"SICKO" - WOW!

[cactuscat]

Telling everyone I know, you've got to go see this movie. It's amazing and touching and disturbing ... to paraphrase the bumper sticker, if you're not outraged then you're not paying attention!

[cactuscat]

Hasn't anyone else seen this yet? I was hoping for some discussion ... Come on people, tear yourselves away from the Transformers or whatever summer drivel you're watching and go see an important movie!
It's okay if you hate Michael Moore - it's not like his last movie. If you or anyone you care about has health issues (or might in the future) it's a must see.
We all better hope we never fall off a cliff or get really hurt hiking - even if you have health insurance!
Why are we the only Western nation without free, effective health care for all?
Did you know in France (ooohhh) they have free health care, free child care, free college, minimum 5 weeks paid vacation, and even free nanny twice a week for new moms? If they can do it, why the hell can't we?!
Okay, I've done all I can - it's up to you now. Go!

[thesuperstitions]

Um... health care is NOT free anywhere! Somebody pays for it. Either the taxpayers, businesses (which then tack the cost onto the price of their products and you pay anyway) or both. There's no free lunch. Not saying that other systems aren't good, just that every system has costs, and ultimately, you pay for it. Either in higher taxes, higher premiums and/or chronically higher unemployment. Each system has a different way of rationing the finite resources available.

[Suz]

[threedogz]

I can't wait to see this one. I was going to wait until the DVD comes out so I don't have to be quiet about it. You can always count on Michael Moore to start an interesting debate.

If Michael Moore doesn't watch his weight, he will experience healthcare and the Insurance company first hand.

Good healthcare starts at home, each individual has a lot of power over their own health. Unfortunately, some choose to ignore their health and maintain unhealthy habits. Do you really think there should be free healthcare for all? I don't think "free healthcare" is the answer.
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You can never eat too much candy...

[azhiker96]

Moore raises a good issue. There is room for improvement in the US healthcare system. Unfortunately, he tends to mislead with his presentations which taints the message. I haven't seen the movie, maybe when it comes out on DVD; and I haven't found a good solid review of it to share. However, a quick search of the internet seems to indicate the Cuban hospital and care were those reserved for the Cuban elite and are not available to everyday citizens. I'd look at France's tax rates and healthcare outcomes before opting for their system. Threedogz made a great point in that the best health comes from good personal choices. In healthcare we see people who have abused their bodies for years and then come looking for a pill or surgery to fix it.
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It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. -- Carl Sagan

[beckett]

Some good points have already been made. Good health care does begin at home...if we all practice better health habits it would definitely have an affect on health care costs. I do not believe that a free universal health care system is best for all. We would all end up paying more no matter how many good health care choices we make...or how many bad health care choices we make. There is plenty of room for improvement in our health care system but I'm not willing to look to France or Cuba for the answers.

Linda
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"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out."

-- Walter Winchell, American newspaper commentator

[jmzblond]

Here's what I've found to be the downsides to living in France....

France represents 24% of the European pharmaceutical market, and is their continent's number-one drug pusher, err, I mean producer. Is this really a good thing for healthy living? Free or otherwise?

The life expectancy in France versus the rest of the world ranks them 15th on a list of 20, so I'm not sure all that free health care and drugs are really as beneficial as it might superficially appear.

France also has a one of the highest unemployment rates of 9%, their tax burden accounts for 45% of the GDP, and they are ranked 4th in the world as Most Expensive Places to Live!

Everywhere you go, there are good and bad & pros and cons. Everyone has their own list of "life priorities", or what's most important to them within their own lives that makes them, or would make them, the happiest.
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Blond, James Blond... double "O", uh oh!!

"The romantic lifestyle of goats leaves a lot of time for digesting books" Charlotte La Chevre, (taken from "Conversations With A Goat" by Robert Shekter)

[IGO]

Ever hear of the French Alps?
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"Surely all God's people, however serious or savage, great or small, like to play. Whales and elephants, dancing, humming gnats, and invisibly small mischievous microbes - all are warm with divine radium and must have lots of fun in them." John Muir

[IGO]

[IGO]

I like mine with catchup and tomato.....
_________________
"Surely all God's people, however serious or savage, great or small, like to play. Whales and elephants, dancing, humming gnats, and invisibly small mischievous microbes - all are warm with divine radium and must have lots of fun in them." John Muir

[Sande J]

[Trishness]

I want to see this controversial movie by Michael Moore.....did you expect anything less than controversial from this film maker? Although it probably won't tell me anything that I don't already know after working in the health care industry for 25 years, some of it in a clinical setting, most of it in the insurance end of things.

My opinion (without even seeing the movie yet) is that HMO's are the bane of healthcare and have caused premiums to skyrocket due to the overhead that physician's offices and hospitals need to manage them. 20 years ago, we had basically what's called indemnity insurances....you had a deductible, coinsurance and could go to any doctor......they bill the insurance company who paid their portion and the patient is responsible for the remainder.....END OF STORY. Today, it's a whole different ball game. If you have an HMO or POS plan you have to go to your PCP first, who then refers you to a specialist and that requires an authorization from your PCP which takes administrative time and paperwork filed because someone invariably loses it. Specialist files the claim and it's denied due to lack of authorization so staff from the specialists office has to file an appeal (more administrative time and paperwork) and payment is delayed for another 60 days or more. More calls made to the insurance company...more administrative time and effort. Invaribly the claim is denied in appeals and needs to be taken to second level appeal.....more time, more paperwork.

Then there are times when even an authorization request from a PCP is denied even when services are required. I work in orthopedics and have seen where insurance companies have denied fracture care citing it as a "pre-existing" condition! An acute fracture!! Personally, I had a really tough time several years ago when they found a lump in my breast and my HMO actually DENIED having an aspiration/biopsy done because they deemed that the lump was too small as it appeared on ultasound and mammogram. Four months after fighting the insurance company I FINALLY obtained authorization for surgery and the tumor wound up being 3 times larger than showed on ultrasound and mammogram. If my PCP wants me to have tests done, I should be able to have access to that care without some anonymous person at an HMO denying me that care.

I do believe that most preventive healthcare needs to be practiced by us all with healthy lifestyles, diet and exercise. But in the cases of "things out of our control" we should not be denied our access to treatment by the HMO's when they are lining the pockets of the CEO's with lots of greenbacks.

I'll get off my little soapbox now......but this is an opinion from someone in the industry for years.


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~~~Trish~~~

"Eastward the dawn rose, ridge behind ridge into the morning, and vanished out of eyesight into guess; it was no more than a glimmer blending with the hem of the sky, but it spoke to them, out of the memory and old tales, of the high and distant mountains." � J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of The Rings.

[evenstar]

My Dr. hates HMO's says they add 1-1/2 hours of paper work to his ordinary day and he has one extra staff member that does nothing but HMO work. Pharmacist at Safeway where I shop also hates HMO's. Too many cases when an HMO interferes with a doctors efforts to treat his or her patients. When I was losing my dogs four years ago, HMO wouldn't allow the antidepressant my doctor thought was best for me, so I ended up paying full price for it....over $200 a month....instead of the $20 co-pay I usually pay for a 90 day supply of my RX meds.
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John Richardson and Richie Rich, El Perro de Playero
http://members.tripod.com/~evenstar/index.html
http://www.arizonahikers.com
When the Man waked up he said, "What is Wild Dog doing here?" And the Woman said, "His name is not Wild Dog anymore, but the First Friend, because he will be our friend for always and always and always. Take him with you when you go hunting."
--Rudyard Kipling, from Just So Stories, 1902

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