healthcare industry

I am an avid Michael Moore fan because he gets to the nitty gritty of things and tells it like it is! The subjects he chooses, I feel, need to be addressed and brought out into the open. Unfortunately, I will have to wait to view until it comes out on DVD or travel 100 miles to see it...our theater in this little town has a reputation of not showing any movies that are controversial or avant guard.

Here is a link to facts used in the film and their resources. Perhaps it will help to ease your mind on whether the movie was staged or not...

http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/checkup/

I would like to suggest that you watch his other films such as...Roger and Me (his first), Bowling Columbine, Farenheit 9/11 (one of Oregon's own State Troopers, Andy Kenyon, was one of the interviewee's in this film).

Healthcare, in my opinion, is at an outrageously dangerous point in history...I don't know where the ethics have gone...oh wait a minute...I do...they got lost in the almighty dollar...where money has become more important than human beings. I have personal experience with some horror stories right here in my own town. Mis-diagnosis resulting in death...my own son's prescriptions costing almost $2000 a month! It is simply an outrage!

There are plenty of problems with the Canadian health care system that Michael Moore didn't focus on, however most Canadians highly value our universal access to medical treatment and are prepared to pay the high taxes that go along with it. Accident or illness could happen to any of us, so we're prepared to share the cost.

We have an aging population (like the U.S. does), and we are worried about how we're going to be able to continue to fund the system as more people need to make use of it, but most of us are adamant that we don't want to find ourself in a situation like in the U.S. where companies are profiting from denying coverage.

There is a great deal of mis information in this movie, Michael Moore is famouse for this type of thing. Personaly too, i think he should be tried for his little excursion to cuba, he did in fact break the law. Also, what he doesn't tell you and not a lot of people know, it is ILEGAL for a hospital in this country to deny treatment on the basis of ability to pay or not. Another thing he fails to mention is that medicaid is availble to a great number of people who NEVER apply for it, leaving themselvs and their kids not covered and giving the apearence that this country denies medical treatment to a great many. In addition to this federal program, many hospitals have programs and funds available for people who can not pay for their treatment. Most people never seek these out or ask about them so they go uncovered.I have never been refused treatment for anything. The worst case scenario I have ever encountered is being taken to court to collect on an unpaid hospital bill, you know what came out of it? I paid 5 dollars a month on it and eventualy the hospital wrote the rest off and I STILL get treated with out question.
As for the wonderful medical center that Mr Moore brings the 9/11 workers to, you can be CERTAIN that this is not the typical thing an average cuban sees when they seek treatment. Why is it that thousands die every year trying to reach our shores? if the system there is so wonderful, then why do people come here? As for our system, I hear a great deal of outcry for a national healthcare system, a socialized medical system run by the government. Tell me something, do you REALLY want to trust your health and the health of your children to the GOVERNMENT? OUR GOVERNMENT? Look at everything else they get their hands on, you see how well they handle things as it is. Do you want the tax rates people pay in europe and canada? do you really want to put on a waiting list for treatment for something? Only to find that when you get the treatment it isn't what it used to be because healthcare has been rationed and the system is so bloated and expensive to run that the money to keep the technology up just isn't there any more? The simple fact is our healthcare is of the best quality in the world because the government is not involved. it may be the most expensive but Ive said time and time again, you get what you pay for. In many national healthcare systems around the world, did you know it is ILEGAL for you to pay a doctor out of your own pocket for treatment if you can afford to and choose do so? Is this REALLY what you want in this country? Please people, THINK. REALLY REALLY think about the consequenses and not just the hype and catch phrases and cliche's you see in a movie or in the national and international news. This movie is pure garbage just like the rest or Mr Moores MOCKumentaries. If he dislikes things in this country so badly and thinks places like cuba are so wonderful, then he should justleave the country and move there. I'll even buy his ticket for him. Leave our healthcare system private!!!!!!

While I can't say that Moore doesn't tilt his perspective a bit, it is true that in Canada, France, England and a lot of other countries, healthcare is provided socially. This means that all health care is provided at the cost of the government in the form of taxes on the people. I have to say, as one of the many uninsured Americans, that I would be perfectly happy to pay more taxes if I never had to worry about health care costs. I am epileptic and the last time I had to go to the ER while I was having a seizure, it cost me well over $4000. What I found to be especially gripping in the movie was the part where the man had to choose which finger he could afford to have reattached. No one should ever have to make a choice like that, especially not in one of the richest nations in the world.