MOVIE: Sicko

[This entry is WAAY ATF.]


Sicko tackles the issue of the American health care system, comparing its practices and philosophy with those of countries that offer universal health care, such as Canada, France, United Kingdom, and even Cuba.

The documentary was very interesting and much more engaging than I thought it would be.

For me, the biggest difference was the portrayal of the US having a strong business mentality and the countries having more of a "we're all in this together" mindset. Michael Moore addressed the questions and concerns I had about universal health care as far as operational costs, doctor compensation, procedures, etc. -- and the answers were almost too good to be true.

Granted, Michael Moore does a good job presenting material -- in leading his audience to his conclusions without drilling it in our heads -- but knowing this, I still don't want to believe that it's all propaganda.

I want to believe that our country's health mentality would be aimed more towards promoting preventative care instead of having an industry counting on people getting sick. I want to believe that our doctors could focus more on how they can help a person instead of whether or not they can pay. And I want to believe that there'll come a time when people won't have to worry about losing everything because of the bad fortune of getting sick

Recently, one of the cafeteria workers at our company, our friend Carlos the grill cook, was diagnosed with cancer. He doesn't have insurance, vacation, or sick leave. So we had a bake sale to assist Carlos with his bills, and we raised over $3,030 to go towards his rent, light bill, phone bill, etc. There was a lot of generosity, but I don't want to even think about how much his medical bills amount to.

Universal health care would be great for this country, but I believe that it's too much of a change to ever get implemented -- there's just too many entities involved. And Sicko leaves me with the idea that opposition from the powerful health idustries may be insurmountable. Still, Sicko is good as a conversation-restarter about the idea of maybe thinking about possibly imagining having universal health care... and as a compelling reason to move to another country.