Moore's spat with CNN correspondent continues on Larry King Live
Michael Moore continued his public spat with CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta when both appeared on Larry King Live Tuesday night. Moore previously accused CNN of libeling him in a report on his new film.
Gupta praised Moore's new film, SiCKO, for raising awareness to the "unrefutable fact that ... our health system is broken," but he accused the filmmaker of "cherry picking" data cited in the report.
On his Web site this week, Moore posted a lengthy critique of a CNN report that accused him of fudging facts in his film. On Larry King's show, Moore reiterated those criticisms.
Moore's appearance Tuesday night followed a heated exchange Monday afternoon with CNN host Wolf Blitzer on the Situation Room that generated extensive discussion online.
A primary dispute between Moore and Gupta revolved over the effects of higher taxes in countries like France, Great Britain and Canada, which provide universal healthcare. Gupta accused Moore of falsely implying those systems were free, which he insisted they were because sick people in other industrialized nations don't have to worry about how to pay for healthcare.
"You won't find many Canadians, or French or British people willing to give up their national system for our system, even if they do have to pay a little bit more in taxes," Moore said. "Because in the end, because they're not paying the co-pays and the deductibles and all these other things it's actually costing them less money in the long run."
Moore said the problem in the US is that healthcare is a profit-based system in the US, whereas other countries are more concerned about making sure everyone is healthy.
Gupta said he didn't disagree with Moore's criticisms, and he called the US healthcare system "shameful." But he worried about handing over "one of our most precious commodities" to the government, and he cited projections that Medicare would be bankrupt within 12 years.
The government can be effective in administering programs in the public interest, Moore said, citing Social Security and the Apollo missions of the 1960s. But, he said, we can't afford to ensure citizens' healthcare "if we keep spending $100 billion a year on a war."
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