To present one viewpoint on the nation’s health care reform debate, the West Virginia University Young Democrats will show the movie “Sicko” in the Mountainlair’s Gluck Theatre on Monday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m.

After the movie, attendees can come up to a “soapbox” onstage and express their own opinion on the country’s health care system.

Educational fliers and materials will be available at the event and at a booth in front of the Mountainlair the same day from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The 2007 movie was a project of Academy Award winning filmmaker Michael Moore.

“Sicko” looks at the lives of everyday citizens who have had negative experiences with America’s health care system, and also at how other countries’ different health care systems work.

“We want to inform students about how the current health care system fails, and this movie tells personal stories about those who are affected,” said Nora Browning, chair of the event planning committee of the WVU Young Democrats.

President of the club, Erin Beck, added “Then, students with differing opinions can get on the ‘soapbox’ and express their views and personal experiences, hopefully causing the others to think and maybe reconsider their own.”

Young people account for 30 percent of the uninsured population, according to a report by the Commonwealth Fund, a health policy research foundation.

According to the US Census Bureau, 249,400 residents of West Virginia currently do not have health insurance.

-WVU-

eb/09/15/09

CONTACT: Erin Beck,WVU Young Democrats
304-916-2325, erin.beck@mail.wvu.edu