Have you seen the film Sicko? What did you think?

Question

I saw it last night and was horrified that the US Government have actually managed to persuade the people that state provided healthcare would be a bad thing. I live in the UK where we have free healthcare and was shocked to see how bad things are in this supposedly civilised country (meaning America).

I wish every American would watch it. If you are American, is this your experience of healthcare? Has your insurance denied you treatment? Have you been bankrupted by medical bills? How accurate is this film?

Answer 1

I just watched it recently and as an American I have to say that unfortunately this is true. I had my boyfriend watch it with me who is a surgeon and he was pretty upset because he has seen first hand people getting sent away without proper medical care because they don't have insurance or their insurance company won't cover something. It tears him up. One example was a man, a victim of a violent crime who was slashed up with a meat cleaver by a jealous ex of his girlfriend. He did not have insurance so he was sent away with out the surgery that would have made his thumb mobile again. Through no fault of his own he will never have much function in his hand again. It's really sad, the part about how we have socialized education and other things, but medical care is just not a priority. Just sad.    

Answer 2

I am an American, and I was horrified to see the things exposed in this film.  I am a small business owner and have no health insurance, I am fully aware that I am playing with fire by not being insured, but can not afford the $600.00 per month for the insurance....  

The film is accurate..  there are several Americans that have gone bankrupt because of medical expense.  It is actually the number 1 reason declare bankruptcy.. There is a special category for it in bankruptcy courts.

  

Answer 3

Well, a question I will be so happy to answer. Michael Moore's film, Sicko, is absolutely accurate. I live in Missouri in the midwestern part of the US. I work as a registered nurse with my Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. My husband is a graduate student at Missouri State University in the Materials Science program and earns a fellowship from the University. Between the two of us, we cannot make ends meet very well at all. In fact, in order to stay afloat, we have to subsidise our income with student loans. From my work I pay for health insurance. I pay about $400 a month for health and dental for me and my 2 daughters. Thank God my husband gets VA benefits from being in the Navy or I would get to add another $120 a month just for him. Now, some might not think that is bad. Let's add in the rest. I have a $500 deductible that I have to meet before we are covered. Every time we walk into a doctor's office (even after the deductible) it is $30. An urgent care visit is $100. Emergency room visit is $200. All just to walk in and say "I'm sick take care of me". The prescriptions are another horror story. (Try being old and have this ridiculous doughnut hole where you pay all of the prescription cost until you spend $2000 and then the govt will graciously start helping you out again). Then, on top of all of that, you get seen by the doc and you go home and a week or so later you get a bill in the mail for the whole lot because the crooked insurance company says "We don't want to pay this bill so you are on your own". There is always some lousy excuse after another with this Blue insurance company. We are only one illness away from pure disaster all because our government would rather go into debt to China for a war that will never end and not to help those in need here in the US. I am a nurse, I make what would be perceived as a good salary ($4000) a month but I pay so much out of my check for useless insurance (don't get me started on the dental side), 22% of my check goes to taxes and a social security system that probably won't be there when I am old and even then I might get $1400 a month to live on, rising gas costs (I drive to patient's homes), electricity that is out of control and rising housing costs. It's a recipe for a big old mess. Sorry I got on a soapbox. I am generally pretty even keeled, but this whole thing makes me angry. No wonder so many nurses in the US are exploring areas outside of the US to work. I,myself, am included in this growing exodus.

Answer 4

The USA has a higher cancer survival rate than Canada, and a far higher cancer survival rate than the UK

The NHS is a broken, outdated and wasteful system which is roundly abused because it is incorrectly viewed as free.