Sicko speaks about the problems of the American for-profit health care system and the pharmaceutical industry in the United States. Its main message is that socialized health care is a better model than the present US health-care system because the present system is designed to maximize profit by minimizing the care delivered to patients. If you don't know yet, all doctors own stock in the pharmaceutical industry...it is no wonder why doctors can prescribe you almost anything you ask for!
DVD MOVIE
The movie starts with people telling their stories of people who were denied health care, either because they did not have health insurance, sufficient money to pay for care, or because the insurance companies denied their request for coverage mostly due to specious reasons.
DVD MOVIE
The movie starts with people telling their stories of people who were denied health care, either because they did not have health insurance, sufficient money to pay for care, or because the insurance companies denied their request for coverage mostly due to specious reasons.
We have all heard of the recent case in California where a hospital allowed a patient in its' Emergency Room to die as a result of a gallbladder rupture. Even though the patient was screaming with pain for hours and bleeding through her mouth she was not attend to. In addition to this torture her boyfriend and other waiting patients called 911 only to have their call hanged up on them.
In this documentary film Michael Moore brings to light stories that will anger the viewers toward health care insurances. As a person who has dealt with insurances personally i have insiders of what insurances look for and what their goal is....I've dealt with Cigna, Aetna, BlueCross BlueShield, and United Health care personally. I've visited most of their buildings in Florida personally! It's not that these companies have bad people working there..most of these employees actually are good people, but have bosses who want profits..after all the health care system is out there to make money ..not lose money.
The Documentary points out to a story of a woman who gets stuck with the ambulance bill after a car accident because she didn't get pre-approval with her insurer before requesting the ambulance; the accident had immediately rendered her unconscious and unable to request approval...actually..most of the time you call an ambulance you call one because time is of the essence..so it's kind of hard to meet this request from some insurance providers.
One of the things that has bothered me the most in the health care industry, and which Michael Moore brings out in his documentary, is that the health care insurance industry doesn't want to cover anyone.. the main target is to cover young people who do not have a history of illness. If they have a client or company who signs on older members (older means 30yrs old or older) they either increase their rates significantly or cancel their contract immediately.
The documentary also points out homeless patients, who still in hospital gowns with IV tubes in their arms, were abandoned at homeless shelters by California Hospitals.
One scene in this documentary shows a clip of Congressional testimony given by a former medical reviewer for Humana, said her job was to save money for the company. "I denied a man a necessary operation", she testified, referring to a decision she made in 1987. The film also interviews Lee Einer, whose job at a major insurance carrier (not identified in the film) was to examine insurance applications retroactively. Einer was to peruse large claims in order to find evidence that the applicants had hidden previous conditions. Einer says it was irrelevant whether or not the applicant intended to mislead, the companies just wanted excuses to avoid paying the claims. Even if they had a previous condition that had never before been treated, many states have a "prudent person" rule that states that if it is a condition that a prudent person would have sought help for, then it counts as a pre-existing condition.
Health-care systems elsewhere
Health-care systems elsewhere
The American system is compared to those of Canada, the United Kingdom and France, which have universal health care. Moore portrays how these countries have a health care system that outperforms the American Health care System. This is an interesting documentary which will, perhaps, open a lot of peoples eyes on the health care systems.
