I just finished watching Sicko last night. The second hour was intense with the reference to 9/11, Gitmo and subsequently Cuba.

Lots of Americans think Sicko is another exaggeration and it might be indeed, but not to the extent that it becomes a blatant lie. Health care really is "free" in Europe (and apparently Canada and Cuba - to take the examples from the movie). You really don't have queues in hospitals here.

So, what do you think when you compare it to the US's?! Is universally free health care a good solution? Why not?

Considering I was laid off before Christmas (with a messed up eye and knee that has been giving me problems) and now have no health insurance, hell yes I think free health care is a good solution.

I like the european system. it just makes sense that a country would want it's people healthy. and the dr. get's rewarded for helping more people. win/win.
the canadian system is pretty good but still not perfect.
I have national coverage, so if I'm hit by a truck, they'll try and fix me up and keep me alive, no problems. but, I'd have to pay for the ambulance it's a private system, but one flat fee within town. so if I skin my knee and they rush me to the hospital and give me a bandaid and polysporin in the ambulance, I pay $300. if I lose my leg and they are trying to cauterize it, and I'm high on morphine, etc (they'll fly me to Edmonton but) I'd still only pay $300 if they took me by ambulance within town.
now prescriptions n such are all out of my pocket unless I get private insurace as well.
so like our mixed economy, we have mixed health care. which is better than the amecian system (think about the $80000 fingers vs. the free half hand).

I just wish healthcare was free worldwide. if a gov't wants people to fight for them, they should keep them in tip-top shape.

Umm I live in Nova Scotia Canada, and I can tell you, you don't just walk in and get treatment, and it's not "free". You pay for coverage, and operations cost money.

Wait times are not 3-5 minutes. They can be 7 hours+. This movie does not illustrate clearly what Canadians go through at ALL at the hospitals.

Some things are not covered. Medication is a big one, my sister has epilepsy and her meds are $1700 a month, insurance covers just over half of that and my parents and her pick up the rest.

This movie has some good points, but it's not researched enough.

yeah, they could have gone into our half/half system a bit more.

Or left us out completely. Sometimes no info is better than partial info.

I dunno if Alberta is any better but i know if i break my finger or do something that's not going to kill me within 12 hours, I'm stuck waiting in a room of sick people watching people go in before me that arrived after me. lol.

And yeah I remembered. Alberta has privatized healthcare right? You pay around $40/month for it or something? Just trying to remember what my friend Mike told me about it when he lived there last year.

it's partially privatized. I get the basic stuff from the dr (not prescriptions or anything) and private healthcare, is about $30/month. and if I happened to be rich enough, I could book a an mri at a private clinic for top dollar, instead of sitting on a 5 month waiting list.

the one problem I have with this movie is the fact that Moore doesn't really say anything about how well the economy is in each country.

I don't think there is a perfect system.
I know in the USA, if you are hit by a truck, or in need of medical attention, you will not be denied based on lack of insurance. They still have to treat you.

But that causes the problems of higher rates due to people without health care, or who take advantage of the system, which increases costs for others.

I think part of the blame can fall on the drug companies. When you have a patent, and can't get the medicine anywhere else. If we are allowed to get it from Canada, or other places, competition will be forced.

Although I don't believe Moore's movies are 100% accurate, they definate shed light on to things.

I got lucky with my accident. I don't have health insurance, or a job due to the accident that fucked me up pretty bad, but because I went to UC (University Cincinnati Hospital) they had a Financial Assistance Program since they are a teaching hospital. So all of my bills were 100% approved for charity so technically I got free Health Care. I think they should have things like this at all the hospitals in America for people that ends up like in a situation like myself. If I didn't have gotten that financial assistance I would have been hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt for the rest of my life.

damn!

well thats because I spent a week in the hospital and just got done with my 3rd surgery this past thursday. and we all know that, that shit is not cheap when you don't have health insurance.

I would like to go on the record by saying that I usually have Health Insurance, but I was in between jobs at the time and I could not afford the COBRA from my old job which was asking me for 300 bux a month, and in order to get the insurance at my new job I had to wait until open enrollment...but then I got hit by a semi and was unable to work which caused me to lose my job...

so yeah...I got really lucky.

Praise God!

Well I don't deny that the health care system in the U.S. needs improvement. But trying to imply that Cuba has better health care is just plain silly. Maybe they have decent health care for government officials and foreign visitors, but for their average peasant? Hah! Why are they risking their lives to sail to America? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

One thing that's really hurting our health care industry is that it's under constant attack with frivolous lawsuits from trial lawyers like John Edwards. Have you seen the pictures of the mansion that he lives in? It's lawyers like him that really leech off the health care industry and cause higher prices for everyone.

Also, there are some problems with the idea of "free" health care. It's nice to think that all people should receive it for free, but don't forget that it's an industry just like anything else, and there is no such thing as a free lunch. Some medicines are simply expensive to produce. Some medical procedures are simply difficult to perform. If someone invents the cure for cancer but the supply is extremely limited, then how the hell do you distribute it across the country? And if you are a doctor or surgeon that spent years in medical schools, then shouldn't you be rewarded for your work? If it wasn't a well-paying profession, then fewer people would be willing to do it.

The bottom line, like it or not, is that poor people simply can't be provided with the same quality of health care as wealthy people. I certainly don't want to live in a country where everyone receives truly equal health care (and I doubt such a country really exists).

Actually from what I learned is that about 75% of the people that don't have health insurance are middle-class people. They are not necessarily poor, they just work a job that either does not offer health insurance or they have it to where it costs way too much for them to get it. Oh, and not to forget that a lot of companies do offer health insurance; however they are able to save money by a loophole. For example, Wal-Mart offers insurance; however you have to be a full-time employee working at least 36 hours a week. So what do they do? They have your work 34-35 hours a week so that they don't have to offer you health insurance.

that's both true and false.

wealthy people indeed will always have better health care than the poor. they are able to pay for themselves for a lot more as well. they'll have international specialists coming over if they need it and pay for that themselves - I don't think there is a country in the world where the health insurance covers that...


but it is false as well. if you stick to the normal coverage, even the poor will be able to get treatment in a hospital if they need it - and stay there all expenses paid. they will not be in single rooms, they will "only" have the affiliated doctor(s) attending them, but the bill - if any - will be payable.


i am very happy to be living in a country which offers the latter "equal" health care for all. I am convinced that it reduces crime and brings stability. if people are not able to get the most basic of services (health care in this case), they'll not have their most basic needs cared for and they will do whatever needed, including crime, to fulfil the need.

finally watched Sicko yesterday...and I agree with a lot of everything it said about how our health system really fucks people over...I know...I know....


I am seriously thinking of moving to England or France in a few years...not just because of that, but because of other various reasons.

I've been watching alot of movies over at quicksilverscreen.com and they all kinda touch on the same idea of just helping people. share information (keep the business aspect to the promotions, live shows, etc), and we're only slowing our growth my making EVERYTHING into a business. healthcare (like education and information, among others) are rights and should be free.