On Saturday afternoon I returned to the homestead to find Mike frustrated/depressed about how the United States of America’s health system is laid out. He had just finished watching Michael Moore’s new documentary – Sicko. Sicko takes a look at the American health care system as it exists now and compares it to others around the world.
In a nutshell, the American health system is not a form of universal health care. Unless you have insurance, you have to pay out of pocket for your health care (from what I can tell from the facts laid out to me…haven’t done a LOT of research on this topic.). However, there are private health insurance companies all over the place so as long as you have insurance, you should be fine.
However, this is where Michael Moore’s documentary begins its story. It takes a look at how the insurance companies are really out to make a buck and not help out people in need. They interview ex-employees and show how Directors were given bonuses and promotions depending on the number of high expense surgeries they denied. They took a look at how much money these insurance companies made in a year vs. how much the hospitals make.
There are examples of horror stories about how people go bankrupt because of medical bills. It’s not their fault they are sick! I wanted to punch one guy at the beginning of the film. He was complaining to his parents that he always had to help move them (they had currently moved into their daughter’s place) and that they were an inconvenience. Why were they a bother? Because they were both sick (cancer and whatnot) and had run out of money paying for the bills and had to move in with their daughter or various others. I tend to not curse people, but I hope this son of theirs gets a flesh-eating disease or something.
The first half of the film deals with how the health care system in the United States sucks. From what I know about it, there is an advantage to having private health care systems in the fact that they can afford to have the best equipment and the shortest wait times and the best care you can ever have. IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT. There was an example of one guy who cut off the tips of his fingers on a table saw and he had the choice of reattaching the tip of his ring finger for $12,000 or the tip of his middle finger for $60,000. I had a good laugh when they told this to some Canadian and the guy did a double take at the concept of having to choose between his fingers.
There a slew of examples that paint the picture of how the system kind of sucks for the common folk. The second half of the film has Michael Moore traveling the world to see if there is anything better out there. In the United States, there has been an outcry AGAINST socialized/universal health care, where the GOVERNMENT can make a decision as to what doctor helps you or what mediocre equipment you have at your service. So he wanted to check out what was the big deal with universal health care…
He first goes to Canada (which I always love in a Michael Moore film) and finds out that it isn’t so bad after all. Chances are, the majority of my readers are Canadian so I don’t have to explain anything here.
He then goes to London, England and Paris, France. This was the most interesting part of the film for me as I had no idea some of the systems they had over there.
For example, France (and maybe England? I forget) have doctors who perform house calls. There was this amazing story of how in Paris there was a guy who had a pipe burst in his house and he called the 24-hour plumber. He then thought “If I can get a plumber at 5 in the morning, why can’t I get a doctor?”. So he began SOS Medecins which have doctors running around the city helping out people in their homes. They hop in their car, check with dispatch as to where to run off to next and continue all night long. Brilliant!
They also talked about how new mothers get a government employee to come by twice a week to help with anything they need – laundry, making meals, cleaning, etc. The government realizes that being a new mother may be a little hard.
So then Michael Moore returns to the States, has a reflective moment as to why their health system sucks and all is good in the world. Well not really, but there is this hilarious scene where he brings some needy folk to Cuba (of all places) for some medical help.
What did I think of the film?
Content: I thought the information presented was interesting. I personally enjoyed seeing how other countries health care systems were set up and the reasons for it.
Style: Oh, Michael Moore. Some people hate you, but I love his sarcasm. It’s chock full of commentary from him which is hilarious. Plus, you can’t go wrong at the end of the film when he heads to Cuba (of all places) with rescue workers from the World Trade Center bombings. LOVE IT! While some people denounce how he presents his information (hello bias!), I also feel that it’s important to make people aware of issues surrounding them and not have it hidden from their eyes. I am sure that an entire film could be made to denounce every one of his claims within the film but that isn’t the point. The point is that he gets his point home and that point is that the United States health care system could take a little work.
Emotion: While Mike was frustrated at how a country could treat their people that way (at one point he proclaimed that he would never support their economy and shop there ever again, but then retracted that thought a few hours later), I can say that I was saddened to see that the United States of America’s citizens have it bad when it comes to health care and I never thought about it much until now. I will never take our universal health care for granted again. If you see me complaining about waiting 12 months for an operation, let me watch that film again.
So that’s that. I would recommend this film but if you are an avid hater of anything Michael Moore produces, then pass on it. But if you’re not, take a look at it, if not to realize that we live in a pretty swell country. However, I think I want to move to France now!
