Sicko

This weekend I rented the movie Sicko and watched it with my parents. I'm sure everyone has heard of it, but just in case, here is an overview. Michael Moore, a very controversial documentarist, researches America's healthcare system. He travels the globe in search of countries with better healthcare systems, and tries to persuade the viewers that universal healthcare is the best option for America. I know Michael Moore can be manipulative sometimes, but after watching this movie, I agree that America should switch to universal healthcare.

People are afraid to lose or leave their jobs because they would lose health insurance. "THE GREATEST source of insecurity for many Americans is the soaring cost of
healthcare. Leaving jobs can mean losing health insurance, and even when
insurance is offered, many workers turn it down because they can't afford their
growing share of the premiums." Boston Globe January 29, 2007

Also we are not helping sick people. Insurance companies benefit from not giving people medicine. From the movie, in England, doctors get paid more the healthier their patients are. This system is the opposite we have in America. "Insurance is not the same thing as healthcare - not by a long shot. Private insurers maximize profits mainly by limiting benefits or by not covering people with health problems. The United States is the only advanced country in the world with a healthcare system based on avoiding sick people." Boston Globe January 29, 2007

Insurance companies are currently abusing their power to a point of insanity. People are denied proven life saving procedures because the company does not want to pay."We hear from the mother of an 18-month-old baby who, denied emergency room access, died of a seizure. We see the widow of a man who, denied coverage for a medical procedure, died of kidney cancer. The parents of a deaf child are told that insurance will only pay for a cochlear implant in one ear, since a double implant is deemed 'experimental.'" Christian Science Monitor June 29, 2007

The government is able to handle universal healthcare. They already handle Medicare, which for the most part works very smoothly. "Medicare is not perfect, but its problems are readily fixed. It is far more efficient than private insurance, with overhead of less than 4 percent, and since it is administered by a single public agency, controlling costs would be possible. Unlike private insurers, it cannot select whom to cover or deny care to those who need it most." Boston Globe January 29, 2007

If we look at ourselves logically, and we look at our conscience, we can see that something has to be done. We are a huge world power, yet our healthcare ranks just above Slovenia's! We need to step up and stop letting huge corporations decide who gets to live and gets to die. 18,000 Americans a year die because they have no health insurance. These barbaric numbers can be changed if we just follow in the footsteps of other countries like France, Norway, England, Canada and even Cuba.