Did you know that health care in the United States ranks No. 37 in terms of effectiveness among developed countries? Did you know that the list of conditions that aren’t covered under our health care system is longer than Pacman Jones’s rap sheet? Did you know that HMOs reward their employees for essentially writing death sentences for their “clients”?
I bet documentary filmmaker Michael Moore didn’t know all these things – and hundreds of others – about the flaws and evils of our health-care system before he began investigating. I bet he’d even admit that his new film, “Sicko,” was the easiest he’s ever made. This movie basically wrote itself after Moore solicited health care horror stories on his Web site on a whim – and wound up seeing more than 25,000 e-mails hit his In-Box in no time at all. Moore grabbed his camera and set out to interview these people, and he followed the story wherever it took him.
Somewhat surprisingly, the tale took him to Canada, England, France and even Cuba. These countries have implemented socialized health care based on the premise of “pay according to your means, receive treatment according to your needs.” Over Moore’s journey of thousands of miles, he was able to put the spotlight on why the U.S.’s health-care system is so fundamentally flawed that the HMOs rake in the money by screwing over as many other customers as possible. Can you imagine any other company in our nation that would succeed using this premise? Neither could Moore. That’s why this film might be the most important he’s ever made – which is quite a feat in itself considering "Fahrenheit 911" played a huge role in changing the way many people view our current administration.
The contrast between the systems that are in place in forward-thinking countries and the one we endure here is incredibly stark. In Europe, physicians are incentivized to actually treat and heal patients; in America, physicians are incentivized to deny treatment. Pharmaceuticals are free across the pond, while drug companies in the U.S. see their bottom lines skyrocket by prescribing unnecessary, insanely overpriced medications and avoiding scenarios where the patient actually knows and understands what he or she is taking. The approach taken by our country and those in Europe and elsewhere is completely and absolutely backwards.
Moore personalizes the story by focusing on a cross-section of people whose lives have been destroyed by HMOs and our culture of greed. He finds 9/11 rescue workers who were subjected to a collection of respiratory illnesses, rightly identified as heroes in the aftermath – and later abandoned by the government and HMOs, to suffer in silence. Since our government is largely in bed with the mind-boggling amount of health care lobbyists that deluge Capitol Hill and buy off our representatives, the impetus for change has no foundation. Hopefully, films like Moore’s and better media attention will help provide the momentum for reform.
“Sicko” ends with a look at a new practice that involves hospitals putting patients without adequate coverage in taxis in the middle of the night and having them dumped on curbs in other parts of cities. Incredulously, Moore asks us to ask ourselves who we are and who have we become. Are we really part of a nation that stands by and watches as fellow countrymen who need our help are literally tossed out like trash? Che Guevera’s daughter is a physician in Cuba, and she asks Moore why America is the richest nation in the word, yet has one of the worst health care systems possible? Why do Third World countries enjoy longer, healthier lives than Americans? Why is health care free in nations without the resources we have? Shouldn’t the more a country produces naturally lead to the better it treats its citizens?
Critics will try to say that “Sicko” is long on emotion and short on facts, but it’s the same argument they used to try to limit the impact of “Fahrenheit,” to their own embarrassment and shame. Check out “Sicko” … and you’ll start wondering if you wouldn’t be better off wearing a beret and ending all your sentences in “eh.”
No comments:
Post a Comment