I feel disgusted after watching that. Not because of blood or anything like that, but because of the stories.  These were stories of US citizens.  

Some fun facts that I learned about the US health care system:
- People in insurance companies get bonuses for denying claims.  The more people you deny, the more you get.
- Hospitals dump patients out on the road if they can't pay their bills
- Hillary Clinton was the herald of universal health care, but is now paid by health insurance lobbists (she's the second highest in bought-off politicians).  I guess everyone has their price.
- Lobbyist have bought off many politicians, including PRESIDENT BUSH (more than $800,000)
- People who are insured by a certain health insurance company can be turned away by hospitals, even if they need immediate care.

Now here are some fun facts about foreign countries, that have universal health care:
Cuba/ "Those Dirty Commies"
- Has a pharmacy close to each block and has a nearby hospital.
- Some drugs that cost $125 in the US can cost as little as 3.25 pesos (about $.05).
France/ "Those Dirty Frenchies"
- You have unlimited sick days;  their productivity rates are higher than those of Americans.
- Doctors make house calls frequently, and the assistance is within the hour.
The United Kindom / Great Britian /  "Those Dirty Englishmen"
- You don't pay for prescriptions if you are under 16 or retired;  Those in between pay about 6-7 pounds for any medication.  That's about $10-14 in the US.
- Doctors in the UK live fairly well off (one such doctor in the UK lives in a half a million dollar home, and drives a very nice Audi)
- Doctors are paid more for curing their patients, as well as getting them to quit smoking, lowering their blood pressure, and lowering their cholesterol.
- National Health Insurance (NHS) was started in 1948, while they were still recovering from WWII. If you studied history, that's comparable to 9/11 happening 50 times over.
Canada/ "Those Canadians" ("dirty" is obviously implied  for us Americans)
- Many Americans are going to our northern neighbor to receive free health care . This is illegal however, because you need to be a Canadian citizen to do this.

With the exclusion of Cuba, all these countries just mentioned have a higher monetary value than the dollar.  In other words, their pound/Euro/dollar is worth more than our dollar.

Also, all of these countries, INCLUDING CUBA, have higher life expectancy rates than Americans.

So, what does that say about our health "care" system? It's that we're 37th in health care, just beating some Slavic country.

To those of you who say this "socialistic" idea is bad, what about our firemen? our policemen? our mailmen? our teachers?  If we all have the right to have someone to protect us, to deliver things to us, and to teach us, why can we have someone to heal us?
 
   

 


 
 
bandgeek24 on
Re: Just Watched SiCKO
I am also disturbed by how corrupt things are in our country.

Did you know that in France( I think thats were it was...Saw this on 60 minutes a few years ago), women are protected from possible job loss after pregnancy leave. I think they also have paid pregnancy leave, and it is like 3 months...And then they get to start back up right away at their old job...

What happened to the U.S.A. ?

I think we are too set on being independent from other countries...It is digging us a very deep hole.

 

FiveAcez on
Re: Just Watched SiCKO
Yeah Moore put something about pregnancies in that movie.

But it's not really being independent from other countries as it is reluctance to learning from them.
frogger on
Re: Just Watched SiCKO
A lot of Canadians, such as myself, appreciate Michael Moore's message, but think he was a bit off on his evalutation of our health care system.

For one, its done from province to province. You can pay different amounts in different provinces, need provincial medical cards etc. It's supposed to be a national thing, but its not.

For example, in Ontario our OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Plan) got a lot cut out of it last year. I'm talking chiropractors, certain dental fees, ambulance fees,

and much more all need to be paid for now. For me, my mom's insurance from work covers it all, but still... a good friend of ours is a chiropractor, and his business has just about died in the last year.

As well, waiting times can be ridicolous. Our doctors are paid for 7 minutes with a patient. SEVEN MINUTES. That's not enough time to even do most paperwork. So, a lot of our doctors are leaving. A lot of patients that can afford it are going to private practises because its just so much faster.

 

It could be a whole lot worse, but its definitely not as perfect as Michael Moore makes it out to be. And yes, we love our system to death. We feel it defines us.

 

As well, I'm studying in Britain now, and THAT was completely accurate! I was frieghtened that I didn't have to pay anything. And the hospitals and surgeries are so packed, but they are SO EFFICIENT. I don't understand it.

 The NHS has its problems as well, but it was shocking to me how good it is... and I've always dealt with universal health care. 

FiveAcez on
Re: Just Watched SiCKO
Yeah, I would prefer something like the NHS.  I mean, hey, a doctor gets paid more for keeping patients healthy.
shiny on
Re: Just Watched SiCKO
I just finished watching Sicko and had the same reaction as you did. There's a blog post brewing inside me -- but I just have to figure out where to focus.

-- S
FiveAcez on
Re: Just Watched SiCKO
Yeah, I was kinda jealous of countries like England and France (not Canada though where the quality is determined by the province).  So I was basically saying, "why can't we have that?"

 
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