Ok, so I don’t like the guy. I find him to be an ignorant, self-important, pompas ass. But, in his new documentary he may hit upon some interesting points that hit way too close to home for many Americans. Who is this rogue that I so loathe, yet hate myself for finding his views on this particular subject both fascinating and infuriating? None other than the idiot darling of the left, the prince liberalist, the schlock-meister of modern documentary, Michael Moore.
After alienating the Republican Party and Bush supporters everywhere with his 2004 Cannes Film Festival award winning “Fahrenheit/911,” Moore is back at Cannes with his new documentary “Sicko” in which his aim is placed squarely on the sad shape of the U.S. medical industry. This new film focuses on the failings of American medicine, the greed surrounding big insurance and pharmaceuticals, and the lack of vision in the government to fix the problems. He compares the care received by citizens of other countries such as Great Briton, Canada, and even Cuba to that received by citizens in the United States. In nearly every case the care in other countries is far superior and far less expensive than care available in here.
The film explores why 50 million Americans are without health insurance – nearly 9 million of them children. It looks at the outrageous costs and even more outrageous refusals of treatment common in the American health system and contrasts that to the socialized medicine systems of other countries. Now, don’t get me wrong, I do not think that socialism is the answer to anything, but I do think that Big Medicine has gotten a little too big for its britches.
Like many American I pay outrageously high health insurance premiums that seem to go up every year and cover even less. Two years ago my insurance cost less than $100 per pay check for a family of five, the co-pay was $15 dollars, and prescription medicines were $20. This year my premiums are well above $200 per paycheck, doctor visits are $25, and prescriptions can be as much as $70 each. In countries such as France, Canada, and the U.K. the cost of seeing a doctor is minimal and prescriptions are cheap.
I feel like I just got a proctologic exam without the benefit of lubricant.
Here’s an interesting question; how come a prescriptions are an average of 24% cheaper in Canada than they are in the United States? Could it be that the big pharmaceutical companies are gouging the health insurance companies which in turn gouge the American public? In a word, yes!
So, Moore, though I hate him, might actually be on to something here. These questions must be answered, and answered soon. Medicine in this country, the greatest in the world, is falling behind pioneering countries where citizens are put first and profits are put last. What happened to medicine being about helping people and prolonging meaningful life?
Well, if you have the money, its still there. If not, you better hope Uncle Bob doesn’t mind sharing one of his kidneys – he only needs one, right?
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