# 1 in the World!

Michael Moore has been effective in championing and conveying the voices of vulnerable populations through his books and films. Moore is zealous and critical of the short comings of the United States and he has every right to be so. However, he tends be somewhat biased and far to the left that one has to take caution when believing everything that he says to be the “total truth” without examining the other aspects of the issues. Moore essentially, only shows the great aspects of France’s healthcare system and compares them to the bad aspects of the United States’ healthcare system. However, he is accurate when showing that people are better under the “nationalistic” healthcare system in France, because statistics prove that they have better health outcomes overall. He also does a good job of pointing out that even though the French diet is not the best diet (cheese and whine, etc.) people in France are healthier than those in the United States. This is a testament to the effectiveness of their healthcare system. My only gripe is that Moore fails to show the shortcomings of the French healthcare systems and not only France, but all of the other countries he visited (I don’t even recall hearing one major problem). This should alert a non-biased individual that something in the vicinity is smelly, a rat.

I do think that it is pretty obvious France can offer a valuable lesson for reformers in the US. When the World Health Organization ranks France number one for its healthcare system, I guess their soccer team isn’t the only great thing to come out of France, then that means they must be doing something right, right? If there was any country that the US could duplicate for its healthcare system, I think France would be a good model. The French have been able to achieve a universal system while still having strong private components. I think this balance is key and ideal because it would satisfy both pundits on either side of the issue in the United States. The only problem would be to get the majority of people in the US to believe in and be willing to sacrifice an increase in their taxes for the greater cause of universal healthcare. France is able to have universal health care, while still having relatively short waiting lists. France also has the highest level of satisfaction with their health care among all European countries. I think if the US adopted a system similar to France, the outcomes would outweigh the costs enough for the US citizens to be satisfied with the universal system if they would only just give it a try.

http://healthcare-economist.com/2008/04/14/health-care-around-the-world-france/