"Healthcare for All" Film to Be Screened

The documentary film "Now Is the Time: Healthcare for All" will be screened at a Community Forum at the Conejo Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Newbury Park on Friday, June 30 at 7:30 p.m.

The film by Terry Sterrenberg and Laurie Simons is a follow-up to their 2011 self-funded documentary "The Healthcare Movie," narrated by Keifer Sutherland, which compared the divergent paths of the United States and Canada in providing healthcare to their citizens.

Both films make the case for a single-payer universal healthcare system. "Now Is the Time" explores what is happening at the national level and in states around the country to bring about a Medicare-type system that covers all Americans.

The documentary cites research showing that the tipping point for a grassroots movement to be successful is when 3.5 percent of the population is actively involved in promoting a particular solution. The filmmakers point to opinion polls indicating that 58 percent of Americans favor a single-payer health system -- a number that reflects sentiment and not action. Their film is aimed at informing and inspiring more people to join in advocacy.

Dr. Bill Honigman, an emergency room physician in Orange County who has been calling for a single-payer healthcare system in California, will lead a discussion after the screening. He is a Steering Committee member and Orange County coordinator of Campaign for a Healthy California, a coalition working toward guaranteed health care for all in the state.

The Community Forum at 3327 Old Conejo Road in Newbury Park is open to the public and free; donations are welcome. For information, visit cvuuf.org/community-forum or contact Dana Ryon through the church office at (805) 498-9548.