Sicko

I recently finished watching Michael Moore's Sicko (it's a great documentary that everyone should see). It's not about the 47 million Americans who don't have health insurance, it's about some of the 250 million who have/had health insurance and in spite of this their lives were ruined. It dispels a lot of the myths espoused by some in America such as long waiting lines, higher taxes and the doctors being paid close to nothing. It explains why HMOs were established and how their primary purpose is to deny claims. Advancement in these companies is based upon how many claims an employee denies and any claims that are actually paid out are seen as failures. He goes to countries like Canada, England, France and Cuba and talks to citizens of these countries to get their take on their country's health-care system. He also goes to hospitals and emergency rooms in these countries to get the take of the people there and when he ask "How much do you pay?", they all laugh at him. Moore sums up the premise of film when he says the rest of the western world practices "We" health-care while Americans practice "Me" health-care.

I've seen a lot of movies that either make fun or try to exemplify American stupidity, but none convinced me of it unless I've seen Sicko. How can you people put up with this?! The medical system portrayed in this film is worst than here in Romania!

Basically, it tells about the medical system being bought and used by insurance companies to trick people into paying huge sums of money for any medical care, regardless of them having a medical insurance or not. Then there are examples of the Canadian, French, British and Cuban health care systems, which are, as I think they should be, free and of high quality.

And the logic is very simple, even if one chooses to disregard the highly emotional examples presented by Moore: people who win money from not taking care of you will not take care of you.

Take care!

After watching this film, i grew restless. Not the sorta restless, you get, when nobody calls you on the phone for weeks. No- restless that i can not reach out, and share parts of the health-care-system, from where i come from in Denmark. Now, i've only once experienced this sort of restlessness after watching a movie, and it was Michael Moores "Rodger and me". YES- Moore does it again. And he fulfills his role, as an rebellious anti-capitalist, pointing out the wrongs and rights in society, that people have simply grown accustom to. PERFECT! He once again gives us his artistic brand consisting of small terrific, or in this case, horrible stories from everyday people who have been neglected by the American health-care system. Michael Let's you pass trough the homes of MANY families as you engage upon their stories. This time Michael has brought far more people into the interviews, and it gives the hole bundle more juice then FAHRENHEIT. He also, takes his time to show old clips, video/photos of the people hes interviewing, so you feel you get the entire background on some of the folks. BRAVO! Michael himself, is this time a bit more "americaniced" -but only to really point out the benefits of the other countries, does he take the role of the average American joe. PERFECT! Over all. If you read this. I think this movie will make as huge an impact on you, as it did on me. And i think every Michael Moore film, is both educational and should be thought in schools, as well as very important for the entire society to see! That is... if you want to be a part of your society?

I just got done watching this movie and no other movie I have seen in my life has had the impact on me that this movie has had.

My wife has M.S. and requires a LOT of medical treatment. Just ONE of her many prescriptions is a thousand (US) dollars a month. This very expensive experimental drug is nothing more than an old flu shot they are experimenting with. ( seriously )

I am a middle class skilled worker with great insurance.. and I may soon be homeless due in part to this. The other part is due to the corrupt banking system that I hope one day gets equally exposed.

I am now officially embarrassed to be a US citizen. If it wasn't for me already being middle aged and having 15 years seniority in a job I cannot replace... I would forever leave this so called "Free Country"

Peace Rich

rich3077@gmail.com

Brilliant documentary, with a softer, less angry Moore taking a good hard look at the current state of the inner-workings of the American private health care system, and comparing them to the universal systems in Canada, England, and France. The nay-sayers will argue that he's skewing his content, or simply choosing the worst HMO stories, but that's exactly what he has to do to drive his point home! The content here is far less controversial than in his previous films. It's widely known that, despite being one of the richest countries in the world, the states is far from best when it comes to taking care of their own.

The film gives the impression that Canadians wait an average of 45minutes to get seen at a hospital. Being a Canadian, I'll tell you right away that is not the case. There is an issue here in Canada with long wait times (both at the hospital and for major surgery), however, the system still works well, and everyone is taken care of, regardless of financial or social status.

Seeing sicko really made me realize just how much I take our universal health care system for granted. Some of the HMO horror stories Moore gives are shocking (to put it lightly).

While this film doesn't pack quite the punch, compared to Fahrenheit and Columbine, it's still going to turn a lot of heads. Everyone should see this movie.