SiCKO
June 19th, 2007I just finished watching Michael Moore’s new movie, SiCKO.
A lady in Utah once broke into conversation about the differences in superiority between the health care system in the United States and the one in Canada. It took me a moment to process her argument that the United States system was far superior because it allowed anyone to pay for any treatment they needed without delay.
I asked her, well isn’t it better that people in Canada who couldn’t afford health care in the States can go to a hospital and not be refused treatment? Her rebuttal, though with no apparent reason for saying so, was that, “no, the American system is much better.”
And now you can make your own decision as Michael Moore takes a look at health care around the world, and in the good ol’ US of A.
Hit play or watch SiCKO fullscreen at Google Video. The video is down, but you can still see it in theatres when it comes out June 29th.
Universal health care, just one more reason I’m glad to be a Canadian.
Oh and for you conspiracy theorists out there, check out what appears to be a secret handshake 38 minutes and 04 seconds into the movie.
June 21st, 2007 at 11:27 am
Damn, I wanna see it but I cant :D
June 21st, 2007 at 7:48 pm
I worked in the Medical Field for 5 years, and I would have people come in from Canada to take vacations in Southern California to get all of their medical procedures done because the waiting list was too long in Canada. Great system, eh?
/The US System is just as bad if not worse.
June 21st, 2007 at 9:36 pm
Matt,
I’ll be the first to admit that, if you have a lot of money then going down to California to skip the waiting in Canada is a very good idea.
In fact I have a friend who had serious neck problems and the wait time to have it operated on was over 6 months. He went down to the States and had it operated on the very next day.
So I would say, for Canadians, we have an ideal situation. Universal health care with some waiting for specialized procedures, but with the option to have the work done sooner in the States if you have the money.
What SiCKO illustrates though, is how in the States even people from middle class incomes that have insurance can have their finances wiped if they get unlucky enough to have an accident or illness.
June 22nd, 2007 at 8:33 am
I agree with you, Jeff.
I worked in the field for 5 years and I had to get out of it, because you feel immoral and dirty working with insurances. I took the job thinking I’d be helping people, but instead it felt more like I was raping them through their insurance. The company I worked for had to go out of business because we refused to be as ruthless as our competition when it came to billing our customers.
It’s a shame that medicine has come to this point.
June 23rd, 2007 at 2:43 pm
According to Stuart Browning’s youtube video, “Uninsured in America,” there are actually 8 million uninsured Americans. Not that it makes it right, but one has to admit that 8 million is a big difference compared to 46 million. Although, I believe everyone deserves healthcare what’s unfortunate is that Michael Moore is not providing the full story. Canadians also for instance should carry medical insurance, but we can also be excluded due to pre-existing medical conditions. Reality is such that much is not covered under the Canadian system and Moore should have presented this fact, because its an important issue when one needs an expensive medication for instance for cancer, etc and must either go without or fundraise to pay for their meds. Increasingly, this is happening more frequently in Canadian communities. While it is wonderful that we come together to help our fellow men, women, and children raise much needed funds to pay for their care the sad reality is that we do not have a truly universal healthcare system. As a result Canadians do sometimes suffer and even die prematurely. That is the sad reality that Michael Moore has not presented. One would have to be cold hearted to feel that anyone should be going without healthcare.
What irritates me as a Canadian who happens to be fighting for my life (and not being properly cared for in Canada.) is that Moore has not presented the full story. Yes, we do have babies and young children sent away from hospital with high fevers and I’ve seen this happen. One is very, very lucky to even get a bed at our local hospital due to the bed shortages. We do at least in my province need to pay for ambulances to get to hospital or for transfer to a nursing home. This may mean paying up to $600.00 to have a family member moved to a nursing home. Since not everyone has medical insurance some have paid the full amount out of pocket, etc.
June 23rd, 2007 at 5:53 pm
I agree Mary. I felt that he painted the Canadian Health care system in a very positive light and realized at the time, it’s not as great as he’s implying.
We may be ahead of the USA but I, for one, would not complain if they did more to improve our system. And by improve our system, I don’t mean that we should continue to privatize health care.
I also felt Moore did the same thing when it came to the “gun problem” in North America in Bowling for Columbine. He reported the number of gun deaths as whole numbers, not as a percentage of the population.
Shown as a percentage, the viewing audience would have come to realize Canadians and Americans are in the same boat with regard to gun deaths.
I like Michael Moore movies, but these little things make him untrustworthy.
July 2nd, 2007 at 12:35 am
moore is an anti american communist, who is a chronic liar out for money & power in any way shape or form
there, now you have the full story
does anyone ever stop to think, while the media has brainwashed just about everyone to sit around and sing “kum ba ya”, global warming is real, bush is evil, listen to madonna & streisand & the democrats will save you with socialism, just like lenin’s millions of silent followers
wow, talk about goin’ with the flow, the flow stopped rational objective thinking decades ago, this planet is in big trouble
keep it green & moldy, just like jim jones would