Letters to the Editor
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Uh, hi. Thoughts.
I'm a fan of Michael Moore, I guess. I watched Sicko and enjoyed it, but I wouldn't fully endorse it. His survey of other countries' health systems was too uncritical, for example, not bringing up wait times or any of the issues faced by the systems. I think his trip to Cuba was objectionable and done only to bring the movie to a boil at the end, give it some kind of climax. And I think paying the medical bills for one of his critics and including that in the movie was highly opportunistic.
But...
The movie's trying to start a dialog about health care. And showing that other parts of the world do things completely differently and arguably better should be an eye-opener for Americans.
It was an eye-opener for me, too. I didn't realize that most Americans get health insurance through their jobs. That's messed up.
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re: Canadian Tax Rate
For people interested, one can compute how much taxes will be taken from your income in Canada (read the line for ordinary income):
http://www.walterharder.ca/MarginalTaxRateCalculator.html
One can see that the rate varies between 36% and 45% for $100,000, depending where you live.
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Canada, Australia and the UK
I have the "privilege" of a pretty intimate knowledge of the health care systems of three "universal health care" countries - the UK (born), Australia (bred), Canada (live) - as a consequence of both a gypsy nature and a chronic medical condition.
I have type one diabetes and have been in an out of hospitals for the last 18 years; mostly as an outpatient and somebody on non-critical care. The three systems have the benefits and their disadvantages. Some pay for everything but aren't as up-to-date as others. Some pay for most but expect co-payments to pick up the slack. All hold basic testing and preventative medicine paramount. They're all affordable and accessible and - despite the media "overcrowding" and "long wait times" hype - all provide extremely good care.
Within the systems I've met good practitioners and bad practitioners and have had good experiences and a handful of bad experiences. But at no time have I ever worried that I may lose my house or my life should my body fail me (and it does). I have always felt safe. I have always felt comfortable that no matter where I go or what happens to me, I will be looked after by these systems. That's the perspective I have on universal health care. It may be a bureaucratic nightmare, there may be hold ups and stickiness, but it also *works* and it doesn’t discriminate on the basis of wealth or health.
I don't hear that about the American system. Which is why - unfortunately - America won't be – can’t be – a place I live.
CS
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What will it take?
I would say that at the very least maybe this movie will spark some dialogue, whether you agree or not or like it or not.....Screw that.
The problem is there's always a bunch of talk and nothing gets done....nothing changes.
It's obscene that the United States does not have a healthcare system that works for even those are insured. The incestuous and bloated pockets of the pharmas and hmos are literally killing us and we aren't doing a damn thing about it!
What is it going to take?
As for paying taxes for decent healthcare coverage...HELL Yes, I will pay.
I have no kids and I have to pay for educating children I don't have (public schools - yet another failing institution....) Yes, I will pay for a healthcare system that covers ALL U.S citizens (NOT a bunch of illegals).
I've been out of work and uninsured....during that time I had 3 visits to the emergency that sunk my ass into debt. I won't even talk about the 3+ hour wait in the emergency rooms. "Luckily" once I started working, I was able to get out from under this, but the only person I had to worry about was myself. I cannot imagine the worry of uinsured families with children and how vulnerable you must feel. That's 9 million children in the U.S. not covered by any health insurance program. How do you justify that? And then blab bullshit about how the children are our future......talk is freakin' cheap!
How can anyone not see the correlation between uninsured citizens, increasing personal debt, home foreclosures, it only takes one visit to the emergency to put you into thousands of dollars of debt.
When are we (WE, THE PEOPLE) going to say enough already....somebody better try something to fix this.
I am not looking for perfection, but you have to start somewhere. Take the facets of the healthcare models that do work and use them to create something that may work here....DO SOMETHING...TRY SOMETHING!
God, I am so sick of this shit. Healthcare system that doesn't do its job.....education system that doesn't educate....immigration - open borders....and a republican administration that has run amock and sent us all to hell with gasoline drawers on unopposed.....what the hell is happening here?
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Hairhead
The scenario would be different in the US. For a potentially broken limb your doctor wouldn't see you. Hell, even for something your regular doctor could handle, you can't get an appointment the same day.
So you go to the ER. Unless you're bleeding and in critical condition you wait at LEAST two hours. Potentially up to 8 or more. I've been vomiting blood in the ER, and I have a chronic autoimmune disorder, and was still made to wait 5ish hours.
You see a doctor for about 10 seconds where they determine if you need additional work like labs or xrays or whatever. There's usually a wait for these things, so bank on at least another hour or two.
Results are gleaned an hour after THAT, and then you get a prescription, cast, whatever, and sent on your way.
ER bills are significantly higher than other hospital bills, but for "unexpected" health concerns you're sort of shunted into there. You are billed for the room, the labs, the doctor and prescriptions separately, so if it is more than you can handle you default on 4 rather than 1 bill.