Michael Moore on Leno

When I can't sleep, which is a frequent occurrence, I watch Leno. I find him mildly amusing and definitely better than anyone else out there.

Last night he had Michael Moore as a guest for the second time in a month. I'm not sure whether or not to like him, mostly I don't. I certainly take exception to a lot he has to say.

Let's start with the obvious one, Canadians have free health care. That's got to be the biggest lie going, you see there is nothing free. Someone pays and in Canada it's the taxpayer. We pay lots and lots of money to finance the "free health care" he speaks about. The only people who don't have to pay are people in a lower tax bracket and even they are now paying the new Ontario Health Tax, which was a tax put in place four years ago when Ontario elected a new Liberal government.

He takes licence with the truth, anything to make a buck. When he is so dishonest about this it makes me wonder what else in his movie is fiction. We can buy private insurance but only for things like drugs, dental and a semi private bed in hospital If you've ever had the slightest thing wrong with you though, such as arthritis and fybromyalgia, you can forget it. You won't get coverage.

Let me tell you what our "universal health care system" doesn't cover. It doesn't cover Chiropractic, Physiotherapy, Psychiatry, drugs, dental and a lot of surgery deemed cosmetic even if necessary. Eye exams can be had every two years which for an elderly person could be devastating. For routine surgery such as gallbladder or hysterectomies unless it's an emergency and you present yourself to ER half dead, you will go on a waiting list. Pacemakers, cataract surgery, hips and knees, the wait can be up to two years. There are people who have had cancer surgery and then have to wait unreasonable amounts of time for Chemo or Radiation. Some people are discharged from hospital with prescriptions for drugs costing thousands of dollars monthly.

I am not suggesting that the system in the U.S. is better, what I am saying is, tell the truth and don't sugar coat it to suit your film.

I find it sad that 47 million U.S. citizens do not have health coverage, but how many of these are young people who simply don't want to pay for it and would rather use the money to buy a car? I know from some of the bloggers I have met that some actually choose not to have insurance. Seems weird to me but it's their choice. Are these people counted in that figure?

When things are "free" they aren't always the best and I have had a lot of experience with the system recently. This "free" system isn't all it's cracked up to be. When you are elderly you are not treated well, I guess they figure maybe it's time for you to die anyway, why waste money. Case in point, I fought three weeks to get my mother a pacemaker, three blinking weeks! In the end, it was too late. Life support was discouraged, wouldn't want to take scarce health care dollars away from someone younger, ie. more deserving of life. Would it have made a difference if she had been in a different country, different hospital? I don't know, truthfully, but I'll always wonder.

The other country he likes to talk about is Cuba. I have been to Cuba and have actually experienced the medical system there. The doctors are great no question about that but most Cubans would trade their free medical care for freedom any day.

Memo to Michael Moore, nothing is free...