I know this is a movie, but it seemed far more suited to the politics forum than the entertainment forum, as I am certain it will turn into a political debate anyway.
OK, went out and saw Sicko with my parents last night. Sold out showing and I unfortunately ended up seated in front of a person who was rather... vocal about his opinions, but I still think it was worth my time.
Not sure about the cold hard facts (that will have to go through the usual fact-checking process for such things), but the movie at times had me seriously wondering if it was ethical to murder health insurance company executives. The stories about people dealing with health insurance ranged from comical (a woman's claim is denied because deep in her medical past she once had a yeast infection) to heartbreaking (little girl dies because the emergency room she is sent to is not in the insurance company's care network), and it would be impossible to defend the American health care system based on what is seen in this film.
A large portion of the film is taken up with his discussion of health insurance in other countries (Canada, France, the UK, and of course, Cuba). A former member of the UK parliment makes for a very compeling speaker as he comes out and tells us about the founding of the national health care system there after world war two. "If we could pull together as a country and kill Germans, then we could pull together as a country and provide medical care to people."
Moore repeatedly uses the same gimmick when visiting hospitals in other countries, talking to the patients and trying to find out how much they are paying for medical care. The expressions on some of their faces are priceless. Pure bafflement. Nevertheless, Moore soldiers on, trying to find out who is paying for all this (leading to a great moment at a UK hospital when he talks to the "Cashier").
The question of who pays for all this is glossed over a bit. He does mention in passing that people in these European countries pay taxes up the ying yang, and then he does show that they are still able to live their lives. It is only discussed for a few minutes. But if you just want to show that the American system is screwed up compared to other countries, this film does a good job of it.
The portion of the film that I wished could have been gone over in more detail was Moore talking to a bunch of American ex-pats who were living in France. They were all talking about how nice everything was there, how great the medical system was, and how convenient the doctor housecall system was. Doctor housecalls? Yup, Moore goes on what can only be described as a "ridealong" with a French doctor who does housecalls in a car complete with flashing lights. He is taking calls throughout and being sent around town like a cab driver, only he gets out and provides medical care when he gets where he is going.
The last sequence of the film is Moore's trip to Cuba. Moore finds out that various 9/11 first responders were not getting adequate medical care due to an inability to pay, but the terrorists residing at Gitmo were getting all of the medical care they needed from the US government. So he takes a bunch of 9/11 first responders, trundles them in a boat, and tries to get them into Gitmo for medical care. After the air raid siren goes off, Moore and friends decide that they are probably not going to get medical care there, so end up wandering the streets of Cuba looking for medical care. They ask for directions and are told that there are hospitals and pharmacies all over the palce. One woman breaks down when she finds out that the medication that eats up a good chunk of her disability check is available in Cuba for pennies.
All in all, it is an interesting film, and a pretty effective critique of the US health care system. A lot of big questions are not discussed in great detail, like the "who pays for all this?", but when you see people just walking into a European hospital and geeting medical care "for free", and an American talks about how he lost the tips of two fingers and the hospital gave him the option of repairing the middle finger for $60,000, or the ring finger for $12,000, you really say to yourself, WTF?
At the end of the film, my father looks over to me and says, "It may be propaganda, but I have to say the Michael Moore is getting better at it".
OK, went out and saw Sicko with my parents last night. Sold out showing and I unfortunately ended up seated in front of a person who was rather... vocal about his opinions, but I still think it was worth my time.
Not sure about the cold hard facts (that will have to go through the usual fact-checking process for such things), but the movie at times had me seriously wondering if it was ethical to murder health insurance company executives. The stories about people dealing with health insurance ranged from comical (a woman's claim is denied because deep in her medical past she once had a yeast infection) to heartbreaking (little girl dies because the emergency room she is sent to is not in the insurance company's care network), and it would be impossible to defend the American health care system based on what is seen in this film.
A large portion of the film is taken up with his discussion of health insurance in other countries (Canada, France, the UK, and of course, Cuba). A former member of the UK parliment makes for a very compeling speaker as he comes out and tells us about the founding of the national health care system there after world war two. "If we could pull together as a country and kill Germans, then we could pull together as a country and provide medical care to people."
Moore repeatedly uses the same gimmick when visiting hospitals in other countries, talking to the patients and trying to find out how much they are paying for medical care. The expressions on some of their faces are priceless. Pure bafflement. Nevertheless, Moore soldiers on, trying to find out who is paying for all this (leading to a great moment at a UK hospital when he talks to the "Cashier").
The question of who pays for all this is glossed over a bit. He does mention in passing that people in these European countries pay taxes up the ying yang, and then he does show that they are still able to live their lives. It is only discussed for a few minutes. But if you just want to show that the American system is screwed up compared to other countries, this film does a good job of it.
The portion of the film that I wished could have been gone over in more detail was Moore talking to a bunch of American ex-pats who were living in France. They were all talking about how nice everything was there, how great the medical system was, and how convenient the doctor housecall system was. Doctor housecalls? Yup, Moore goes on what can only be described as a "ridealong" with a French doctor who does housecalls in a car complete with flashing lights. He is taking calls throughout and being sent around town like a cab driver, only he gets out and provides medical care when he gets where he is going.
The last sequence of the film is Moore's trip to Cuba. Moore finds out that various 9/11 first responders were not getting adequate medical care due to an inability to pay, but the terrorists residing at Gitmo were getting all of the medical care they needed from the US government. So he takes a bunch of 9/11 first responders, trundles them in a boat, and tries to get them into Gitmo for medical care. After the air raid siren goes off, Moore and friends decide that they are probably not going to get medical care there, so end up wandering the streets of Cuba looking for medical care. They ask for directions and are told that there are hospitals and pharmacies all over the palce. One woman breaks down when she finds out that the medication that eats up a good chunk of her disability check is available in Cuba for pennies.
All in all, it is an interesting film, and a pretty effective critique of the US health care system. A lot of big questions are not discussed in great detail, like the "who pays for all this?", but when you see people just walking into a European hospital and geeting medical care "for free", and an American talks about how he lost the tips of two fingers and the hospital gave him the option of repairing the middle finger for $60,000, or the ring finger for $12,000, you really say to yourself, WTF?
At the end of the film, my father looks over to me and says, "It may be propaganda, but I have to say the Michael Moore is getting better at it".
