit my insurance, not because I could not afford it, but due to the principal of Quality of Service. There was none. They actually expect people to put up with a system that is arbitrary, expensive, and undecipherable. They have put up extensive walls around their incompetance, and the people that man those wals lack Aloha, and are souless drones. You can see it in their behavior, their body language, and there aura.

I made up my mind to stop thinking about "Getting Ill". I started thinking about staying healthy, and paying attention to my body. With the money I save annually, I can more easily afford nutritious organic food, and save money at the same time. I feel like I am in total control of my health, and I've never felt better in my life. I have started on a regime of 10 drops of 3% food grade hydrogen peroxide in a glass of distilled water and my digestion is better, and am more regular as a result. I use an Ozone generator 24 hours a day in my house, and my lung function has never been better, and the the dust also falls out of the air faster. (You would be surprised how much dust is in seemingly clean air) And no, microparticulates do not get coughed out once they get into the lungs. They are encapsulated and are expelled via cilia for the most part, but some are actually broken down and absorbed into the bloodstream to be expelled through skin or kidney.

I have experienced none of the scary effects supposedly caused by Ozone, which is constantly referred to "As the major constituent of Smog", while they ignore that fact that Oxides of Nitrogen are far more harmful, and it some case react with wator vapor to form droplets of Nitric acid. Even on this board, there are posters that have repeated this one sided talking point, despite the fact that Ozone is used in much of the world, such as Britain, Germany, China and Japan for it's anitbacterial properties, and it's ability to clean the air via oxidation of harmful compounds. I guess that they don't find it odd, that all those countries have universal health care, yet they allow a supposedly hazardous compound such as Ozone to be used at high concentrations in Hospitals, Subways, and use it instead of Chlorine in public swimming pools.

Doesn't anyone other than myself find it odd that Ozone is embraced in many other nations that don't have for profit medical systems and pharmaceutical companies running the show?

I find it even more odd that the fear that Ozone instills in people is so strong, they will vigorously attempt to make people that use it every day of the years, somehow wrong, or on the way toward lung "Fibrosys" or some other nonsense.

The way I see it, if they can convince people that WTC 7 collapsed on it's own in a manner identical to a controlled demolition, and get people to buy that fantasy, then what else would they lie about?

Perhaps the safety of GMO Food that they feed us and our Kids, along with the animals raised for food.
Perhaps the safety of Mercury in tooth fillings and vaccinations.
Perhaps the safety of Sodium Fluoride in every CC of many Municipal water supplies, which we then water our lawn with, drink, feed to our kids, pets, water our vegetable garden, wash our clothes with, wash our cars, and generally spread all over our properties, day after day, year after year, adding up in ever so small quanities.
Perhaps the safety of raising the animals we eat in horrifying, filthy and stressful conditions for their short, pathetic little lives, all the while feeding them GMO feed stock, snd groud up bits of other animals, or their feathers or feces.
Perhaps the patented process of sterilizing "Filler Meat" with ammonia before we consume it.
Perhaps High Fructose Corn Syrup is a little more unhealthy than they wish us to believe, after all, I have never seen a video presentation of a Corn Refinery that makes the stuff. How is it that I can watch video of a Nuclear Control room, or the command center of an Aircraft Carrier, yet be denied the same of a food production facility that manufactures the raw material used in nearly everything.
Perhaps lemon scented Chlorine Bleach isn't made out of real lemons, but something much more nasty.
Perhaps that perfume scented Laundry Detergent that survives the wash cyle and then is dumped into the atmosphere after being vaporized in the dryer is not so healthy. We don't even know what the heck that stuff is, and since it is a consumer product, they don't have to tell us.

I think that short list is enough to make one think.

Why is it that a lawyer for Monsanto was recently appointed to an important office in the USDA recently?

I hope that this post helps wake people up to the fraud that is being infilcted upon us. Take control of you health and regain control over your lives. The Human organism was not meant to get sick, but malnutrition, smoking, lack of clean water and air all work to diminish our energy. Add to that many are stuck in the rat race, forced into debt slavery also weakens one spirit and helps create conditions necessary for disease.

[RufusTFirefly]

43. Old news. An isolated incident. A few bad apples. Time to move on...

:sarcasm:

If you're shocked by this video, it's time to take the next step. Is there something inherently evil about health insurance companies? Or the tobacco industry? Or the oil industry? Do you have friends, neighbors, or relatives that work in these industries? Are they nice people? Of course they are.

The insurance industry is no more evil for targeting Michael Moore than a shark is for attacking and eating a fish. This is what corporations are designed to do. It is their nature. Sharks are eating machines, and corporations are profit machines. It's nothing personal, as the Corleones say in The Godfather series. It's just business.

Should corporations be allowed to make a profit? Why not? But there has to be a counter-balance between their profit-making motive and the health and welfare of human beings. That's what's terribly out of whack here. Government and the press have been designed since our country's founding to be the counter-balances to the excesses of business. Government passes regulations to prevent business from harming individuals for the sake of profit. The press is supposed to "comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable," alerting the people to situations where business (and, indeed, the government as well) is not operating in the interest of the people. Government and the press have failed us badly.

[AlbertCat]

44. as the Corleones say in The Godfather series. It's just business.

Yeah.... but if you'll remember from the films, all that "business" took place during "family" activities...weddings, birthdays, reunions....reminding us that it's not "just business".

The business of Insurance is not SUPPOSED to be just make a profit. They are suppose to provide services for the huge amounts of money we give them. The idea was to pool money so it could be used in emergencies....not invest and make a profit and not give back to the "customers". You'd think the job of insurance companies was to just collect your money.

Yes the press has failed us and that is an important factor. But the Gov. has failed to properly regulate insurance and the companies are no longer a "free market" since you cannot say "no" to them. Yeah, you can shop around, but you cannot say no. You MUST get some, and they know it. It's like a cartel.

[RufusTFirefly]

46. Alas, that's the fairy story we tell ourselves

Insurance corporations have no obligation whatsoever to do anything other than make a profit.

Once upon a time, there was a notion of a corporate charter, the idea that if your company failed to live up to its pact with the state that chartered it that it could be dissolved. No longer.

The only reasons that corporations provide a service is because they worry that if they don't that it will adversely effect their profits. The problem with insurance companies is much like what you have stated. The motivation for being a good company really isn't there anymore. These days, damage control and opposition research can often effectively squelch inconvenient truths about a corporation. It's usually much cheaper than simply doing the right thing. Meanwhile, insurance companies boost their profits by failing to cover customers who might actually need their insurance and by taking a cut from expensive and often unnecessary procedures.

[fascisthunter]

45. many astute DUers already assumed this

as they seem to have been right all along about many things

[earth mom]

47. Of course they attack the messenger. No different that what the unwreckers are doing here on DU

with anything negative about Obama.

But it's only fair when fake dems do it, right? :puke:

[Uncle Joe]

49. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, lame.:thumbsup:

[Overseas]

50. The full interview is excellent !! K&R !! /nt

[Faygo Kid]

53. Bill Moyers' finest ever, and that's saying a lot.

It was absolutely compelling.

[Dr.Phool]

56. Anybody who didn't see it, should watch it right now at pbs.org.

Then start writing, calling, and faxing your Reps, and Senators immediately!

And the White House too, just for good measure.

[redqueen]

63. I love your suggestions... start calling Congress & the WH.

:kick:

[Vroomfondel]

57. It's difficult sometimes...

Not to throw up my hands and say 'we're just doomed'. How is it that the mightiest nation on earth has the most ignorant citizenry in the developed world? My family is predominantly fundamentalist Christian, and to a person they simply parrot what they hear from Hannity, Limbaugh, et-al. So I almost think that as long as the Christian right is the gollum-like mindless puppet of the corporatists, we have little chance of progressing in any direction, be it health-care, the environment, outsourcing of American jobs, etc. It's unbelievable..... I played 'Sicko' for my mother. She was nearly crying at several points in the documentary, and was furious that we've been lied to and manipulated for so long. And yet, little more than a year later, she's back to parroting the Hannity/Limbaugh/O'Reilly line against single payer health care.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

58. The difference between us and the residents of the former Soviet Union

is that they KNEW they were being propagandized.

We're heard about our "free press" ever since we were in grade school, so we don't wonder why almost everything we see in the mass media ranges from center right to fascist right and that you have to actively seek out left-of-center media, or you won't find them.

Where do you find left-wing media in the Twin Cities? Oh, there's a community radio station, and one of our public access stations shows Democracy Now. Then we have Now and Bill Moyers on Friday nights. Even on PBS, almost everything is either political neutral or centrist.

No wonder people are uninformed.

As far as Michael Moore is concerned, the right wing have to demonize him because he is so clearly of a working class background. This completely belies their assertion that all left-of-center people are latte-sipping elitists who live in Berkeley. They don't want their mostly working class and lower middle class audience to know that one of their own is questioning the dominant paradigm.

[LaPera]

59. The idiot talk radio dittoheads repeat the lie they are told-that corporations do a better job than

Government.

Right, the corporations (insurance companies) are always ripping-off the consumers for more & more profits.....

Or in this case people who desperately need insurance but can't get insurance because they are sick and profit motive insurance corporations won't insure them or they just don't make enough or have enough money to afford the insurance companies rip-off policies.