How many people believe that the United States of America should have universal !


Question: I watched Sicko, the documentary by Michael Moore and it is a very controversial film and I could see why, but what is shown in the film is truely disturbing facts about the American health care system and it is truely sickening. How do people feel about the film if they have seen it, and what do you think about the Canadian health system. If you are Canadian please comment, I really would like to know how you feel about your own health care system compared to the U.S. Thank you.


Answers: I watched Sicko, the documentary by Michael Moore and it is a very controversial film and I could see why, but what is shown in the film is truely disturbing facts about the American health care system and it is truely sickening. How do people feel about the film if they have seen it, and what do you think about the Canadian health system. If you are Canadian please comment, I really would like to know how you feel about your own health care system compared to the U.S. Thank you.

I am a native of Colorado. Our current health care system is not only broken and dysfunctional, but adversarial in nature. What other industry than the health insurance industry can you think of that has a fundamental objective to avoid doing business with people that may need their products and services.

If General Motors thinks I might need a car - they love me. If a plumber thinks I need plumbing work, they market to me. But if a Health Insurance company even suspects that someone may need health care - they do their best to avoid the person. This is what underwriters do. No wonder our "system" does not work - it is adversarial in nature from the beginning.

Instead, in the U.S., we need guaranteed, quality, affordable health care for all though a not-for-profit single-payer financed system.

As for Canada, I have heard that Canada has wait lines for some procedures, but I've also seen studies that U.S. wait lines are longer. My comment is that at least Canadians have a line to stand in - many times we don't in the U.S. - we're just out of luck.

There are volunteer groups working in every state for Single-Payer Universal Health Care - please accept personal responsibility and help !

I listed a link to a KCFR radio review of our health care rally and interview about the Health Care Reform Commission.

I'm not Canadian, I'm British and we have a National Health service, it fails in many areas BUT once you get to see a consultant they are absolutely brilliant, I was treated for cancer and they were marvellous, nothing was too much trouble and if i had to pay it would have cost thousands, so for all its failings it has some advantages...its just getting to see a specialist can be a problem

I'm an American who lives in Detroit (19 miles from the Canadian border) and lemme tell ya - people over there dont worry about losing a job because they dont have health insurance. They dont worry about having to discontinue meds because they cant afford them....

The united states is first in cost, 39th in care and 55th in equity of access of care (meaning that people have access to it) - and those aren't my numbers, those are the world health organizations numbers....

There are third world nations doing better than us on every measure of getting medical care to sick people. Whats up with that? We are the only developed nation other than South Africa that doesn't provide health care to all of its citizens....

If we are so rich, and so powerful, how come our citizens are so vulnerable medically?

As a worker and married to a worker in the US heath care system we are very afraid of this so called Universal heath care.

Universal health care is good as long as you stay healthy. It is bad if you get sick and even worse if you have a long term illness.

Why, we see how the government works. It will save money but not lives. As in this true "fact" In the US if your 70yo relative falls we will treat her even if she is poor and has no money no matter what "sicko" said. Here in the US we will keep this woman in the hospital until she is well NOT just a set number of days as in the Canadian system.

I work with a few nurses that have come down from Canada and what they tell about the system up here is the truly sickening. Few doctors and even fewer hospital beds.

If we get it here what will happen is a 2 tier system. One gated hospital for the rich and county hospice for the rest of us.

I'm a Canadian and I hate Michael Moore and everything he does. The guy is a total fraud, I enjoyed the first documentary I watched of his until I seen a documentary that showed how he cut interviews and rearranged sentences to try and make you believe him. Even the gun in the bank thing was a setup. The guy is a total fraud and just wants to make more money for himself.

That being said, our health care system is far from perfect but it is certainly better than what is in the states. It never even crossed my mind until reading this that losing your job could also mean no health care in the US, we don't have that problem. A bum off the street can go to the doctor because he has a cold. I don't see why the US can't adopt universal health care, even some kind of mix of private and socialized which would no doubt address the wait time issues we have here for surgeries (wait times are not an issue for common appointments though). Drugs are not paid for here though, I think part of the price is paid but you still need to pay the rest or have your company cover it.

I felt disgusted with the American health care system after watching this "documentary." However after much group discussion and examination my colleagues and I believe that Michael Moore did a poor job with this film. There many areas of the film that are grey. He fails to show the flaws of universal health care, and God only knows there are some. He also fails to show the positive parts of the American health care system. He does not list the facts that America has some of the greatest doctors because of the resources they have. He does an amazing job with editing, for example.... When he asks how long people in that clinic where waiting and it had only been a few minutes before they were served, what day was it? He is simply fooling us by making us think that is how all clinics are. Do we know what kind of area he was in? Rural? Suburban? Urban? and he fails to give a wide spectrum of these clinics. Although my response seems cynical, I do wish there was universal health care. If you want to talk more you can email me or message me greenbeanniegal@yahoo.com

Oh, boy, I was waiting for somebody to ask this question!! I am a textbook, perfect example of someone straight out of the documentary "Sicko". For me, there is nothing fictional about it at all. I am hoping for a "Sicko 2" to come out, in fact, as I have some great pictures and documents I could send Mr. Moore. I'm 45, and I spent the majority of those years working for the largest medical group in the city I live in in California. I did make a good salary with xlnt benefits and full health coverage. I started to become very ill about four years ago, and had to have surgery to remove pre-cancerous colon polyps, and was diagnosed with IBS (which turned out to to be a misdiagnosis)and take time off on Disability.By a year later, I was so weak, ill, anemic, malnourished, and stiff with arthritis that I was fired for not being able to keep up with the demanding work load. No 'Sorry','Hope you feel better', just 'Here's your last check'. Well, that being said., I did qualify for state disability, but that ran out after only six months. So here I am with 2 kids and no income or health insurance. Three years have gone by and I have not stopped fighting to collect Social Security.The problem with qualifying for Social Security is that you need medical history from doctors showing proof of your illnesses. Now if you have no job, money, or insurance, how do you do that? In my case, I was fortunate enough to find a doctor who only charged me $20 per visit when my insurance ran out, as there was no way I could pay $125. And I cross over the border into Mexico to buy my prescriptions. Two of my prescriptions here are over $600/month, and in Mexico they are a total of $250.If it were not for the unfortunate fact of my mother passing away this last year, I would be on the streets with my children.I started having seizures about a year ago, and have woken up many times in the ER of the very same hospital I worked for for so long. After I wake up, they tell me all my tests are fine.That it's baically all in my head, and now recently because I owe them money (I am about $230,000.000 in medical debt), they open up the sliding doors and let me out onto the sidewalk in my hospital gown!!! I had my friend who picked me up take pictures! So they tell me it's all in my head.My entire left arm was paralized too, but it was 'all in my head'. Then a few weeks later I have a huge gran mal seizure in the grocery store, and I wake up in a different hospital ER hooked up to a bunch of tubing and wires.This time they at least tell me that I am having seizures, and neuropathy is causing the paralysis in my arm (and now my left leg), and that my blood tests show that I have an immunological disorder, most likely Lupus.Still, when they find out I have no money or health insurance, I'm wheeled outside in a wheelchair at 1:30 am in the cold!!! This is no SH!T! Unforgivable, but true.I'm told by the hospital staff upon discharge that I 'must follow-up with a Neurologist, a G.I. Specialist and a Physical Therapist. Yeah, I made a few phone calls. For $175 I can get a consultation with one. Every day my body's cells are attacking and killing each other, and I am feeling closer to death. I had a very big gran mal that actualy started to put me into cardiac arrest a few weeks ago. Once again, I was wheeled outside as quick as they could get me out of there and into the cold night. I have already planned my funeral (celebration of life) and I want the song by Tom Morello, "Alone Without You" from 'Sicko' to be played. (you can see a great solo version of it on YouTube)
But guess what? Today, actually yesterday technically, a letter came in the mail for me. It ws from Soc. Security. A check for $27,000.000. I wonder if they will pay all those medical bills?

"Sicko" is NOT a documentary--it's a staged, uninformed set up of Moore's personal agenda.

Canadian doc on UHC:
...Another sign of transformation: Canadian doctors, long silent on the health-care system



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