I just watched Sicko

[kevinnjaime]

What I think is so funny is that everyone is willing to talk bad about a movie that they have not even seen.  I recomend is that you go see the movie for yourself and then make a determination about the movie and make comments.

[jathib]

If you've seen one Michael Moore movie you've seen them all. I've seen a couple. He has his own agenda and is very one-sided. All one has to do is read the reviews on 'Sicko' to know it's more of the same. This is a guy that talks about evil rich people while he lives in a penthouse in Manhattan. You can bet he'll have private insurance if they ever invoke a national health care system here. He's not only one-sided but proven to be a hypocrite over and over.

[kevinnjaime]

See the problem with bashing a movie that you have not seen is that one Michael Moore movie is not the same as all of them.  The movie explains and also has a former employee of an insurance company that stated that they would get paid more in a bonus if they declined more surgeries than any other employee.  She also explained that some of the employees have declined an operation that ended killing a person.  I'm sorry but in a nation that is as wealthy as the United States there should be health care for every man, woman and child in this country.  There is no reason why there isn't.  Everyone deserves to live there life as long as possible or as long as they want.  The movie also describes about three individuals that assissted in 9-11 and are now having issues with their respiratory system and are unable to work and have since lost their health coverage.  Now I ask is that fair?

[soozles]

Nobody is denying the need for health care reform in the US. The problem with Moore's documentary is that he shows one other health care system and declares it the be all end all of health care. He never mentions the negatives associated with socialist medicine. Yes, people may get denied for a surgery and later end up passing away, but what about all the people who die while on the waiting list for surgery, or those who's condition worsens while they are waiting and end up requirng a much more complicated surgery.

And Michael Moore only ever shows the exceptions. He'll show a doctor from Canada driving around in a BMW and say "See, all you doctors can still drive your fancy cars adn have your fancy house." The thing is, in the US, with the insurance companies giving less money for procedures, the rising cost of medical tuition, and the rising cost of malpractice insurance, the truth is the doctors are not making as much as they used to. Heck, ym med school tuition is $38,000 and goes up every year. In the third year, when you're in school for 11 months, I think it's around $43,000. And that doesn't include living expenses, so rent, food, car insurance, utilities, etc. is all payed by loans. I figure when I graduate and finish residency (during which you're getting less than minimum wage) it will take between 10-15 years to pay back all my loans, and then can I finally start saving some money.

Also, I don't know if this was mentioned here, but I believe the US actually contributes the most to research and development. Even though the current government does not support stem cell research (which they definitly should because so many lives could be saved) they do still give more money to other research efforts. And who does this researc benefit? Everyone, the technology and medications are made available to all those nations. And I believe that if the US went to a more socialist tyepe of medicine, research and development would be greatly hindered because all the money will be going to supplying medical insurance to everyone, and there would be none left for the development of new drugs and such. So you're basically stuck between a rock and a hard place. Years ago, many cancers were a death sentence. Now, with new developments, it can be detected sooner and be treated in a much more effective way. How can you get to that point if you don't have money backing it up?

[jathib]

See the problem with bashing a movie that you have not seen is that one Michael Moore movie is not the same as all of them.  The movie explains and also has a former employee of an insurance company that stated that they would get paid more in a bonus if they declined more surgeries than any other employee.  She also explained that some of the employees have declined an operation that ended killing a person.  I'm sorry but in a nation that is as wealthy as the United States there should be health care for every man, woman and child in this country.  There is no reason why there isn't.  Everyone deserves to live there life as long as possible or as long as they want.  The movie also describes about three individuals that assissted in 9-11 and are now having issues with their respiratory system and are unable to work and have since lost their health coverage.  Now I ask is that fair?

The biggest problem with health care is insurance companies, period. Doctors should be deciding what their patients need, not people in insurance companies. Insurance companies make huge profits. Another problem is people refusing to pay anything for their own health care. Not one dime.  Nobody is denied health care in this country, nobody. Some people don't have insurance so they might have to pay out of pocket, but they can still get health care. People have no problem paying $100 for shoes or spending a couple hundred on booze and cigarettes but ask them to pay for a doctor visit and all hell breaks loose. Where do you think the USA will get the money to pay for this health care? It will come out of our paychecks. And that means hard working people are going to have to pay insurance for people that spend all their money on booze, drugs  and cigarettes.  Is that fair?

No thanks. I already have more than 50% of my pay taken out of my paycheck for my own insurance, disability, dental insurance and a lot of other stuff. I surely don't want to pay for someone else's bad habits. For what it's worth, my friend in the UK had to wait two months for double heart bypass surgery. Two months! He could have dropped dead at any time. My mother waited one day.

[shortyclairebear]

two months for surgery in the u.k is actually quite good!!

[Berta]

The biggest problem with health care is insurance companies, period. Doctors should be deciding what their patients need, not people in insurance companies. Insurance companies make huge profits. Another problem is people refusing to pay anything for their own health care. Not one dime. Nobody is denied health care in this country, nobody. Some people don't have insurance so they might have to pay out of pocket, but they can still get health care. People have no problem paying $100 for shoes or spending a couple hundred on booze and cigarettes but ask them to pay for a doctor visit and all hell breaks loose. Where do you think the USA will get the money to pay for this health care? It will come out of our paychecks. And that means hard working people are going to have to pay insurance for people that spend all their money on booze, drugs and cigarettes. Is that fair?

No thanks. I already have more than 50% of my pay taken out of my paycheck for my own insurance, disability, dental insurance and a lot of other stuff. I surely don't want to pay for someone else's bad habits. For what it's worth, my friend in the UK had to wait two months for double heart bypass surgery. Two months! He could have dropped dead at any time. My mother waited one day.

The argument about paying for other peoples bad habits is an interesting one, in the UK the tax on booze, cigarettes and some foods is actually a net contributor to the NHS. It has been argued that if all the smokers quit, the NHS would be worse off not better off.

This also raises all sorts of other issues about those who are healthy, no bad habits, apart from rock climbing or horse riding, should the public money go to supporting these habits. There is no good answer to this, but I for me a two tier system has a lot of advantages. If there is free, at point of delivery, health care for all, but you can opt to pay for either private health care, or private insurance on top of that then the system has a better chance of working.