This evening my wife and I went to go see Michael Moore’s latest stroke of genious—SICKO, a massive exposé on the health “care” industry. I know Michael Moore has quite the reputation, particularly from the Republican party side of things, but this film is perhaps one of the most important films of this decade. I can say that because of one single statement that was made in this film: you can tell the true nature of a country by how they care for the least of its citizens.
Example after example and case by case, Moore dismantled the paranoia that’s been stirred up by the media, by health care lobbyists, and by political officials—the paranoia that so-called socialized medicine doesn’t work. Of course Canada becomes the glowing example of limited coverage, waiting for care, and people dying because of having to wait for essential services. But with great ease and case after case after case, the citizens of Canada speak out for themselves to the quality of their care and the worry-free life they have.
Moore examined the health care system here (in all its absurdity) and compared it to the likes of Canada, the UK, France, and even Cuba. Even in Cuba, the poorest of the poor have access to the most basic of services. In America, for example, an inhaler cost one woman over a hundred dollars. That very same inhaler in Cuba—same brand, same dosage, same ingredients—cost the equivalent of five cents.
In the UK, where they practice a national medical coverage, ALL medicines cost the same. So whether you need an antibiotic or some serious drugs to treat your cancer, you pay roughly £6 for all medicines. Your hospital visits and doctor visits…all free and completely covered regardless of who you are and what your condition. And if you had to pay a cab fare to get to the hospital—get this, the cab fare is REIMBURSED to you. The hospital actually PAYS you for your transportation costs to get there if you came on your own.
But what infuriated me the most in this film was how they treated workers from Ground Zero—volunteers who came from all around the area to help in the rescue efforts. If you weren’t on the city’s payroll as a CITY employee and passed the dozen or so strict terms and conditions, you were denied ANY portion of the $50 million that was allocated in funds for the rescue workers from that terrible time in our history.
Moore followed the stories of some of those workers that were denied assistance (REPEATEDLY) and listened to their horrid stories of being intentionally and willfully rejected by the city, state and federal government along with the health care industry—all because they didn’t meet an unreasonable set of standards.
Michael eventually brought them to Cuba, where they received quality exams, care, and a plan for recovery…for free. That care was the exact same care that they offer all off their citizens. Care that you would never find in America because the HMO’s are too busy lining their pockets with our health care premiums and convincing federal bureaucrats to drive fear into the hearts of its citizens, that our system is good enough—and that anything that smells of “socialist” medicine is of the devil.
One Canadian put it best [and I'm paraphrasing here because I don't have THAT good of a memory] when he said, “we’re just looking out for each other… if someone’s sick or hurting, you help them… and when we pay our taxes, we’re just doing our part to help each other out, helping others that have needs.”
My wife and I agreed wholeheartedly—the health care system in Canada is far more “Christ-like”, in that they actually care for the “least of these.”
I have to confess—if my wife or I had a great job offer in Canada, England, or even France, it would be hard to turn down with the kind of care and coverage one could find in such countries.
[Mental note to add the UK, France, and Canada to my Monster.com search perimeter.]
July 26, 2007, 9:07 pm
Filed under: Politics
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