Sicko

[Drew]

Has anyone seen Michael Moore's Sicko yet?

I obtained a copy of the film and found it to be very well done and moving when it came to the stories of the americans victimized by the US health care system. I did have a problem with its accuracy though.

Part of the appeal of seeing it was that some of it was filmed here in London, Ontario where I live and I wanted to see how we'd be depicted and how he'd depict our health care system. It starts out showing news footage from anti socialist health care pundits listing the many (valid) flaws with our system - ie waiting months for MRI's and certain surgeries(typically orthopedic), which leads Moore to come here to see if it's true. There he shows canadians getting in and out of an ER waiting room in "20 minutes", "40 minutes" or "getting right in". Which is the most hysterical thing I have ever seen considering I was at the very hospital waiting room he went to and waited 5 hours! I don't know anyone who's ever gotten right into an ER, unless it was by ambulance.

We still have a better system than the US does, the main flaw in our system is the billing cap imposed by the government on doctors to prevent them from gouging the government, so some doctors only can work a few months of the year. This is also why we have a shortage of doctors, because they can just go to the US and make alot of money in the private system.

I'd be very interested if we have any of our UK or French posters that may have seen or obtained ( ) the film, how accurately their systems were depicted.

[Toups]

I hope I never get sick/injured in the states. I often say that if I get sick/injured in the states, I'll just suffer through the pain and drive/fly back to Canada. LOL

[TC]

My partner will not see this with me. He is a physician in Canada and is worried he'll get angry over the whole thing. I work in the Canadian healthcare system as well and I don't see it as badly as he does. His concern is mostly about Canadian medical students going south for more money. I see it, we all see it, there is a large number of intelligent people who become MD's just for the money. That means Canadians are subsidizing doctors and nurses for the US with lower tuition fees.

I get it. But I still want to see the movie.

[DevotedToAMC]

I saw it....great film! I recommend it

[Adam]

Moore's best yet but I really don't think he accurately portrayed the Canadian Healthcare system. He grossly exaggerated its effectiveness to prove his point. But still we are obviously miles ahead of the USA and our system just needs the kinks ironed out. At least when we need it, healthcare is there free of charge and we aren't being dumped off with IV's still in our arms on the side of the road. Man I teared up during some of those testimonials by Americans. have any American posters here had bad experiences with their HMO?

[Drew]

Seriously! Thats one of the main things I cant understand about their health care system. You get critically injured and require the ER, you're not conscious, but the doctors will still do everything necessary to save your life - but then hand you a bill when you wake up! How can you charge someone money for something when they're not even of the legal sound mind to make a descision?

You can contest wills, and use it as a defense when you murder someone, but when it comes to health care being incoherent doesn't seem to mean [!@#$%^&*].

[Kay]

I live in Texas and I have yet to see Sicko, but really want to see it. I realize other healthcare systems aren't perfect, but I don't see how they could be worse than what we deal with here in the states.

I recently have had problems with my health insurance. Mainly, it was because my daughter was born premature, so was hospitalized for the first month of her life. I started getting letters from my insurance company saying that they were declining claims from the neonatologists because she hadn't been referred to them (specialists) by her primary care physician. I was like, WTF??? She hasn't even breathed free air yet? How could she have seen her primary care physician??? Mind you, these claims are at least $400 a pop every day that the doctor does anything for her. Now I'm getting bills (a full 18 months after my daughter's birth) for claims that weren't paid when she was born (from the doctors). These people were trying to shake me down for $1200.

It is the most insane bullsh*t I've ever heard or had the misfortune of dealing with. I realize my situation isn't super-tragic, but nobody wants to be hounded with bills for care they/ or they loved one desperately needed. I just have insurance on the off-chance that I get sick, but Lord help me if I ever really need it. It sucks.