Alachua County Labor Coalition Screens Documentary “Fix It: Healthcare at the Tipping Point,” Making a Business Case for Single-Payer Healthcare
When: Tuesday February 9 at 7 p.m.
Where: Civic Media Center, 433 S. Main Street, Gainesville
$3-5 suggested donation
On Tues, Feb. 9th at 7pm, the Alachua County Labor Coalition will screen “Fix It,” a documentary advocating for a single-payer or “Medicare for All” healthcare system such as the one proposed by Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. However this documentary is not produced by a left-leaning progressive, but by a businessman. Richard Master, CEO of MCS industries, a Pennsylvania manufacturer of picture frames and mirrors who was shocked to discover how much of the $1,500,000 his company spends on healthcare access for its employees and dependents does not go to their healthcare. About a third of the total goes to administrative expenses like insurance companies’ costs for staff, sales, advertising and shareholders. Doctors and hospitals also need to employ additional people simply to deal with the variety of insurance plans.
Richard Master produced this film, which took two years to make, to explain how a single-payer system like Medicare would benefit businesses, employees and the rest of us. Because it is simpler and less bureaucratic it would cost less. Everyone would be fully covered with no co-pays or deductibles. It would be financed by an increase in taxation which would be more than compensated by the elimination of premiums.
The film contains easily understandable numbers and graphics and interviews with academics, doctors, nurses, business people, patients, Canadian conservatives, and Wendell Potter, the insurance executive turned whistleblower. The event is free and open to the public, though small donations ($3-5) to help cover the Civic Media Center’s expenses would be appreciated.