"End of Patient's Rights - The Human Consequences of Government-Run Health Care" will debut on the History Channel, A&E Network and ION beginning Tomorrow, May 27th and Following Meet The Press In Washington, D.C. On Sunday May 31st
Conservatives for Patients' Rights is taking the health care debate over the Congressional recess to the family rooms of America with a moving and hard hitting thirty minute documentary examining the experiences of real people in the United Kingdom and Canada who are forced to fight against their own government to get necessary medical care.
The documentary, produced by award-winning former CNN Anchor Gene Randall for CPR, will air nationally on the A&E Network and the History Channel, each with a reach of 95 million American households, and the ION Network, with a reach of 94 million homes, beginning with a debut on May 27th. Ads using excerpts from the film will continue to air nationally on CNN and Fox News Channel as part of a $1 million+ ad campaign. In addition, a special showing will air in Washington, D.C. on NBC's WRC-TV following Meet the Press on Sunday, May 31st.
"As Congress looks for solutions inside the Washington Beltway, we plan to go straight to the family rooms of America to let people see the very real consequences of letting the government take over their health care decisions," said Rick Scott, chairman of Conservatives for Patients' Rights. "This documentary will educate people on what 'government-run health care' really means: stalling, waiting lists and rationing and withholding care because of red tape, politics, and bureaucratic foot-dragging."
The documentary follows Randall and Scott as they travel across the Atlantic to talk with cancer patients forced to suffer the indignity of having a price tag placed on their lives courtesy of bureaucrats in the National Health Service, and the doctors and advocates who fight to save these patients' lives.
Both also travel north to Canada, where they find patients who are forced to wait for simple procedures, some lifesaving, others just plain frustrating. These include a man with a serious heart problem who faced a wait of more than eighteen months for an appointment with a cardiologist. He finally grew so frustrated that he travelled to Oklahoma to save his own life. And viewers will see the story of a high school sophomore with a simple but painful knee injury that the Canadian government could not fix in time for his senior soccer season two years later.
"Many in Washington either dismiss or ignore the warnings out of Britain and Canada by saying they are working toward a 'uniquely American solution.' But our right to choose our own doctor and make our own medical decisions is too precious to leave unguarded in Washington. We'll continue sounding the alarm bell and won't rest until we're sure the freedoms and rights of patients' are protected." Scott said.
In addition to the national cable TV broadcasts and ad campaign, CPR has undertaken a vigorous grassroots effort that will, among other things, distribute DVD's of the film to a coalition of key conservative groups. That effort will be bolstered by an email campaign that will send 1.7 million email messages to conservative activists directing them to watch the documentary and recommend it to friends and family.
The opinions expressed in the documentary in no way suggest anyone who was interviewed is a proponent of the current American system, rather, they spoke to serious problems patients face when governments lose track of what is important: patient care. The proponents of change in both the U.K. and Canada want the choice and competition not available to patients and doctors trapped in government controlled healthcare systems.
WRC-TV/NBC/Channel 4/DC:
- Sunday, May 31, 11:30 a.m. to 12 noon.
ION TV Network (formerly PAX TV):
- Wednesday, May 27, 5:30 a.m. to 6 a.m.
- Thursday, May 28, 12:30 a.m. to 1 a.m.
A & E Cable Network:
- Monday, June 1, 5 a.m. to 5:30 a.m.
History Channel Cable Network:
- Wednesday, June 3, 6:30 a.m. to 7 a.m.