White House Announces Health Reform Video Challenge

Barack Obama and the Obama administration announced on Saturday America's Health Reform Video Challenge. The administration is seeking entries from the public to make an ad supporting health insurance reform.

There are plenty of folks out there capable of such stuff. After all, things like a young woman dying of swine flu because she didn't have health insurance, and a woman whose visit to the ER was not covered because a bleeding breast is not an emergency.

In reality, something like this could be a full-length movie, showing horror stories about insurance companies denying medical care, other countries with universal health care and how their lifespans are longer than ours, and insurance executives awash with money. Oh wait, it's been done already. It's "Sicko."

Don't expect a big prize: your only prize is that all or part of the winner's video may be used in a television advertisement associated with Sponsor's health reform campaign (approximate retail value: $0). Whoops.

This is what an email I received said:

This is your chance -- you ingenious, insightful, funny people out there -- to make a 30-second ad telling the story about why the status quo has got to go, or explaining how the Obama plan will ensure we get the secure, quality care we need without breaking the budget.

Here's what the site says you should focus on:

• Personal stories: It’s hard to get more powerful than sharing a personal story about how the broken status quo has affected you and the ones you love.

• The cost of inaction: There’s lots to cover about how spiraling costs are breaking the budgets of families, governments and businesses, and the high price we’ll all pay if we don’t act.

• The opponents of reform: It’s amazing the levels some will stoop in order to score political points or protect their profits. This is your chance to call them out.

Thirty seconds? Maybe Michael Moore should enter the trailer for "Sicko."