Michael Moore’s impassioned plea on UK healthcare reforms

"All I can do is really beg you not to go this route" Michael Moore

Michael Moore, whose film Sicko highlighted the inefficiencies and unfairness in private healthcare, has warned that the changes are ‘absolutely the last thing you would want to do'.

In a passionate six minute tribute, he sounds warning bells over allowing private companies to dominate healthcare, as they are legally bound to generate the biggest possible profit for their shareholders. They only way then can do this is to provide less care, and what care they do provide, to do it as cheaply as possible.

"Abolishing slavery you were ahead of us. Giving women the vote, you were ahead of us - you've always been ahead of the curve here. Why would you want to fall behind the curve and follow a very broken, rotten, inhumane system makes absolutely no sense to me." 

He also warns that the wider social costs of healthcare reforms will be huge, pointing out that the biggest cause of bankruptcy and homelessness in the US is healthcare bills. In his video of support, Michael Moore, says:

“Speaking as an American to you, and in terms of what I have witnessed, as someone who has experience of this private system that we have, this (privatisation) is the absolute last thing that you want to do.

“You can watch my film and see so many examples of what happens when you let the private companies rule the system. They have a responsibility to their shareholders, in fact they legally are required to do everything they can to make as much money as possible for their shareholders, and if they don’t they can be brought up on charges. The whole system is set up to motivate them to everyday to say; how can we make more money off the sick?

“The best way to make more money off the sick is to provide them with as little care as possible; because care costs money. The way we (private companies) get to keep our money and send them out as profits to our shareholders is to provide very little care, and what care we give, make sure we spend as little on it as possible.”

“You will rue the day that you let this happen. We have so many problems; a broken, rotten inhumane system. If you keep growing the gap between the rich and the poor in your country, you are going to end up with more of the social problems like we have, that you don’t have to the same extent. So if you don’t like the current crime rate in the UK, just wait till you have enough people bankrupted and broken because of healthcare bills.

“All I can do is really beg you. Keep the good system that you have. Make it better.”