Controversial film director Michael Moore, whose film Fahrenheit 9/11 entered the Election 2004 dialogue, is working on a new movie taking on the U.S. health care system. Moore’s new film reportedly attempts to show that Cuba’s system of socialized medicine is better than the health care system offered in the U.S.A.

That theme will be a tough sell according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Just 10% of American adults believe that Cuba offers better health care than the United States. Sixty percent (60%) take the opposite view and believe the U.S. system is superior. That perception cuts across all age, income, and other demographic segments of society.

While Americans believe that health care in the U.S. is better than in Cuba, the U.S. system gets only middling reviews--just 33% of adults give it good or excellent ratings, 31% say fair, and 34% say poor. Forty-one percent (41%) of Democrats say the U.S. system is poor along with 20% of Republicans. An earlier survey found that 66% consider the nation’s health insurance problems very serious but just 33% favor a single-payer national health insurance system as the solution. Another survey found that most Americans believe quality health care is more important than lower health care costs. While only a small number of American adults believe that Cuba offers better health care, Moore has already proven that he can achieve commercial success with a message embraced passionately by a minority of the population. Moore’s 2004 film offered the Director’s scathing perspective of the Bush Administration’s response to the tragedy of September 11, 2001. Initially, it was embraced by many Democratic Party leaders and some believed it would have a significant impact on Bush’s re-election campaign. However, Rasmussen Reports surveys found that Fahrenheit 9/11 was viewed largely by those who already believed its message. If it had an impact on the election, it was to energize the already committed rather than sway the undecided.

In 2004 Moore was viewed favorably by 23% of American voters and unfavorably by 42%. Those figures are below ratings of another filmmaker, Mel Gibson, whose film The Passion of Christ, was also released in 2004 and was part of the election season discussion.

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