Sicko
8.05
Ratings: 8.05/10 from 103 users.
After exploring the predominance of violence in American culture in Bowling for Columbine and taking a critical look at the September 11th attacks in Fahrenheit 9/11, activist filmmaker Michael Moore turns his attentions toward the topic of health care in the United States in this documentary that weighs the plight of the uninsured (and the insured who must deal with abuse from insurance companies) against the record-breaking profits of the pharmaceutical industry.
Directed by: Michael Moore
Obviously the point of going to Cuba had 2 points. Firstly a practically 3rd world poor country could provide health care to it's citizens. Also US citizens have been told how bad Cuba is and Castro and blah blah. Not sure how bad things are in Cuba but they have better health care than the US!
I cried when I watched this - I am so lucky to live in Australia and get access to free health care.
In Europe we are not as a society that believes in the devil take the hindmost, or I am not my brother's keeper, we believe that as members of that society we must look after each other. As it is expressed in the video, we are not "me" people, we are "we" people.
As for the notion you'd be taxed more, are you all too dumb to realize that with universal healthcare your insurance premiums would be REPLACED by taxes which would probably mean paying out far less.
If you think health care sucks now, just wait until Obamacare kicks in.
Bill Maher for president, Michael Moore VP.
Come on guys, take your responsibilities. Tax your antisocially rich, USA really needs normal social security, like the rest of the civilized world. Don't let them take Obamacare from you!
Love from Holland
@jsomerlea:disqus :
I am a senior citizen, totally disabled due to my military service. I am not "SICK" in the way that you are implying, I am totally dependent upon my disability because I have been unable to work per doctor's orders, so that HARDLY makes me a "1%-er," now, does kit?
Michael Moores' documentary "Sicko" was one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. He talked about the health care system in the U.S and other countries as well. Sicko is a 2007 documentary film by American filmmaker Michael Moore. The film investigates health care in the United States, focusing on its health insurance and the pharmaceutical industry. The movie compares the for-profit, non-universal U.S. system with the non-profit universal health care systems of Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Cuba.
He also pointed out how women in some countries have a longer maternity leave than women in other countries. I think all woman should have at least six months off with pay. No country is perfect.
There are nearly 50 million Americans without health insurance.
The Medicare Part D plan will hand over $800 billion of our tax dollars to the drug and health insurance industry.
A baby born in El Salvador has a better chance of surviving than a baby born in Detroit.
There is a company in France, SOS Medecins, which will perform doctor house calls at any time.
French policy on childcare and household assistance for new parents.
Michael Moore is like Pinocchio, except when Michael lies he gets another chin.
When you are working and living within the healthcare system and have gone to other countries that have proven ways to provide for their people then you can talk. My guess is you are probably on state assistance!
I am an American citizen (born & raised here) and absolutely love my country and everything we stand for. However, we do have problems. So does every country in this world. Healthcare here in America is our downfall along with a few other issues. Just as easily, I could travel abroad and find issues to make documentaries. No country is perfect. Just a reminder to all those perfectionists out there!
Yes, but some are better to live in. I live in France, and I'm sooo glad I wasn't born in your country.
What you stand for ? A war-loving theocracy ruled by lobbies/big companies ?
America is not a democracy anymore. Open your eyes.
You're being brainwashed, sir.
My daughter was double insured by United Healthcare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of GA. One was primary and one secondary. Now they both are not paying because neither one wants to be primary and pay. I have credit companies after me now. I have already paid the co-pays but neither one will pick up the charges. At first citing the "birthday rule" and then once they got my custody papers they now they said they won't pay because it's been too many months and the claim cannot be submitted for payment!
I want to defect!
i show this movie to students in my medical billing class. Most of them are totally unaware of the cost of healthcare and how bad the US system has become. Moore hits the nail onthe head with film. Many, many people agree with him. What I don''t understand is how anyone can say what he says is not true. This film came from real Americans wiht real problems. And yet Obamacare is bastardized. Americans need to wake up and realize their healthcare system is borken, and it is breaking us.
My husband's cancer treament left me with over $ 200 K in debt at his death, private insurance was no help - cancelled policies and "existing condition" excluded him from anything but Medicaid. I had to separate from him because my income would have excluded him from Medicaid, and lie to the govt. about our marriage just to keep him alive a little longer. Since his death 6 years ago, I have lost our home and everything we worked together to achieve over 26 years. I now make 1/4 of the income I made then, live paycheck-to-paycheck and 90% of my income goes towards basic living expenses (rent, car payment, food, gasoline). The American Dream for me has become a nightmare and a broken promise. Still, I'm an American and will pick myself up, dust myself off and begin rebuilding my life because I still believe in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I just don't look outside myself for these things any longer.
As an American, I find myself appalled at the realities of our healthcare system. I spent years as a nurse and witnessed the inhumanity of the "system", drug companies and more specifically the corrupt insurances companies.
Just as it was stated in this film, "Americans are AFRAID" of the government. Sure, no one wants higher taxes, but in order for there to be a healthcare system which provides EQUAL coverage to all, then taxes are a reality. Just as other countries have dealt with incorporating universal healthcare, so can the U.S. If Cuba can instill healthcare for all, so can we.
I live in Australia (thank god) and i have vaguely heard about the American health care system but after i watched this movie i was in total shock! i cant believe how people are treated over there, its really really sad! going for ct scans or chest xrays and getting meds for a very low cost if not free is undescribeable. and to watch people on this movie without such a luxury is upsetting. i thought America was always ahead of the game.
i have asthma and often get atleast two puffers a month and to see that women on the doco say they cost $120 blew my mind! i pay $5!
i hope America changes its way and decides to start looking after their people instead of just trying to make a buck!
Australia is not that great either! I moved from Suriname (South America) to Australia with my partner and are faced to huge insurance premiums every month and large out of pocket costs! I very rarely had to pay out of pocket costs in Suriname. The government health insurance covers 99% of all cost including special treatment overseas if necessary. Glasses and frames are also 100% covered if you're on government insurance (which is for everybody, including foreigners who live and work there). Only dental cost is private but for a very low premium that can be covered too. Unlike Australia. Australian insurance companies are just as much ripping off people as they do in America!
crazy! crazy! crazy! totally crazy system!!! but great movie!!
Just Absolutely sick, these people are viewed as dollar signs rather than as a human being. What the **** is wrong with this country
Google Medical Holocaust and find out more and see what you can do.
I'm an American who lives in France. I can vouch for what was said in the film. That when we have to go to a hospital here, we don't have a bill to pay to worry about. We have National Health Plan, like in other European countries. Here it is called Social Security. And I want to say that the last time that I went back to the U.S., I had an accident, and I broke my foot. WHen I went to the local hospital for treatment, the first thing that they asked was how was I gonna pay for it, not having an American health plan. I said that I have health insurance in France. They made me pay in advance before letting me se a doctor, $600.00. Luckily for me, I had the money. BUt I often wonder, what ever happens to those who don't? When I tell that story to French people, they find it hard to believe. This film showed me what happens to those who can't pay. Now I have to ask, what is more important? Spending money to go to Iraq or taking care of American citizens. And vote accordingly. As I will too.
Oh my God.. the man said "There are golden years. I just can't find them". That is so sad
They are the golden years, for the drug companies, the lawyers, doctors and most of all the insurance companies and the corporations that own the hospitals.
The only thing golden if you are lucky and well about the golden years, is your pee.
awe moderator have to control language in here... people feelings get hurt or what?
!% are multi billionaires lmao Krazeehors know your fact before you starting making your self out to be a loser without knowledge
its no wonder there is soo many infomercials for new fad diets and fitness equipment rubbish coming out of America, you want to know how to stop and reverse cancer? google search for apple and apricot seeds / vitamin B17, oh and by the way this will most likely red flag your IP address with an intelligence agency, it is interesting how we are led to believe that our freedom is at stake when in reality it has been lost soo long ago, when you couple this "health care system for profit" model with the Reserve bank system (1913) and the illegal income tax gleaned from middle class you begin to realise that you are living in an open aired prison which treats its inmates as slave labour and lab rats, when will the population awake and smell the s#!t that they are shovelling, seriously, you think you need an electric treadmill? are you kidding?, i wonder if the fast food companies own more than 51% of the fitness equipment companies? would be interesting to find out.
Your first mistake was listening to ANYTHING that is put out by Michael Moore!!!
He staunchly claims to be part of the 99%, even though he is worth upwards of $3 million dollars!!! Now, I don't know which calculator you use, but that makes him part of the ONE PERCENT!!!
Michael Moore thrives on starting trouble. It was Obama himself who told a 105 year old woman in 2008 (shortly before she was elected) that "sometimes it's better to take the pill," meaning that the pacemaker surgery she had at the age of NINETY could be cancelled under Obamacare.
Read from many sources -- pay very little attention to Michael Moore. His movie is so distorted (and I have seen it) it is absolutely UNBELIEVABLE.
A small fraction of the US military's budget could pay for the medical expenses for all Americans. Minimize the profits, maximize coverage, improve the personal finances is called "good and common sense, PUBLIC policy".
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To reply to your criticisms of MM, many people trust his information far more than they do their own governments and corporations - and I do, too. Have you noticed how much he lets OTHER people tell their own stories?
The U.S.A "was" the richest country in the world and NOW you are up to you neck in debt to China all because the Hawks instigate war after war..Eisenhower once said "beware of the Munitions manufactures and may I add the NRA?
Too many young people have been sacrificed by the war mongers who have no conscience just a "Creed of Greed and Entitlement"
We also had the best healthcare system in the entire world -- before Ovomit.
And the greedy who are saddling this horrific health care law on us ALL have EXEMPTIONS -- yet another UNCONSTITUTIONAL action by the traitor you put in the White House.
And, more people have been killed in Afghanistan -- a war Ovomit PROMISED to end -- than under Bush.
Why? Budget Cuts, that's why.
If you want to cut the defense budget, fine -- but BRING OUR SOLDIERS HOME FIRST.
Oh, right. So, lets disband the military, you fool. The military/defense budget is the lowest it has been in years, something like 15% of the total budget. Ovomit is cutting spending for our troops that are deployed RIGHT NOW, and THEY are the ones who are suffering.
You said a lot, but back nothing up with proof. MM says a lot, and supports it with proof. If you wish to dispute what he is saying then support your statements with proof.
I dispute what he is saying via provisions in the ACA law itself, sir. Read it for yourself. Further, if this law is so great, WHY are our elected representatives exempting themselves from it??
Read the bill, sir.
And, for the record, I am not "crazy or a 1%er"
I am one of the people who will be most drastically affected by this bill. Senior citizen, disabled veteran and living on a fixed income.
First of all, I'm thankful I do not live in the U.S. with your so called 'Health Care System'
Secondly, I'm not a fan of Mr. Moore, but how can pointing out the MAJOR flaws in your health care system be seen as 'starting trouble'?
And finally....can you please quote the sources you have read which will irrefutably contradict something/anything in the documentary?
(without being pedantic).
Bill Gates is also a multi-Billionare but he is trying to make the world a better place to live in ...They are not all b........ds
Sources? The health care law itself, which states that anyone who gets cancer over the age of 60 years of age will receive only PAIN Medicine. The law further goes on to state that at a certain age cut off, an elderly person such as me, who breaks a hip or needs a knee replacement can no longer have anything BUT pain medicine,
And THAT, sir, is JUST PLAIN WRONG!!!
It is a plan to commit absolute GENOCIDE upon our senior citizens.
So, YOU tell ME exactly HOW Michael Moore is NOT causing trouble for the middle class by touting this horrible piece of legislation??
To tell you the truth, I don't think there is much hope for America to get Universal Health Care. The Insurance and Pharmaceutical companies are WAY too involved in the government and there ain't a damn chance they are ever letting that happen. They will spend millions of money on creating anti-universal health care propaganda and bribing politicians; they will pull ALL the stops because America has everything to gain from Universal Health care but they have everything to lose.
Read about universal healthcare in England and Canada. It is bad news.
Medicare for everyone, cradle to grave.
It's already in place and it works.
Wrong. Medicare is for the elderly, and I worked over 35 years to get it. Further, Obama-Lack-of-Care is being PAID for by the Senior Citizens, via cuts to Medicare and EXPANSION of Medicaid.
Medicaid provides more coverage to those who DON'T pay for it than it does to seniors who have worked and paid into it their entire working lives.
Don't bother telling me that isn't true, because I know what I am talking about.
Ovomit-Lack-of-Care is GENOCIDE for senior citizens.
Case in point (although she wasn't a senior citizen) the little girl who would have died on Kathleen Sebelius' WRITTEN ORDER had she not gone to court and gotten permission for a Lung Transplant from an adult.
It's for the elderly now, but it doesn't have to be. If Obama wasn't in the pocket of the 1%, he might have had the balls to propose it.
Your sicko name for the Commander in Chief is strange coming from a veteran.
Stop watching Koch TV - you have been brainwashed. Not surprised that Rush was behind this "story" or that it was ruled as mostly false by PolitiFact.
Koch-TV? Um, he's, hello, DEAD!!!
And, for the record, I never listen to Rush Limbaugh, OR Mark Levin, OR watch Fox News. I get my news information from various sources on the Internet.
And, my name for Ovomit is MY choice, for now. And, also for the record, I am NOT the only one who calls him that.
He isn't my commander in chief, in fact, I despise him. Yes, I'm a veteran. I do NOT have to respect him, I do NOT have to listen to OR believe anything he has to say, and I will NEVER consider him to be anything but what he is: A TRAITOR!!!
And, ALSO for the record, my screen name has been Krazeehors for over 15 years, and is derived from the fact that I am crazy about horses and have been all my life.
I had gone to your Disqus profile to get a sense of what you are about. Now that you have established your bona fides on this site, I think my job is done, and so are we.
My profile on Disqus? Given that I have never entered a profile on Disqus, as it is MY business and nobody else's, all you have proven to me is that you are capable of using a mouse and click function on your computer.
Am I supposed to be insulted by your "superior intellect" because you looked up my profile???
Wow. I'm really impressed. And THAT, sir/madam, is a definite "myass" moment.
I had never heard of "Koch-TV" before, and mistakenly believed it was managed by the former mayor of NYC, who has been dead for quite some time.
That said, I now know it is about the multi-billionaire Koch brothers, the sworn enemy of bleeding heart liberals everywhere.
Sorry about the mistake.
And, for the record, I do not receive my news and current event information from THAT source either.
I'm British and I think that the American health care system is disgusting. As slow as the NHS can be at times, I think that we are lucky to have it and I am thankful for it. Maybe the idea of incorporating taxes into a national healthcare system would be a good idea for every country? It seems to work over here. The NHS is not perfect, but it sure as hell does save many lives. My partner has acute asthma, and he was chronically ill as a child with a lot of things and nearly died several times. Courtesy of the NHS he is still here.
I wish Mike would do a sequel, because I think it's worse now.
CIVIL RIGHTS THEY GAVE US "TODAY HUMAN RIGHTS WE TAKE"...
by Leshialee DE, Wilm
Americans generally are a very gracious and creative people. It's Corp greed that has sucked the soul right out of this country, and no one in those structures is ever to blame personally. It's those maximization of profit policies that everyone so blindly serves and a handful of share holders and bankers end up riding the thing like a giant wave.
I´m from Germany and we get free Health Care, but we actually have to pay for it in taxes. So I think he didn`t really address that enough, it`s not like Health Care is free in Europe, it´s just payed for differently, and after all Americans make WAY more money than German or Frenchmen or other Europeans, because they pay less taxes.
I do live in Oklahoma now for almost 2 years. Americans in general do earn much less money (a nurse for example earns § 20.00 an hour). We pay much more tax here (25 to 45 % for a middle class family) as we payed in Switzerland and don't get any service out of it. Health care is so much more expensive, I pray we don't get sick seriously. It can ruin a whole family if a family member gets sick. Health care providers are so powerful. It is scary.
Exactly, you pay your doctor, while you are not ill and able to earn money. You stop paying when you are ill. Much better.
This video does not make me proud to be an American. Expecially if we can't even look after people who help out during 9-11. I'm in school to receive my education in the medical field but my family also suffer from denials of treatments we need. The American health system sucks and our "lovely" president want s to make it worse. Somebody needs to figure out some better ideas and see if we can find a way to start to implement a health care system like Canada and Cuba.
well the id**t are getting their money from the people they are supposed to be insured, so if someone is paying 500 a month for 6 years then they deny care then they should have to remburse the paid buy the payee of insurance.
WOW.. I'm really ashamed to be an American right now
Its truley sick, i got bitten by a brown recluse spider, and i live in ohio, In the USA. and if i wouldnt have got my treatment for it, i would of died from the venom infecting my bloodstream, i am 19 college student who works in a nursing home, and i cant afford verly my rent, let alone health insurance,, and the bills i got stuck with accumlated to over 800$, im ******. now i have debt, and cant afford to get student loans for school. idk what to dooo
How sad and what a nightmare.
I'm so grateful I live in Holland. In 2007 I was seriously ill. 2 weeks in hospital, brain scan, spinal tap, biopsy taken, specialist care, loads of medicine, regular check ups and blood tests to see if the prednison could be reduced (it COULD), eye checks, lots of other tests, you name it I got it.
14 Months later I was fine again. NOT one single bill, all free thanks to the Dutch National health system.
In the US I would have been broke.
I love the US, visit there 1 month every year, (my daughter lives there), but am so glad that for any medical bill I have to pay there when visiting the emergency ward, I am promptly fully refunded when back in Holland.
Sure, this year our "own risk" went up from 170 to 220 Euro.
I consider it a small price to pay for peace of mind.
Sincerely and humbly overjoyed to live in Canada.
any one else notice rick santorum at the top of the list (38:26) for senators payed off by health insurance ?????!!!!!!!!!!!????? at $977,350!!!!!!!! dude why is no one mentioning this????????
I don't think people are giving the U.S. enough credit. I think the film has some flaws in its arguments, particularly when Moore compares the U.S. to Cuba. Cuba is very small, nearly 5/8 the size of California, and has a population of only 10 million. It would make more sense that they should offer free universal health care, unlike in the U.S., the population accounts for a significant amount of the entire world population. With the depression we are already in, I don't think it's fair for Americans to depreciate and degrade the U.S. health system. Even though it may be a bit "corrupt" to some extent, it has its reasons. Ask yourself, where would we get the money to supply free universal health care for every person in the U.S.? This film is good, but I don't believe the U.S. health system is as terrible as this film makes it.
Yes the health insurance company is as bad as the flim makes it looks. To make health care free in United States of America government would have to raise tax, which no one would want. In that case, it would help a lot of people from dying, suffering and being in pain. Saving a person's life is better than anything else in this world. If it was u dying I Know you would probably need someone to save your life. That's how the U.S system is CORRUPT not a little, but a lot.
I Hope this doesn't happen to you! but, If U Loss ur job and became ill! consider rewriting ur message!!! =0) Walk a mile in my shoes
the prices would all come down dramatically if the drugs and maltreatment costs were substantially reduced
Just to tell you how much there are overpriced: During one of my trips to Florida (I live in Toronto, Canada) I ended up in an emergency room for a sudden case of stomach crumps. I knew what caused it (it was bad, I couldn't walk) and I knew what I needed to help it. The doctor agreed with me and I got one (!) shot that helped almost immidiately. I paid $350 right there and then but wasn't worried because Canadian OHIP (health care system) pays you back for what you spend while in the States in case of an emergency. When I got back I applied for a reinbursment and was told that I will only receive an equivalent of what this treatment would cost here. They gave me $30! Needless to say I received additional bills for stay in a hospital (about 2 hrs?) and doctor's fee (who saw me for about 5min) all in total of over $600. So I paid a thousand dollars for a 2 hour, one ($30 worth shot), 5 min of doctor's time medical care. Isn't crazy!?!
Get over yourself, the US is not that big a portion of the world population. The population of Europe is over twice that of the US and all those people have access to free medical care. Why does population size even matter, the more people you have the more tax revenue you get... Also have you looked at how much your government is spending on its army and wars? What is more important killing people and spreading hate for America half way around the world, or taking care of your neighbors. My mother survived cancer and I have spent over a week in the hospital with surgery for a collapsed lung. If we lived in the states our family would be bankrupt and my mother might be dead.
Great Article Michael
There are many young American studying medicine in Cuba and when Katrina Hit Louisanna Castro offered to send a team of Doctors and Nurses to the U.S.A. to help ...Bush Refused
...and don't forget to believe in the power of self-healing.
The Art of Medicine Consists of Amusing the Patient While Nature Cures the Disease. –Voltaire
Cuba got its vision of a national health service from Britain's NHS. Britain is not a socialist state in any way and there is an equal share of conservative views in Britain as there is in the US. What this says is that a national health service should not be incorporated with socialism in anyway. It has nothing to do with party politics, it is a fundamental right to have a service which does not profiteer off ill health. I really hope the people of the united states receive the same treatment as we do here in the UK. Yes its not all pretty, the burden on the taxpayer gets heftier every year, but you can't put a price on good health.
AMAZING DOCUMENTARY!!! wish there were more ppl like the cubans! its so sad what America has become =( I LOVE YOU MICHEAL MORE KEEP UP THE AMAZING WORK!! =)
You are the F-ing best! Seriously.
Much more progress to you.
Love
E V
I thought that in America we don't have people caring for others. MIKE FOR SENTE and let him to clean our health system from corrupted viruses. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
i love you mike. you touch my heart so powerfully.
VERY INFORMATIVE... THANKS
A few years a go I interviewed a banker. He seemed like a nice, honest guy. I asked him if he thought that healthcare should be run as for-profit. You know what he said? "I dont know. I dont buy insurance." (Sorry, its paraphrased.) This banker didnt have to buy insurance because its provided for him by the banks. These people dont have to worry about this and they are ruling us. They have no idea what some people have to go through. And its these same politicians that get GOVERNMENT RUN HEALTHCARE.
Oh, I nearly forgot about this. Last fall, my mom finally got the health insurance she needed to pay for her knee surgery in Orange County, CA. The doctor said she needed it very bad, but when she went to do it, they said they wouldn't/couldn't help her because supposedly it wasn't "life threatening." Well, anyone who knows how infections can lead to death knows what a load of c*** that is.
We do, so we can say for a FACT, just like the medical professionals who would agree with us and told us this, it may take longer than it would if it was something more urgent, but it is STILL life threatening. So anyways, that is one of the reasons we went to Michigan and magically, she was able to get it done without a problem. Just so you know, her knee was really bad to the point where she was in SERIOUS pain whenever she walked and therefore barely did it.
She had like a torn tendon or something, fissures, and something else I can't remember. Dr Kline, the guy who did her surgery, said it might not heal it completely, but at least it will be better than it was before. Maybe its because he works in the upper peninsula of Michigan which is pretty close to Canada, if you know your geography, but I don't know. Dr Kearney was an American from day with a Canadian name, but people said he was a quack.
I want to go to France! But doing that alone won't help the situation in America. Like Michael Moore said "I refuse to live in a country like this and I'm not leaving" for a reason.
Modern slaves, living the illusion of freedom!
The high taxes in Canada also depend on what province you live in. There is benefits and downfalls of any province here. When I lived in BC I had to have knee surgery for a ripped tendon, waited about 5 months for surgery, got it, recovered with the help of Medical Employment Insurance. It doesn't pay much or for long but I am grateful for the help to get back on my feet! I can choose my own doctor, I have never waited longer than 45min at a hospital, pay a decent amount for any prescription I've ever needed. Michael Moore has it right here in Canada, as well as that man in the golf cart, we CARE for one another and don't use the term "My taxes paid for that!". Well some of us do ;) I feel for anyone who has to go through what America does. Its not right, at all. I could never imagine all the suffering one goes through!
I've always believed in going to the source of an issue... and that's what I did after watching this video.
We have been deluded into believing that the current medical model is the 'only' medical model and it all because it is so profit-centric.
Our current medical model is Louis Pasteur's Germ Theory of Disease which states that germs invade our bodies and make us sick, therefore we need drugs to make us well.
And around this theory in late 18th/early 19th century our entire modern medical complex has sprung up.
Whereas Bechamp's Cell Theory of Disease has never been given much credibility simply because it would not support such a massive money-maker as we have today.
Bechamp states that viruses, germs and other disease-causing pathogens do not ’cause’ us to become sick, instead once inside the human body they merely gravitate to any already diseased area and settle in there in an attempt to grow and survive.
It is easy to see how with proper exercise and a healthy diet, this theory would serve the needs of human bodies simply because it stresses the importance of diet and exercise, whereas The Germ Theory would have us believe that we need pharmaceuticals to get and stay healthy.
Imagine if we had been told all our lives that we need never 'catch' cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, Lupus, Crohn's Disease and a whole host of others if we watched what we ate more closely and stayed far, far away from processed foods.
That would never do! Imagine the lost profits from both the pharmaceutical industry and the pre-packaged food industry.
We have been fed a pack of lies from the day we were born and all in the name of the almighty dollar.
And in return, Big Biz and Big Pharma have gotten exactly what they need to survive - a sick and diseased society that spends half of it's income on pills, potions and dead foods.
This documentary is such an eye opener. It absolutely makes me disgusted at the fact that the people in this country are grossly taken advantage of by the government and big corporations. I believe it was Thomas Jefferson who once said that a revolution once every 20 years was "a medicine necessary for the sound health of government." Ha, maybe its time for a civil revolt...
Aren't you lucky in your nationality (is it Canadian, Aussie or both)? Americans are generally stuck in the USA and unable to get out, and it's infernal for us world-traveller types who are educated, informed, disgusted and trapped. I have failed at being an expatriate in France and the UK, not once but multiple times, and at the ripe old age of 36 I am just waiting to die, sooner rather than later. I've fought the good fight and now I quit.
Very well made. Shed light on the sad state of health care in the US. I rather be in France/Canada. We need to learn from other countries and start universal health coverage.
it is absolutely amazing how Americans are manipulated for money and then discarded. I suggest that all Americans start caring for their own health and become a herbalist.Stop eating food that will kill themselves such as sugar, meat, processed foods and eat freely of fruits,grains,nuts,seeds,vegetables, and legumes.
i liked this documentary as it educated me as to what other countries do for health care and how their society functions. Although I see why many Americans would not like this documentary. Since they are brainwashed by the media to believe that their country is the best(they are not the only ones).United States is the greatest country because of its founding principles.These founding principles have been usurped by multinational corperations buying corrupt politicians(including presidents) who legislate corrupt laws.These corrupt laws are written for the benifit of the privileged few but at the expense of the majority.In this day and age United States is just a dim shadow of what a great nation it used to be.Today's reality is that everyone is now witnessing the demise of the world's greatest democratic nation in exchange for enriching the privileged few.
Vegan Mikey from Beverly Hills, California - nice to sit up so high and judge: Become a herbalist, stop eating meat. I suppose you've studied the impact if everyone in the world ate freely of fruits, grains, nuts, seeds, vegetables and legumes. Would you recommend growing all these plants without herbicides and pesticides? What would be the land required, the water (all the resources required). Not to mention the political realities. Very Myopic Mikey, not everyone lives in Beverly Hills. However that said, having everyone be their own herbalist would help in the ultimate goal: Reducing the Population -- try to get that through your vegan skull.
Oh, a bit off subject since vegan mikey loves to spread his gospel throughout these TopDoc boards. You are right about one thing, our govt is screwing us all by not embracing healthcare for all.
Wow...Clearly John has no clear idea of how much it costs to produce meat around the world.
I HIGHLY Suggest before you ATTACK someone without giving any constructive thought to the actual video itself, you actually take the time to do some re-search, as clearly shown from your stupidity in the post above, you have failed to do so.
For starters, please do some actual research as to how much MONEY and FOOD it costs to feed cows at the massive farms around the world. Im sure you did NOT know that MORE money/food goes into sustaining the cows, then what it could actually feed , in terms of humans around the world.
You live in your bubble of hate, and go on your meat eating spree, as clearly you're a meat heater and an aggressive one at that.
Mikey gives tips to help possibly make others healthy and happy...And you sit here like a pompous pr**k talking down upon someone for actually TRYING to help.
In short...you're the pr**k bastard that this film depicts. Kudos
Once we all focus on our health and put down the smokes and the booze, eat right and exercise...people will become extremely bored and kill them selves or live long lives. It will be a while before society really does start to shut off the flat screens (TV's) and get off their asses and go for a walk. Just try to find a Men's medium next time you are in the store. All you see is large, Xl and XXL. I am not a big fan of M M but it is good to see the focus. Mind you though he isn't actually a role model to follow unless you are really far left and like to blame and complain.
You are an ***** if you think the left blames and complains, ESPECIALLY if you saw all his movies and STILL think its that way.
Nothing petrifies me more than every citizen in the United States having health coverage. I mean the mere thought sends a shiver through my body. I mean, having healthy, looked after Americans who don't have to chose between going bankrupt or getting treatment...Oh, yes. Terrifying, indeed.
I am so angry with US Health Care. A man had to choose between which of his two fingers to keep. I am so sad. A medication that cost someone in the US 120 a refill cost .05 cent in Cuba. A child died because she was denied care in an out of Network ER. WTF.
My stupid computer will not let me watch this video for my project i really want to watch it. It sounds interesting from what my friends have told me : (
I'm not a fan of Mike's but I'm not a basher either. The one big message left out of this is Eat right and DON'T CONSULT A PHYSICIAN. Hey I'm just saying... Everyone's worried about health care but nobody's taking care of themselves just worring about who will. Two movies on this site will answer those issue's . Food Inc and A Beautiful Truth. Before you get upset at what I'm saying watch the movies and then get mad at me if you want. I haven't seen a doctor in 10 years and I'm 56. Hey I could die tonight or next week, next year or 20 30 40 years from now I'm DNR so it does't matter. (Do Not Resuscitate. I love life and have taken control of my own health. No secret. I stay away from water processed foods and fast foods. I don't drink pop booze or anything else. I do drink distilled water. and fresh always fresh. Keep a positive attitude and pay attention to every moment. I'm a vet so if push came to shove I am insured but it's my body I'll do what I want to with it. I'm no expert. I drive cab for a living and live in the midwest. All I know is I'm a good person have two great kids and f'd up a great marriage of 17 years. Gerson.org only secret I know (Not FDA approved)
I agree with you, everyone should take care of themselves and avoid their eating habits that affect them. But with this nation's economic problems most people with unfortunate circumstances (unemployed) still need to feed their family. Now it is cheaper to feed a family of six people at Mr.McBurger then it is to buy groceries and make a healthy dinner. There are millions of families that are sunken into cheap fast food, not because they want to, but its "logical" just to save money or what they can afford on a daily basis. Overweight people are concern with their weight, but its not like they want have universal health care just so they get normalized; I'm pretty sure the doctor would tell them to give up the junk food, and exercise. Universal health care its for ALL people, people that do not have to walk in to the emergency and have to choose what their wallet can afford to sow back between a $12,000 finger and a $60,000 finger. Only reason why Moore chose to show us Canada, Britain, France, and even Cuba was to demonstrate the significance what people that care can accomplish.
"And in a country where you can get a plumber in less than an hour, then the same should be true of a doctor" Dr. Marcel Lascar
-If you live in France, you can call a doctor 24/7, will come to your house, give you any medication, and walk out the door making sure YOU are fine. Not a single dime is needed to pay.
How would eating right help the 9-11 first responders?
Tears can only be shed for all of the afflicted, insured, as well as uninsured, in this fearful country of ours, where corporatist lobbyists are preventing us from voting in favor of a referendum on universal health care. There has never been a more propitious time than now to protest at unison against a Corporative State which exploits with impunity our health and common goods.
This documentary opens your eyes to the corruption driven by pure greed of the government of the U.S. Michael Moore did a terrific job at revealing the truth about the Healthcare system. As the Obama adminstration is fighting for a Universal Healthcare system in the U.S., it was no surprise that the same socialist marketing tatics used by the Nixon, Regan adminstration are now being used by the Republican party against the Obama's adminstration healthcare reform intitivae. Depiste the bill passing fairly through congress as soon as the Republican's can control again, what was the first thing on their agenda? To rip-apart the potential for Universal healthcare in this country! These men and women are being bribed through lobbyist moneis from the likes of the healthcare and the drug companies to sale their souls to the devil. Millions of dollars are being lined in their pockets so the people that the swore to protect best interest are being betrayed, how can they look at themselves in the mirror everyday and feel good about themselves, this is truly EVIL. I would bet that there medical needs are met without question or board reviews, these politicans are the exception to universal health care while us the people go uninsured. I work for a company where the owners take home over 500k each per year from tax payer money and provide themselves and their families with the best health insurance while their employees go uninsured. I'm really considering moving to Canada or even France, watching this movie makes me ashamed to me American!
USA =third world country when it comes to healthcare.
Yes it does. And that's just the tip of the brutal capitalist iceberg.
I wonder why you resist? Conservative means do things carefully, thoughfully, traditionally and with a big heart. It does not mean closed to all other views...
Always open to new ideas and views. Do not trust the mainstream media, see for yourself.
I am glad you watched it.... good for you and blessings for you too..
Sure it does. If that there were true, you would support this documentary and stop being a conservative. And pay attention to all the citizens of other countries on here saying its true as well.
How we know where are the REAL AXIS OF EVIL
Out of all the evil in the world, I believe that white-collar crime is the evilest. They murder people legally in the name of paper. What rights do the small people have against a corporate machine: none. This movie makes me cry and I hope one day that corporate greed will end. Where humanity is truly humanity, and not about status, greed, and, pig will. I love America; however, I hate corporate America for its exploitation and its treatment of the sheep that is we.
I Am about to get the government to do my laundry too!
Oh my gosh. I was going to comment to one person here and then kept reading.
I too am a Canadian. I get to see what the US media claims are about our health care system, I have heard campaigning US politicians rail and spurt in opposition to it. I have even seen them use ex-pat Canadians describe how terrible we in Canada, have it, when we need surgery, in their campaign ads.
My advice to anyone who thinks Universal Health Care, is a bad idea, is to:
Come to Canada, or go to England, my birthplace, and deliberately hurt yourself in some way. Do it BIG even, let a car hit you, jump off a building, shoot yourself in the chest, cut off four fingers with a band-saw, or be creative in your own way. Dead to rights, the first thing one of those quack Doctors WOULDN'T ask you is: "Which finger would you like back." or where is your insurance card. AND, you wouldn't have to sell your house or donate a kidney to pay the bill.
But, keep on supporting the corrupt, insurance driven schemes of very wealthy companies. It's a way better system.
I agree!!!! I'm proud to be a CANADIAN!!!!!! I am leaving US soon whether my husband like it or not, he can stay here if he wants to coz I'm going home!!!!!!
This is one of the few movies that I can say has brought tears to my eyes. The part that bothered me the most was the woman who lost her little one because the hospital wouldn't take the particular insurance plan and told her to transport the child by herself. I may not be a parent, but little ones should be taken care of regardless at no cost because they are our future. I know what it is to be in a profession that dosn't offer health care plans and if they did the cost would be very high. As stated before if here in America if we took some of the taxes that are used to pay for our military funding and used for universal healthcare instead everyone in america would be healthier. Also If we put a cap on the incomes of the politicians of say $40 K a year or even less instead of $100 + K a year those monies could be used else where.
Yeah...great idea...like, putting a cap on politicians incomes. And who would legislate for this wonderful concept? Politicians?... give me a f*****' break.
It's us, the sheeple, who have to make the changes. Withdraw your support to the system...simple. Make a list of all the things you reckon will hurt these greedy bastards, then, at ever opportunity, hit the blood-suckers. WITHDRAW, THROW YOUR CARDS ON THE TABLE AND LEAVE THE GAME.
Wow what a very wonderfully simple and extra-ordinarily moving piece of film work by the amazingly considerate humane Michael Moore
Well, I can talk by experience, I was living in the UK, competely broke, and I once broke my wrist while cycling, the NHS picked me up, x ray, cast, the lot, then they got me in a cab with my manged bike and sent me home.. Total cost.. 0.
No questions, no Who are you? no paperwork.
Amazing.
I'm from Canada, and I'm only 16- I may not know much about the world, but I do know this: I'd rather pay taxes like crazy, and make sure that my healthcare, my family's healthcare and the healthcare of strangers is paid for. I am originally from the US. When I was 5, my dad got cancer, and we went bankrupt, and lost our home. We moved to Canada to live with my mom's family and honestly, I could not be happier that I live here now. Sure, it's not perfect, but at least people aren't dying because they're denied treatment. And you're all sadly mistaken if you think you have to wait for months to visit a doctor. If you want to know what universal healthcare is like, come talk to someone who's experienced universal healthcare and NO healthcare.
oh CANADA!!!!!!!! Proud to be a Canadian!
what people don't realize about universal healthcare and higher taxes is the concept of expanding the pool. the MORE people that pay into a system the better a deal we ALL get. (hence the mandatory insurance in the healthcare 'reform')
the problem is that we're so divided as individuals that we can't see helping other people now and being able to accept help later when we need it. we want instant gratification instead of thinking of the future.
if egypt can get rid of mubarak in 18 days then america is not completely lost. we can get rid of the corporations that corrupt the government and treat us like garbage all for the sake of their bottom line.
there is no heaven, we need to fix this life instead of pining for the next one!
I am Canadian and as much as our health care might have some issues it is by far overall much better than some other Countries. It should never matter how rich or poor you are, we should all have the right for good health care and never have to make choices to die because we cannot afford health care. It's sad
I've resisted watching this movie since it came out, oh, how long ago?
Today, I was bored so I watched. I'm a conservative who suddenly and sincerely feels as if I've had the wool pulled over my eyes for far too long.
This movie has made me question everything I think I know about my country.
yeah! We need to start the Universal Health Care this revolution now!!!!
When the question of universal health care is raised, all that most Americans think of is more taxes. But what I think you guys are failing to realise is that your government is punking you off as is. From the IRS to credit card companies etc. The way I see it, is that USA can't get any worse. Bottom line is if your not paying higher taxes for a real health care system, they will just find another way to milk money out of you. That's what America DOES BEST. I hope that's understandable.
I want to move to France!!
A couple of years ago, I had some blood in my stools for six days. A friend of my brother's, who is a doctor, let me do some work for him to help pay for his time spent with me. He suggested that I get a colonoscopy to see if I might have some internal problems. I had a $5000 deductible, so I checked to be sure what the price would be. I was told the procedure would cost about $1700 total (doctor & hosptial). The bill was $3600, but the insurance company wouldn't allow them to charge any more than $3000 (thanks, but I thought $1700 was a lot for a 2-hour procedure). They found a polyp (did I spell that right?) and a bunch of little ulcers in my colon/intestines. The doctor said I might have a mild form of Crohn's disease. My work has slowed down due to the bad economy, which is especially bad in my field, the construction industry. I went back to the doctor once, who told me to not worry about the problem if I didn't feel pain. (5 minutes=$100) I didn't want to spend another $100 just to hear the same thing, so I didn't go back when he asked me to. I probably should be checked out more, but I don't want to go broke from paying for tests and doctor visits. I've worked one day in the past two months. In 2005, I made over $100,000. I still have the same skills, but now I can't find any job. In the US, if you happen to get sick at the wrong time, when you are low on funds, or if you are sick enough that you can't work and it becomes impossible to pay your health insurance premium, it's just tough luck for you, buddy. I would have to go broke or die, or both. Can't we find some non-corrupt people who care about their fellow man enough to offer a better system? And can't we find enough Americans who are smart enough to vote for them? We need to start a revolution!
In answer to your question: no, informed people like you and me can't. I've tried to expatriate myself to Europe so many times since I was nineteen, failing each and every, and now I am just hoping for a severe illness because, this being the USA, I know it will kill me. The situation has made me severely mentally ill but unfortunately my body just keeps on ticking.
Fantastic documentary.
As a nurse I worked in the USA from Canada 16 years ago. I worked in a Private Hospital so all our patients had insurance. After telling patients I was from Canada and interested in the cost of American Health Care I asked if their insurance covered their medical costs. The responses I received shocked me. Not once were health care costs 100% covered. Some patients had huge out-of-pocket expenses but worse was the frequently heard delay to seek treatment due to the anticipated, and feared cost. Minor injuries would become major, expensive issues or serious illness became life threatening when treatment was delayed.
As much as I love the States I knew, as a health care professional, that I couldn't live or work permanently in such a system. Also I was acutely aware that with time most people develop some form of medical problem. I didn't feel living in the US was worth the risk if I developed a condition that could potentially wipe out my finances or reduce my life span in such an challenging health care environment.
The USA health care system is more costly and less efficient than most, if not all, western countries in the world. WIth no regrets I've returned to live in Australia which has a universal health care system. The peace of mind which such a system provides is worth the extra taxes.
Sicko!! that is the only word that can describe all this. If a child dies because her mother can't afford to pay for medicine there is something terribly wrong with your country.
I don't, I can not understand how can somebody let other people die and they even tell you in the face, it is because of the money.
America is really f--ked up country, and I live in Bosnia. But like in America, here end everywhere in the world people are sleeping, acting like a sheep's.
Money, money, greed, money, prestige, money, greed, until we overcome this, we will be the worst kind in the universe.
Nina--"our taxes are very high" in Canada. There's no substantial difference for a family of 4 with two wage earners bringing in (say) $90,000 gross income. After all taxes are applied it's about the same--except, Canadians are not paying $5000 for health premiums. We pay nothing for health premiums. Were way ahead.
Nina--you forgot that the US, with ten times the population as Canada, is also collecting ten times the taxes and has 10 times the revenue. It can afford a system like ours if it were to cut back its 5% GDP spending on Defence to something closer to Canada's--less than one per-cent.
I live in Canada. I was treated for Cancer 5 years ago. It cost nothing and I pay no premiums for myself and my many children.
Our taxes compared to the US are very close to the same. Consider this: The US spends 5% of it's Gross Domestic Product on Defence. Canada spends less than 1% of it's GDP on defence. That's one of the reasons we can have a good health care system without higher taxes than the US.
I hasten to add that our tax system imposes a heavier burden of income tax on the top earners within Canada than does the US system on its top earners.In other words, it's fairer.
The only socialism within the Canadian system is at the top. The insurance is not in place to create profit. It exists to extend the best possible care to everyone within the country without regard for current health status.
A system that runs on a competitive- for profit basis is absolutely barbaric. When will Americans wake-up? It affects me because I have friends in the US with or without health insurance that sometimes have to make horrible decisions, like -will our son go to College or will dad have a tumour removed from his stomach?
Barbaric is the word for it.
they are trying to do the same thing here in Ireland. We have witch running the health service whose husband is involved in private healthcare, a pair of fraudsters, but as someone said, you can't hide the truth, thank goodness for the internet. As Michael Moore said, until we talk about "we" instead of "me" these billionaires who make fortunes out of other people's woes, things will not change. Rise up people, dont let them wear you down!
Hi there, just found this site looking for Sicko. Well done a wonderful site. I have posted link to Sicko on a couple of blogs. Thank you for uploading it and thank you to Michael Moore, wonderful man. Liked that bit about paying for Moorewatch's wife's health care lol! Big insurance companies and drug companies running the world. This is what they don't want you to hear. Keep up the good work!
@Der Oberst
how much do u have to pay exactly in taxes?
@Der Oberst actually in the U.K its free for everyone and its state funded you don't need health insurance .... like it is in alot of western countries.
Cubans Rock
Americans have a lot of patience; I would go nuts and do something drastic if I had to live there.
Americans aren't patient. They're brainwashed and enslaved. Big difference. No one protests anything for fear of reprisals.
Canada's health care system is not free. Our taxes are very high. And yes you have to wait months to get to see a doctor or surgery. On the other hand we lose our doctors to the U.S. Market they migrate there because they make big $ down there.
There are 300 million people living in the U.S. There are only 35 million living in Canada. Do the math. The U.S. would go bankrupt if they had free medical care.
Sorry, I forgot to say IT SUCKS!
Jenny, If you have lots of money you get great health care as far as our doctors are concerned. The reason I stated it that way is most of the medical schools are funded/run by 'Big Pharma'. I was surprised that many of the Dr.s didn't know about more NATURAL remedies that seem to work in combination with our 'modern medicine'.
Before CA's Medi-Cal program became managed-care with the private insurers THE CARE WAS EXCELLENT, BUT NO-FRILLS. That wasn't a problem.
After it became managed care (I had Blue Cross) it was more like a paper chase. I spent 8 yrs. trying to get papers signed by the doctors to give to the dept. of social services and NEVER HAD MY MEDICAL ISSUE RESOLVED AFTER MANAGED CARE.
I was treated very differently by the doctors after regular Medi-Cal was stopped for most that had it. I was lucky (if you can call it that) to have 90-120 seconds face to face with a Dr.
There's much more to the almost nightmare I went through! I at least cured one of my problems myself. I had very high blood pressure because of the chronic pain & MY BACK which was the reason for going to the Dr. in the first place.
I was on blood pressure meds, 800mg. Motrin 3X day for 5 yrs. Well I cured my high blood pressure by STOPPING the meds & I stopped going to the Dr. It does raise when pain is X-tra bad. Not long after that I lost even that health care as I no longer had children under 18.
Oh I hurt my back in relation to a car accident. I needed physical therapy & rehab. care. I didn't receive either after managed care. I ended up with emergency exploratory surgery in which my gallbladder was removed. The Dr.s said I made it to the ER just in time. They said it would have ruptured & I would have died. I believe the meds. caused it as I NEVER had problems with my gallbladder.
Oh another thing is the doctors on duty DIDN'T accept my 'managed care' plan, but they DID ACCEPT REG. Medi-Cal! I was out of luck there because I could NOT go back on reg. M/C!
I am still disabled with fibromyalgia and a bad back along with a crack in my hip bone.
I can no longer do what I enjoyed, dancing, walking, shopping, or much anything else that requires physical mobility. When the few times I do anything even laundry I pay dearly.
I am writing an essay based on health care system in US, can someone tell some information about that?
You need to see his film "Capitalism: A Love Story" That was hard to watch. Like with this one I had to take many breaks & I cried too.
I agree, Potter. It was hard for me to watch it, too. I must have had to take 5 breaks and cried at least as many times for these poor people.
And what's more sad is that this is not uncommon here.
I have impending surgery that is desperately needed. I'm having to save up my own money, nearly 6k, to cover what my healthcare does not. And to add insult to injury? I served in the military (as I stated previously).
I got 10 minutes into the documentary, and could not watch the rest. It is just too tragic and disheartening. Just think, those heartless Republicans did not seem to want to protect these hard-working folks, who are trying to live the 'American dream', and now want to repeal even the limited reforms that exist now. How patriotic is that?
@Dawn:
Seems like you know so much about taxes, show us some evidence. And I will show you that Americans pay more taxes than most of Europe.
For one thing in France besides free health care, there is even free college education among other things, college education can be called a hidden tax, right?
If you have to pay for your health care that is also a hidden tax, etc: etc:
I think all Americans who dont like their health care system and want universal health care should move to Canada, France, UK or perhaps even Cuba. Seems like lots of Americans are living in those countries so they can get free health care, so if its so great there, why not join them? Maybe expatriates will be happy with their new health care system, but may not be so happy with the taxes, a subject in which Moore conveniently left out. Moore tries to convince us that all this medical care is "free". We are smart enough to know, nothing is free. Doctors, nurses, therapists, dentists don't work for free. Why doesn't Moore make his movies free??? He is a multi millionaire, kinda like the insurance companies he criticizes.
Reading the comments here and the moral support you're offering to each other shows how much you actually care about another human being - something not reflected by making people pay for being sick.
Hey guys
I have to look at a documentary and look at the resistant reading. Now obviously the dominant reading is that health care in the US sucks and is extremely bias. Therefore if anybody can point out gaps and silences for me please let me know.
USA sucks on so many levels. Best country in the world my ass.
Canada is not very much better off then the states, we just don't hear about it as much. We (canada) got rid of free speech before you guys, and had eugenics groups in canada until the early 70's, just as a few examples. We just live in ignorance on here more. Most canadians would rather point there fingers at the U.S.A., which leaves us in what we think would be a buffer zone of some sort. wake up canadians!
I hear you, Randy.
Living here in America and being someone minoring in sociology and majoring in journalism, I must say I've become entirely jaded to American 'ways'. My girlfriend is getting a degree in the medical field and with this documentary and many other first-person accounts of shock and horror, I feel like if I am to live a happy, healthy life, I cannot do it here in the states.
I had hope riding with Obama, but it almost looks like he's going to go the way of Hilary Clinton. Why can't people open their eyes and stop complaining and worrying about things? Why must people be so greedy? Do they not see that the greed and extreme pride we have is killing us? We have one of the worst systems for so many things but we are too prideful to admit it or change for the better.
I have pride in my country- the soil on which I was born and the family I have here that I love more than life itself.
I love my country dearly and I have 4 years of prior service in the Air Force to show for it, but I know I will find myself going the ways of my ancestors shortly... To leave my home country which has turned its back on its own people to search for a better place to raise a family. One where we don't run the risks of being thrown on the streets because of physical ailments we cannot avoid.
I cannot live in a country where the government can get fat and rich on my money, but not even offer help me or my future children when we are dying. The more I see, from this documentary and other sources as well including personal experience, the more I am disgusted and th more I feel justified in my somewhat controversial decision. Believe me when I say that I do not want to leave. I wish I could stay and feel secure, but I don't have that security there.
I love my country, but I spit on the American government. For shame, you fat, disgusting pigs. You are going the way of Rome very quickly. Open your eyes and remove your heads from your slop-bins filled with the dollar bills of your poor and hurting. You are a government of ultimate betrayal.
BTW, you are a lucky person to live in Canada!
I love my country, but it has strayed far from the path that our Founders laid out for it.
@Blondiekins
You are not lyin'
I'm American, and it's terrible over here. One of the reasons I dropped out of medical school was that I saw how depraved the American medical system was becomming.
But, what the hell? Am I right?
Nobody gets out alive.
This is the second time I have watched this documentary, although the truths contained within are no new news for us Canadians. It brings tears to my eyes at the blatant disregard for human life from our southern brothers and sisters. The people have to revolt, the system is so corrupt it is the only way. How many billions has been spent on a fictitious war? The downward spiral into third world country status will be fast and not painless, but perhaps then reform will happen.
Im so Glad im European, I would seriously never move to America... vacation.. ok... but i could never live there... if i was to move to any equivalent to the US it would be Australia.
It seems to me that America is so afarid to look even a little bit like their European heritage that they would rather suffer and have all kinds of f@#$% up laws, instead of using their common sense. Land of the free... Right... :/
mike you rock, you are one good friend who can actually share a piece of information. As an immigrant I could only know so much about my adoptive country. Don't get me wrong I am still thankful for the opportunities. I probably learn things that would of cost me tuition and time. yup! anymore films coming up? they should put you into schools, so that these kids would actually be informed. I love you man! You want to be president? you are an American lol
My aunt works for Kaiser and is constantly complaining to us about how they're just screwing with people's health or sometimes their lives. Unfortunately, my family members are the only ones that hear from her about certain "happenings" because she's too afraid to lose her job. Heck, I was raised with Kaiser. It wasn't until I was a teenager that I began to understand why my mom would wait until last minute to take me to the hospital to get seen for anything. When I was 16, I began to have blood in my stool that was inconsistent with anal fissures and hemorrhoids. I had seen doctor after doctor for the next year. While the personality of each one had varied, all but one had kept me on a treatment of suppositories that clearly weren't working. Finally, one doctor had referred me to a gastroenterologist because of my family history with colon cancer. I felt like I was finally getting somewhere just when I thought it was time to give up. The specialist was incredibly nice and his explanations of the colonoscopy were simple to understand. Unfortunately, I was denied the exam by Kaiser, regardless of the fact that Kaiser's own doctor had requested it, because of my age. That was the final blow. I began to question the trust I once had in doctors of all practices, but I now know it is not the doctors I should necessarily question but the system they are forced to work in.
I feel lucky that I now have access to TriCare and live in Germany while I am pregnant with my first. I received most of my prenatal care in the states and didn't arrive here until the beginning of my third trimester. I love being here! And I will gladly say the care here is much better than anything back home.
But at the same time, I feel terrible that everyone I know back home still has to deal with all of that BS. For instance, an old high school friend of mine was kicked off of her dad's insurance plan a few years ago because she wasn't a full-time college student, she can't afford even "cheap" insurance, and even if she could afford it no one will take her since she has heart problems and anxiety attacks.
I just don't understand why so many people (even some of my family) are against a universal health care system. Why, because they've paid for it all this time? Well, good for them. Yet wouldn't it be better to take care of one another rather than be a greedy fool? I mean, if you saw someone recently in an accident with serious injuries, do you hope for the best or do you think they might as well be tossed aside in a ditch because you don't want to pay higher taxes?
Good to be in Canada. Longer lines, but it's free. Lucky UK has shorter lines.
I'm English and lived in the U.S. for ten years. I have a friend there who had a thyroid problem but couldn't afford medication for it till her father died and left her some money. Her ex husband recently needed a heart by-pass operation and he had to sell his house to pay for it.
We complain about the NHS in the U.K. but it's the best thing that ever happened to us.
Jeff Y,
Sorry to hear about your situation. You were able to sue your insurance company? Most policies MANDATE arbitration now. They big monied corporations in this country managed to take away our CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO GO TO COURT (with the blessing of our elected reps) & instead have grievances heard in arbitration hearings by a judge that is MOONLIGHTING for big $$$$$. These people are very biased in favor of the business that hired them. If I'm not mistaking you cannot appeal the decision in arbitration.
I know the kind of pain you you have. It's not living when you have pain all the time. It's TORTURE, but for what? Just existing or trying to isn't a way to live, sometimes I pray to die because the pain is so bad. If I could I'd trade 20 hours of having the pain of labor every year if I could be like I was before the rest of the time.
What I'd like to know is what morals are the politicians (mostly Republicans) always talking about? How about the "claim" that this country was founded on Christianity & still is? What those elected have done & are doing is to sell us out for the corporate money they get if they do what the corporations want. No matter how it hurts "Main Street". They outsourced most of the good paying jobs to 3rd world countries, import cheaper foreign workers for those they couldn't outsource. To make matters worse they allowed & have encouraged unfettered illegal immigration. That results in wages being pushed down again & again. Amnesty will only further wages being pushed down even more! It won't stop illegals from coming either. It will do the opposite!
American citizens DON'T GET FREE HEALTH CARE, BUT ILLEGALS DO! That is WRONG!
I am currently at the mercy of the medical system with a bulging disc that is resting on my left leg's sciatic nerve. You would think that since the accident that caused it was on the job so it would be covered right? As I sit here with a messed up sleeping habit, a leg that loses power, shakes, kicks for no reason, goes numb, has shooting pain and creates pain with every step in the area that I can only imagine as the source of the problem, I can say without a doubt that no matter the insurance, the system has failed. I am currently in a court case against my former employer and the insurance company. It has been almost 2 years now and it is finally almost done. As I say that, I wonder if I have jinxed it. For those that say Americans are dumb, I'll agree, which is part of the problem. After defending her, taking care of her, and being a contributing part of her, I feel that America has not reciprocated. My wife is also experiencing health problems. I am thinking that once we are done with our education, we are both currently working on our bachelors, that maybe we should take it to a country that will not turn it's back on us for our hard work.
Capitolism is just not a good system when it comes to certain things. In the general market it is fine but when it comes to things like health care, utilities, insurance, eductaion, child care, and several others it is just not ethical or productive. The Republicans have tried so hard to privatize everything for a reason. These things are necessary and they know if they can control themn they can charge what ever they see fit and we will have to pay it. More than that they will have a mechanism of control that is strong and direct. I am thinking very hard about moving out of this country to further my education and build a new life after my parents pass away. Of course I would never be able to come up with the money I would need to move and all probably- Can't even make ends meet yet much less get ahead.
Seeing the women put out on the street like last weeks garbage after being released from the hospital made me have to literally take a moment of silence. Is it worth it to be an American?
@John Seals
Thank you for the kind words. I went to the Dr. when I hurt my back & was also diagnosed with severe carpal tunnel.I know it was related to the car accident 2 yrs. earlier. I NEVER got treated for my back except for prescriptions, (which I know caused other health problems, like thyroid & HBP)after CA changed the reg. Medi-Cal for managed care.
I was healthy & active. I LOVED to DANCE! Now I can't.I learned how to do lots of things. I had been a pretty good mechanic for more than 14 years, it was fun. I learned how to sew, redesign clothes I already had, cooked, baked, decorated & kept a "spic & span" house. Learned how to do some plumbing, window panes, patching the garage roof in a down-pour, from the inside! Never leaked again! I learned how to fix quite a few other items, Including the washing machine. I taught myself by reading & viewing online demos.
Sorry for getting off track. I miss being able to do........
I'm trying to figure out what CA paid for... all I know is I ended up worse than before I went to the Dr.the first time.
The time I did have the State paid Medi-Cal I received excellent care. Not fancy but decent care. I believe that had they NOT changed I wouldn't be disabled.
@ Cathy
Wow, at least I didn't have it as bad as you. I wish i could help you somehow, of course I can't. I know some what how you feel, I never had life threatening injuries. Have you tried any local charities, I know it is hard to ask but its your life we are talking about.
As far as i go Achems your right, what doesn't kill you will make you stronger. I am definetly stronger than when this all began. And something good is coming of it, I am starting over. I wasn't really happy with my IT job and didn't really want to teach theology. Its hard for me to sit home three and four days a week and not get depressed. I hate sitting still, I like to move forward or change course. It's all good though, Cathy sounds like she has some real issues though, I wish you well Cathy. Keep us informed.
I wonder what family values do we really have? They keep screaming family values on Capitol Hill, I want to know where they are.
Maybe our gov. is the "Great Satan" I see NOTHING that resembles anything CHRISTIAN. It's sad.......
Somehow I have to find a way to leave this country if I don't want to die from no health care. even though it passed in this country, the same health insurance companies are what you get to choose from.
I just wish there was somewhere warm I could go. Cold weather is bad for my condition.
@ John Seals:
Sorry to hear all that John, I suppose most people have their trials and tribulations though. certainly had my share, but what does not kill you makes you stronger.
I do not know what to tell you, only hang in there, life is still grand and everybody matters. It is the little things in life that are worth living for.
My motto is F**k everything, nobody owns you.
@ John Seals
I know how you feel. I wonder why I survived my car accident to end up the way I am now, Fibromyalgia, jacked up back & hip & more. I DID RECEIVE GREAT health care when CA had regular Medi-Cal, but they changed to managed care. From then on it was a "catch-22 paper chase". All I received was prescriptions for 800mg of generic Motrin, 3x a day, for 5 years, then I needed emergency exploratory surgery- was my gall bladder- 100% gangrenous. They told me I was lucky to get to the hospital when I did. It goes downhill from there!
Man that is screwed up. I have a lot of debt from an old car wreck that broke my spine in two places. I get letters all the time but I just toss them. I assumed at the worse they would get a settlement for garnishment against me but so far so good. Thier is no way i can pay the debt, its over forty grand. I have thought of bankruptcy but my lawyer says wait as long as I can. My disablity settlement covered a lot of it as it was retro active, but thiers plenty left. Funny how you can be just going to work one day and the next you will never do that kind of work again. I had started welding, cause believe it or not I can make more money doing that around here than I can in IT. Now I really can't do either, I help out at the local Junior college now, in the theology department. Life is so very different now- lots of pain on a constant basis, I feel like I don't matter anymore, and my wife split. I just take care of my parents and try and stay busy, spend a lot of time here lately. Does everyone feel like dying now, sorry- did not mean to bum you all out. I gotta get over this funk.
@ Nielsch
Amen brother, I wished I could come thier. Sounds like a great place. Of course if all us Americans come running over thier we will bring the sickness with us, trust me. capitolism gone amuck, it is the American way. Above all make that dollar for you and yours right now, all other considerations are mute. I am not sure where along the way we all seem to get this ingrained into our thought pattern but I think it comes at an early age here.
Also you cannot discharge a student loan by bankruptcy in usa.
With you forever. Not so in Canada.
@ John Seals
I read it on alternet.org
In fact if you ignore a summons, even if it was delivered by regular mail & looks like it came from a collection agency you can be arrested for not showing up in court. Most people with debt ignore mail from creditors, collections & so forth. I recently found out that the statute of limitations for old CC debt in CA is 4 years! Wish I'd known that sooner.
@ John Seals:
I do believe that Florida, has debtors prison. Among others.
@Achems Razor, yeah, most of the fruit you buy in the store has NO FLAVOR. I found out it is because they pick it before it's ripe so it will survive the transport to wherever.
They poison us from here & there, in fact from EVERYWHERE! Heaven forbid the FAT CATS lose a dime! Must keep us sick to ensure that they keep making obscene amounts of money so they can continue to buy our so-called elected reps. who have sold us out to the highest bidder! Isn't that treason?
@ Cathy Consoli
I was unaware of any debtors prison in the US. Can you explain please? I have heard of garnishments, seizure of property, even siezure of federal tax returns- but not jail. i had a friend, well I knew the guy I wouldn't call him a friend, but he got a car and never paid a single payment. It was one of those zero down- zero interest for so many months type deals. So he never gave a penny and even hid out with the car when they tried to repo it. Now he went to jail for fraud but that was cause they proved he never intended to pay. he had told someone he was going to get the car and not pay and just keep it as long as possible. This constitutes fraud as he signed an agreement with the fore knowledge that he would not live up to it. But I was unaware they could arrest you for just owing a debt that you intended to pay but couldn't.
Like all of Michael Moore's doc's they make you sad, cry, angry & mad about what's really happening in this country!
They say we have free health care in this country, the ER. That's only true if you have no Social Security number or any other form of ID.
They will send collections after you, garnish pay, place liens on your property & get judgments, take you bank account money even if it is Social Security, Veterans benefits, etc. They will also take money from a joint bank account, even if all the $ left in it isn't yours, but your disabled adult son's SSI!
@ Cathy Consoli:
Strawberries you say, am in Canada, trying to eat CA. Cal Fruit strawberries, tasteless and bland, like eating cardboard, never again will purchase anything from USA!
Thanks for the info.
The latest thing in this country (US) for those in debt is JAIL!!!!!!!!!!
Yet the BANKSTERS... corporate CRIMINALS DON'T GET ANY PUNISHMENT FOR THEIR CRIMES!
Now they're trying to put more poisons on CA strawberries! The one they want to use is a neurotoxin!
I have had insurance on and off for years-paying a disturbing amount. I have recently become ill in many areas-and because I had thyroid problems one of the times I was on BCBS it is considered a preexisting condition with BCBS because I had a short time between with no insurance. I now have to pay $350 mo. for individual insurance (I am only 30) and have to pay for my doctor visits, CAT scan, and whatever else lies ahead. I am a victim of the economy (unemployed), the ruined environment (sick) and health insurance. I'm sure it is only a matter of time before I lose what little I have left. I am not so patriotic anymore.
Now I know why I didn't receive any treatment for my back & fibromyalgia when CA changed to managed care from reg. Medi-Cal. At least my carpal tunnel was SUCCESSFULLY TREATED BEFORE MANAGED CARE!
All I got were prescriptions of 800mg of Motrin 3x day for 5 years. It destroyed my gall bladder. I ended up with many more health problems.
I originally went to the Dr. because I hurt my back! I WAS NEVER TREATED FOR IT EXCEPT FOR THE MOTRIN! IT DIDN'T REALLY WORK THAT WELL FOR PAIN. On a scale of 1-10 & 10 being the worst, my pain went from 12 to 10 with the Motrin!
AND TAXPAYERS PAID FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT! HOW DO YOU TREAT A PATIENT BY JUST WRITING A PRESCRIPTION?
@ Nielsch- You list what America means to you and most Europeans-- Good points, I am an American, and you sum the list up well. Some Americans believe that about America too (maybe even most Americans. Truth be told
@ hate machine,
you dont really think that the point of this documentry was to simply
"It was to make France (and many other) health care systems seem much better."
Michael Moore is an american, why would he make a docu that makes his country look so bad, unless he felt that the situation was bad enough that it needed to be brought to the attention of people all around the world.
It is apparent to me from both the doc and the comments here that America has tricked the world into thinking that the are a patriotic country who stand together, but it does not take too much scratching under the surface to discover how devastatingly divided that the whole country is.
@charlie - This was the point of the document. It was to make France (and many other) health care systems seem much better.
Check out
"Frontline - Sick around the world"
Its a good docu' that isn't nearly as biased as Moores films.
I love America, but France has never sounded so good.
This is some sick stuff :|
Where I'm from, the Netherlands, the moment you get born you're automaticcaly health-insured (no matter what condition you might have) by our government. If you saw off your finger, it gets re-attached practically for free, for it wouldn't serve the public interest if you'd lose you're job because of it.
The way the American population has been brainwashed by fear of socialism (among other things), and congress hijacked by legalized corruption (called lobbyists) is so freaking shocking and bizarre to me :S
Almost like a third world country if you'd add up the following:
- Corporations making millions from other people's suffering
- Corruption
- Unemployment
- Poverty
- Health insurance conditions
- Waging wars non-stop
- No social benefits for the poor and the weak
- Huge gap between the very rich and the very poor
- Locking up millions of people for a bit of weed
- Unbelievable defecit and debt (really.. too f*cking huge!)
- Gangproblems (I couldn't even imagine those here)
- You can buy a shotgun, but a bit of pot is illegal..??
I could go on for a while, but the list above sums up pretty good of what America means to me and a lot of Europeans.
Glad i'm not living there!
@ eh tee
im with you, i live in australia and we have a similar system to the canadian system.
we live in a country where we can access whatever we need for free. we can change doctors, see specialists and have all treatments done without costing a cent.
we also have the option to get private cover if we want but everyone in my country is given equal access.
we do not have people selling their houses to pay for medical costs or who getting denied cover that they have paid for, infact that sounds ludicrous to me.
i was really sad watching this film knowing that so many people in america are scared of something so great.
we take for granted in this country that when you are out of work you will be supported, that if you are a single mother you will be supported, if you are elderly you will be supported.
i would not want things any other way.
oh how i love canada...id rather pay a few bucks tax then pay 60,000 incase i lose a finger
three cheers for canada!
@LET
You're correct with your thoughts regarding my "free ride" statement, but let me clarify I don't actually feel like this it was more of a frustrated, defensive comment.
Their is a list at the bottom of the link I gave you which ranks Canada at 30th in terms of quality of health care and America at 37th.
If we are to go off of what the documentary says then my comments are absolutely ludicrous. But I'm actually basing my opinion on first hand knowledge from friends in the states with premium health care plans. One of whom got seriously ill while in Canada and compared his treatment here with that of a third world country. He actually fled to the United States in very bad condition to get his condition properly treated. This is a very compelling film but one must recognize that Mr. Moore is well aware of the power of propaganda and uses it by presenting facts selectively (thus possibly lying by omission).
My opinion on health care in Canada and in The States is that they both are in DESPERATE need of reform. The States needs regulations and Canada well, I would be all for trying out semi-privatized health care (seems to be working in Quebec). But I am well aware that wouldn't fix all the problems.
I am a the type of person who likes to see an equal playing field and have all sides considered objectively. So if some American was bashing our health care system I would point out the good it does compared to the American model. When I see this film and it's inaccurate depiction of health care in Canada, and all the Canadians seemingly full of themselves because of it, it makes me want to bring them back down to reality.
who are we indeed...this is the saddest thing i have ever watched i want to move to France
I agree with @ P.F.:
A lot of Americans are coming across the border into Canada to try and get free health care illegally. There are whole websites on that, costing Canada millions if not billions.
I think Young is just talking off the top of his head. I don't think he has the experience to know what we're saying. I don't think he really understands what we go through. I mean, Sicko shows you how we're charged for everything. Young, We have to wait for months and most of the time our insurance companies purposely try to deny us coverage... we have to wait for care but the depth of our coverage is based upon economics. One person can have one type of insurance and have tests, surgery and all costs paid for. The next person may have a different type of insurance that doesn't cover all of the expenses or there isn't a greater return for the doctor, so they are denied further tests and even surgery.
I could have breast cancer right now but I'll never know because my insurance won't allow me to be seen. I had a doctor tell me he could remove the lumps in my breast and test them but when he looked at my insurance he told me to just live with the lumps. Its amazing to me to see someone put down a system where they can go to another doctor if they so choose and get that test result, when many, many people in the U.S. cannot.
Did you not see on the news this summer the long lines of people for days on out when they were having free health-care camps set up in certain locations in the U.S. These were doctors volunteering their services and there were so many people that they had to turn them away, some waiting days in line. And as far as your money stretching here, there are young professionals who are living without health insurance because the premiums are too high and we're floating the bills for millions of illegals while we are billed and many end up losing their homes over hospital bills.
Young, do you know how many people would trade places with you right now? My god, be grateful because if you actually did come over to this side of the border, you'd have a rude awakening. You'd realize that Big Business lining Big Business' pockets is whats important here, not our general welfare. You'd realize how truly blessed you are! And if you had to pay health-care here in the U.S. you're money wouldn't go very far.
Also I forgot to address your point you made (young) about how far your money would go in America for quality healthcare rather than here in Canada. I just wanted to remind you that the QUALITY of the healthcare systems on an international scare have been ranked, and, like the documentary said (and its almost a known universal fact now), America has been ranked at 37, while Canada is at the top of the ladder. So I am not sure how you think your going to get better quality healthcare in America, when their quality has been ranked so much lower than ours?
I just wanted to say how offensive it is for you to say that I am "taking a free ride" - Maybe you should live in America if your attitude is so elitist, you would fit right in. It is that kind of attitude that has always impeded progress in the world, and been the cause of the "I am better than you" attitude that keeps so many people all over the world living in the most gruesome conditions while the few rich prosper. I have always believed a prosperous country is one that takes care of the poorest and finds a way to make them working members of society. Just because I work in a grocery store and don't make as much money as you do doesn't mean I am any less deserving of the type of healthcare you receive. Just for the record, I am a Master's student at the moment, so I really can't commit to a full time professional job, so I work in the service sector to supplement my schooling costs. I pay my taxes just the way you do, but unlike the American government, they make sure the people who don't make the right amount of money pay their taxes appropriately, just not on the levels you do. But the point is, is that I still contribute. I am happy where I work in a system where students like me can live and be protected while we work on living out our dreams. And in the future I will be happy to pay my taxes in that same system (when I have finally reached the pinnacle of my career)where me and my kids will be entitled to healthcare without fear of rejection or insurance companies, and they too will be protected and taken care of the same way I was.
Europe's healthcare isn't so great anymore either. Ever since we've had the compulsory system, a lot of things have been taken out of the insurance and you now have to pay for them. For me that includes my anti anxiety medication (I have had panic disorder for YEARS and suddenly I have to pay up), all dentist work (I don't go anymore) and lots of other things. On top of that, I pay double of what I used to pay.
I want the old government health insurance back :(
sad
@ Young:
Any pertinent data I put on these forums is always checked by me via internet.
Check statistics Canada, for my inclusion of number of people working in Canada.
Achemz Razor
I got that number from an article I read sometime ago. The information they gave was when you take into account students, retired, senior citizens, wel-fare, unemployment, those not working and not on unemployment, children, disabled, stay at home parents, you are left with 3.3 million. Could be an underestimate, but your number seems like a gross overestimate.
I am in no way an advocate for the privatized health care system of the United States. I don't think they're health care system is better than Canada's BUT I do think it would be better for me.
Achemz Razor
"Are you just pondering? I do not see your point on this topic."
The purpose of my original comment was to show that our health care system in Canada is not a free, fairy-tale perfect system as depicted in the film, it is falling apart and is in drastic need of reform. I was not whining about what I had to go through but rather drawing on my own bad experiences to show that point. So please don't tell me I should be grateful with what we have rather than working for something better.
P.F
"We aren’t that lucky in America. We are driven in debt, driven to make harsh sacrifices or they are made for us based upon income and politics."
You say that it's my attitude which is to blame for the system you unfortunately have. I would say it's your attitude which is the reason it's in bad shape. Your above comment implies that you, as a citizen, are powerless to change the country your living in. It's that kind of apathetic approach which will ensure it never gets any better.
@ Young:
You say only 3.3 million people are working in Canada?
I sure do not know where you get your info. from?
There are approx. 14 million people working at one time in Canada.
Actually Women outnumber Men at 7.1 million Females. 6.9 million Males.
@Achemz
Again...ummm diabetic here. All my medical costs will not be covered free by the federal health care system. I am out of work right now. Do you think I was living check to check? I financial plan for times like this. In fact, If I had to pay $300 a month on a medical plan I would still be covered for at least another 2 years without work before I have to reconsider. It's called being responsible for your own life.
P.F
I am not claiming to know much about what happens with health care in America but you seem to be claiming you know a lot about it here in Canada. It;s not perfect, not even close, you have to wait hours upon hours to get anything short of a heart attack taken care of. We have Doctors who are less qualified and get paid the same amount regardless of the quality of their work. They genuinely don't seem to concern with their patients because of this. Be grateful? It doesn't come for free like how it's shown in this film, it's paid for by the taxpayers. And research has shown that Canada's work force is 3.3 million people. Then when you take into account how many of them actually make more then 50,000 a year that leaves a very small percentage paying for the other 30 million people. I guess this doesn't seem like a big deal to those who benefit from it, those who don't pay into it. They'll just call me greedy, but I'm not, I just want what I believe I deserve considering the work I've put in. Be grateful I am able to have such a choice? How about the choice to pick a medical plan best suited for my needs, or the choice to no longer pay for a doctor who's integrity and skill I question. Those are choices we don't get here.
If I WAS in America and I WAS out of work I wouldn't sit around and cry about it and expect someone to bail me out, I would pick my self up and make the necessary choices and work towards bringing myself back up. I've done it before, and I'll do it again if needed.
I know your system in America sucks, but that doesn't mean privatized, or semi-privatized(which is what I would like) health care doesn't work. From what I gathered from the film, the biggest problem with your system is lack of regulations.
@ Young:
Are you just pondering? I do not see your point on this topic.
Like P.F. said, trying to tell us how much money you make?, not interested.
And like P.F. said it may come crashing down, life can turn on a dime. But if it ever does come crashing down, "all" your medical will be covered for free 100%! so you should be very grateful that you are Canadian!!
If you were in America first off you'd probably be out of work right now. But you're boasting about your income,thats all you're really saying. From your name on here it says young, that explains why you are boasting so. Be careful with that because changes can occur swiftly. Too many young professionals think they are on top of the world and then it all comes crashing down. Don't belittle someone else for not being at your tax bracket. You obviously don't understand the situation your were fortunate to be born into. We aren't that lucky in America. We are driven in debt, driven to make harsh sacrifices or they are made for us based upon income and politics. Money is what decides whether we get basic health care or not. And theres millions of working Americans who can't afford heathcare who go without until its too late or who's insurance denies them so they don't have to pay and whose government cares more about lining their own pockets than our health and welfare, to hear of someone complaining because they had to go to several doctors before they were correctly diagnosis when we may not have that one chance to see a doctor without piles of debt being charged even for the medication and pillows they give us, it just seems ridiculous. Be grateful for what you have. Be grateful you are able to have such a choice!!!
Regarding my "attitude". I'm sorry but I have the naive belief that those who work hard and make choices in their life to put themselves into a position of making a high income like myself, deserve greater privaledges than those who don't.
And I worked VERY hard to do that. Comming from a low income single parent household in an econmically depressed part of Canada. Everything I have, I got for myself, and I don't think I am any better than the next guy, so I don't see any reason why he can't do it too. So if he doesn't, I don't want to pick up his tab.
@P.F
"If you don’t like it move to America and see how far your money goes then."
Imagine what would happen if everyone in my tax bracket moved to America. Would like to see the shape of the Canadian health care system then.
@Achems Razor
"Must be some weak labor unions you belong to."
Nope, Steamfitters Union, very strong, covers 80%. My point was it would have cost me a fortune if I wasn't part of it. I wasn't always and the cost of my diabetic supplies alone near crippled me financially in those times.
"But than you must think “all” medical practitioners are infallible and do not make errors. "
I believe my statement "I don’t expect general practitioners to be experts on everything concerning medicine" answers that.
I didn't say that Americas system is better, I said "I can’t help but think of the kind of health care I would have been provided with if I paid for my health care privatly as in the united states."
Am I not allowed to ponder?
@ Young:
Must be some weak labor unions you belong to. Most have extended health coverage and , or through the employers themselves everything is covered 100%, at least 80% for all prescriptions. For no more than 80 to 100$ extra per month.
And as for diagnosis, that has nothing to do with the subject at hand,
Good for you you can diagnose you own medical malaise.
But than you must think "all" medical practitioners are infallible and do not make errors. In Canada you can have second or third opinions at no extra cost.
Young, its people like you with the attitude you have that is the reason in America our system is the way it is, yes I know you're in Canada, but its that same attitude. If you don't like it move to America and see how far your money goes then. Try switching doctors and hospitals then and then try paying for it and see how far your money will go. Stop complaining and be grateful. Theres people here that are DYING and would love to have that free choice!
@LET
I'm from Canada and I live in work in 3 different provinces. I don't expect general practitioners to be experts on everything concerning medicine so I dids my part and researched the symptoms myself and pretty much begged for them to check for that certain condition and when they did sure enough that was it. I went to 5 different hospitals and clinics before being properly diagnosed. Before that I had various misdiagnoses, one went even so far as to say it was all in my head. You work in a grocery store and get the same treatment I do, that's my point! It takes a month for you to net what the government takes from me in a signal week. You get everything you want from them for free? Well good for you, but for me, my diabetic supplies cost a lot, and as I said before if I wasn't in a labor union they would cost much more, and as for the drugs they prescribed to me for the other condition, well they would have cost a fortune too. I'm speaking from my personal experience here, our health care system isn't perfect, it isn't even good (unless you make $200 a week). But for guys like me who make thousands a week and pay for the BULK of the system...IT SUCKS! Your welcome for the free ride.
young:
Where the hell do you live because it is definitely not where I live (which is in Canada), I work for a grocery store and I basically get everything I want from the healthcare system for free. And if you are not happy with the diagnosis that your family physician is giving you, you are welcome and free to seek medical advice elsewhere. I was not happy with my family doctor for the longest time (I did NOT get along with him), so I met with a doctor who is doctor to a friend of mine, and I am now very happy with the medical attention that he gives me.
tony is from texas:
It is spelled THIRD not THIRLD
and your use of the word COMPARE should really be COMPARED
..and it is not possible to make an actual conlusion about anything without first presenting a series of well supported arguments or experiments that allow you to arrive at a conclusion
Speaking from personal expierence, I feel abondonaded by the universal health care system here in Canada. It is very costly to the indivdual taxpayer and the fact that 3 million Canadians pay for the bulk of the system seem's a bit unfair to me. The federal government takes $1000 dollars a week from my pay check but yet I have had alot of trouble getting the right diagonsos for my condition. And if I wasn't part of a labour union then the drugs I was prescribed to use to treat it would have cost me a fortune. I can't help but think of the kind of health care I would have been provided with if I paid for my health care privatly as in the united states.
I agree many of us in US are affraid if they have to pay taxes but if you look at it this way politicians they know our weekneses so they threten us with higher taxes so people wont go after what makes sense they shut our mouths that way .They spend so much money on stupid thing when they would stop that nobody should pay healthcare and emplyers of big companies should.What I am trying to say here is WE WILL PAY HEALTH INSURANCE FAIR ONE 600/MONTH +2500DEDUCTABLE SO YOU PAY THE INSURANCE BUT YOU PAY THE DOCTORS TOO,SO YOU ARE STUCK YOU CANT PAY THE DEDUCTABLE BUT "YOU ARE SUPPOSE TO HAVE INSURANCE"BUT CANT USE IT .iF YOU CANT PAY THE INSURANCE YOU ARE OUT.BUT THEY KEEP THE MONEY YOU WERE PAYING THEM .tHEY KNOW MOST OF US CANT MEET THE DEDUCTABLE OF 2,500 IN A YEAR.sO THEY DONT HAVE TO PAY YOUR BILLS WHILE YOU ARE FILLING THEIR POCKETS.WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO WAKE UP,HERE IS NO FREEDOM THEY CONTROL EVERY MOVE YOU MAKE AND HAW WILL YOU DO IT.AND IF THEY DONT LIKE IF YOU STAND OUT FROM A CROWD YOU ARE DONE ,KISS YOUR LIFE GOODBY!THAT IS ALL I HAVE TO SAY.THINK ABOUT IT.DOES NOT TAKE SUPERGENIOUS BRAINS JUST LOGIC.
My name is tony and I am a redneck hick who knows about the health-care system. Therefore I conclude that Canadian health care is like a thirld world country compare to my great American system.
omg this totally changed my perspective towards health care. i m feeling so lucky that i m not in the US atm. poor americans :(
I never knew that the US had no health care system. I learned to appreciate more the place I live :D. Always thought that the US was a great country to live in, but as it sums up they are far behind (not only in the health domain). It truly saddens me the fact they believe socialism (which is not communism) is harmful, the free market system takes care those who lead it not those who compose it, its not the land of opportunities any more.
I'm crying after watching this! I lost my best friend and it is just unbelievable the way we our controlled from our food to our healthcare. I am in shock. Thank you Mr. Moore for telling the truth!!!
Its simple: either you go for the "American dream" freedom b*******, or you go the social path.
It is PROVEN (!!!) that the social way works (Canada, UK, Germany, France).
It is PROVEN (!!!) that the American model works for 90% and doesn't work for 10% of the population. This leads to people dying, end of discussion, no doubt.
I hope you egoistic right wing conservative Americans choke on your supposed "dream". Someday the people will wake up and chose the right thing.
Canada rocks! American's throw them.
Tony:
Yes, that is true, here in CANADA you do not have to sew up your own knee caps, and you do not have to choose what fingers you want to keep!.
And nobody is thrown out on the streets, ever!
I have never been unemployed, or on social assistance, but if I was, you even get more medical benefits, everything is covered 100%, medical, dental, all prescriptions, etc: nothing to pay for at all. period.
I personally could not envision paying for any medical, etc:, that would be like living on an alien planet.
It is unbelievable to me that people can actually be unemployed and still get good healthcare. And at no cost or very little cost. Though I have been fortunate enough not to have had any serious health issues so far, I fear the day I will begin to. The cost I have endured so far where socking to say the least, when so little was done. If my taxes pay for ambulances and the people who operate them, why do I get a bill for using them? This movie actually has me considering moving to a different country where healthcare is free. At 46, with all the junk in our food supplies and all the stress that comes from living in this country, I am sure to have some sort medical problem in the future. I think my savings are going to be my way out of here and not to increase the profits of a hospital I may have to visit. Thanks Mike for the heads up.
wow!
It does not want to play and i dont know why but i would really like to watch this.
I really dont want any documentary film but since I have watched the CAPITALISM I get pretty interested...Its true that theres a lot of corrupt polticians...Hopefully one of this day those corrupt politicians open up their eyes,and think that life is like a "wheel"....and theres no way that they will remain on top...hopefully they will think the that there is a posibility they might be at the bottom one of this day and imagine that they are on poor people's shoe...
No I don't have the link Kyle, but I'm sure it can be found via torrents somewhere.
lets review. 22yo is denied cervial cancer treatment bc she is too young to get cancer. an old woman is cabbied and abandoned in the streets. 911 workers who have been denied medical care are given the same in cuba for free. what is wrong with this picture seriously. now your insurance companies command you not to have certain diseases because of your age? gee thanx. your prezo said ask a canadian. here's my answer - i want nothing of your system i will stay in canada thank you very much. i agree if even 10% of this movie is true all americans form usa should be supporting obama's bill overwhelmingly. stupid.
Hey Vlatko do you have a link to the new M.M. movie "capitalism : a love story"
Not only that, but Americans are raping Canada out of free health care!
Costs Canada Billions of dollars! Shame on you!!!!
:(
i had to get something else off my chest. do we call our public schooling socialized education? no. if we have universal public education, why not medical? think people, think. college education is so darn expensive yet it's public institutions. i bet if the governement made college education free would anybody yap their mouth about socialized education? no! why not health. and while you are at it college education too. this is not communism this is provision of basic human dignity.
NEWS FLASH it's not normal to wake up be a "nice employee" run to one job, then another all to pay bills. and not enjoy a yearly vacation in another country if you so choose. cause that's how life is in europe. but i know you have no concept of this cause us americans work all our lives with one life time dream of making a trip to disney world or hawaii and we are done in life. and before you start your insults i am one of them too. but why bother this flies over an american concept of life anyway. how can a country be so rich yet it's people are such economic slaves?
I agree if 25% of this is true then we are all f'd up here in USA. People are denied medical care and others are tossed outta hospitals while Americans in France, UK and canada get medical care for free to the point they are embarrassment jeez this American dream is no longer a dream but a nightmare if you get sick and you live in usa. I am a consertive and now i understand the difference between socialized and universal medical care - political rhetoric. I am supporting Obama's health care plan from this day on. i have good medical benefits from a large company but i as soon as that health care bill passes i will take the public option. and i hope many more millions than the 50 million of us w/o health insurance take it too so we can send this big insurance companies out of business so they can stop raping us live, left and right. you can boast all you want that you live in usa and have health ins. but your day of reckoning is when you get sick and a middleman is determining whether you can see a doc or not. that is sick. yet you have been a "nice boy, nice girl" going to work to pay your insurance coverage, college loan etc. the nightmare is real. wake up people it's time! shame to us if even cubans have access to free medical care. and by the way it's not socialized medical care but universal medical care. but what does that matter to you any way. you have your health insurance don't you. just don't get sick. bravo mr moore. i promise to watch all your works objectively henceforth. i was so wrong about you, you can be nutty but you do make sense.
I would rather get my healthcare in Canada or Europe than here, in the USA
the video is down! :(
No it's not. Let it buffer/load a little bit. Youku is kind a slow.
John
August 15th, 2009 at 22:47
to Achems: Greetings. i am from the usa and i sure as hell wouldn't go to Canada for health care. Wait 45 minutes to see my doctor or 6 months to see a canadian doctor, easy choice. and you’re still under the illusion that your health care is free….its called taxes. Thats why everything is more expensive in canada.
did you even watch the movie? they waited 20 minutes you dum****... no matter how much taxes you may have to pay in Canada it still wont ad up to all the money they steal fom us...f*** it i would rather pay a little more sales tax knowing i wont pay 200 dolars and more for a little 2 mile ambulance to the hospital..choice is yours ignorant dum****.
I love the U.S.A. but unless your "RICH", don't get sick!!!
in Belgium we have some of the highest tax rates in the world. fine by me.
at least I know that I, and my future children, will never be denied any top class medical assistance; that the best schools and universities will welcome us for no more than 700$ a year; that I will keep on getting paid even if I loose my job; ...
if this is your Americans idea of a socialist nightmare, well then call me a pig, be happy paying your coverages and entrance fees, and live long and healthy (better don't get sick!) in your land of the free :).
I spent 6 weeks in a hospital, countless tests and drugs,
I paid..about 10 for drugs. I live in australia, michael missed us:-)
but we have a less corrupt government, although your disgusting businesses are trying to corrupt our health care, mainly the diagnostics sector. however we have a watchdog that makes sure exorbitant and unjustifiably stupid prices aren't paid for services.
Michaels stay in Cuba was justified, and any dissenters need to examine themselves.
Wake up, your government lies to you all the time, its basically owned by the argi businesses food mega giants and the pharma medico bast*rds.
Wake up Amerika. youv'e been had!
and do NOT take the H1N1 Vaccine, it's a bigger lie!:-)
looking forward to the new movie!
To John: I should of mentioned to you our basic wages in Canada are higher than U.S. So what seems more expensive to you in Canada is not more expensive to us.
To John: Greetings: You say why aren't Americans flocking to Canada to receive free Health Care? My answer is, how can they? You figure it out. Every body pays taxes! that is a given. For "Canadians" all you have to do is walk into any "walk in clinic" anytime, no waiting. Everything is more expensive in Canada? It could be, but not more expensive for us. Regards:
to Achems: Greetings. i am from the usa and i sure as hell wouldnt go to cananda for healthcare. Wait 45 minutes to see my doctor or 6 months to see a canadian doctor, easy choice. and you're still under the illusion that your healthcare is free....its called taxes. Thats why everything is more expensive in canada.
Karen and Dynce and Joel S. and all the other marxist who believes in Michael Moores social propagana are crazy. Why arent americans flocking to canada to receive healthcare??? because it sucks! Thats why the Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had successful heart surgery at the Cleveland clinic in ohio. Because the garbage universal health care in Italy is no good. Just another example of big government officials imposing their will on the people of their country but when government officials get sick they come to the USA for treatment. Universal healthcare just doesnt work.
John, you do have a bureaucrat standing between you and your doctor - it is called an insurance company. the insurance company ie the middleman is why Americans spend more on health care than the rest of the Western world but get poorer results. Lets get rid of over-priced drugs, and treatments, kickbacks and pie cuts and we will have better healthcare for a lower cost. Amen.
I am a american and i just cant understand how my fellow americans cant see the garbage that is the american healthcare system is. America pounds its chest about being the best in the wolrd about everything ,it seems to have no commonsence i just love the part when an american got some care other than here ,how shock they were when they did not have to pay WAKE UP SHEEPLE
ADDENDUM; In Canada our taxes sometimes go down, not up. Our G.S.T. went down. Plus most people get personal G.S.T. rebates every 3 months. business's get rebates every year. If I want extended health coverage It will give you a private hospital room, free ambulance, eye exams, 80% coverage for all prescriptions, eye glasses, and dental care. All that for 40$ per month.... cheers!
To John: Greetings: I am a Canadian Eh! And I agree with "Shreque" I can see any Doctor, or any other type of Practitioner that I want to see, also any Specialist that I want to see, without any Government intervention or approval! We do not throw anybody out on the street, because everybody in Canada has free Medical Care! I do not know where you got your erroneous information from! Micheal Moore was dead on!...Regards.
"social marxist", John?....heehee, now you're just making sh*t up. I live in Canada and wouldn't trade it for anything, despite your inevitable "nanny-state" comments.
"big government who tells us what doctor to see"...I can only assume you're referring to HMOs here cause Moore's observations of the Canadian process was bang-on.
Speaking of which, dig a little deeper into the case of the woman who went to the Mayo Clinic because of her brain tumour...I'm sure you've seen the ads.
Sorry John, but you're not paying for the healthcare that you say you're ok paying for, you're paying to line the pockets of insurance providers who (like any insurer) will try to deny coverage - that's Moore's whole point and is the basic problem with the for-profit insurance model when it's applied to social programs. To extrapolate the same model to...say...public schooling, you would have your local school board institute policies of exclusion for the poorest and for any that may be difficult to teach for whatever reason.
"By the people, for the people" my ass....more like "paid for by the people" and "do it to the people"...
The bottom line is that a private insurance program artificially installs a middleman who needs to be paid. Who do you think covers that significant piece of the pie ?
To tell the truth I would much rather have a publicly elected bureacrat bargaining for me and all my fellow americans, Rather than having an ONLY profit driven insurance company making the decision to deny me of coverage.
Stop the scare tactics. The public option is the most effecient way to group ALL of us together. a pool of 50 million customers is a HUGE bargaining chip to use.
If we go with the republican co op plan, it will break up the 50 million into tiny chunks, and we lose our voice. I hope people realize this. United we stand.
Joel S. just like Obama is a social marxist who wants the government to ration care just like canada and the uk. Its time for America to stand up for FREEDOM, not a social agenda with big government who tells us what doctor to see and if our treatment is to expensive. The only way government cuts cost on healthcare is to deny care. I am fine with paying for my healthcare knowing that the government is not choosing whether i get care or not. I DECIDE WHEN I GET TREATED AND NOT A FREAKIN BREAUCRAT!!!
I have watched this video more than once and the more I watch the more angry I get. I watch the current debate on healthcare and what come through loud and clear is the message from the health insurance providers, hospitals and drug companies. The people who are the easiest lead in the wrong direction are the ones who are the most vocal about not wanting any changes in the current system or systems. If the President does not prevail in this matter and healthcare reform goes down in flames like it did in 1994, we will never see the opportunity come around again until it is too late. All the folks running around ,running down what is trying to be done in 2009 will come to realize that they no longer have coverage, their coverage is too expensive, heathcare is rationed and will want something done and guess what guys we are too far down the road and no one, but no one will be able to turn the big bus around.Coupled with the other social and economic pressures which will occur at the same time will throw our country into anarchy and revolution. All this time, the other folks in our small little globe we live on today are just laughing and waiting for the crash subside and just walk right in and have their way......Not a very pleasant series of thoughts......wake up America before it is too late.
Social market economy > all
i'm glad to pay higher taxes for good health care(,good roads and stuff like that)
i really don't understand the American fear of socialism... You don't have to get a 2. UDSSR if you act in favor of the poor and not so rich.
I have seen SiCKO several times and I have to admit that I am not a fan of Michael Moore. But if even 25% of SiCKO is true, then the American people are being controlled and manipulated by the Drug companies, the insurance companies and the politicians they have purchased.
I pay $4500 per year in health insurance premiums, maybe $375 to $400 in co-pays, and perhaps $1400 in pharmacy bills. That is $6340. If other countries are paying equal to that in higher taxes, then they can keep universal health care. But if it is anything less than that amount, count me in.
yea micheal takes sick people to get health care from a poor country run by a dictator while we have millions of illegals from mexico and everywhere else in the world getting health care in the ER of every hosptial in the country. We need to secure our borders and american citizens wouldnt have as high healthcare costs because the illegal burden would be gone! Michael moore is a NUT!!
Brovo! Michael Moore. What can be done to have this info
spread to commercial TV and Radio. I watch PBS, Moyers....
but not everyone does....we need this impressive, uniterrurted message to reach everyone in this nation.
I wish this documentary would be played at congress and they somehow found a way to feel the disgrace of their actions. Taxpayers being thrown under the bus is a disgrace to the world. WE as a Nation that is suppose to be a world leader is meaningless when we put profits ahead of human life.
Wow, that was amazing.
It's absolutely mind boggling that they would turn a dying person away because they couldn't pay. Or make a person choose between two fingers. Michael Moore is hilarious.
I hope this new age of internet starts getting people in America more aware of how corrupt their government is and how biased their media.
hey gfto im a american and Im probably smarter than you are, with the ignorant comment you made.
lol why are Americans so dumb like their president? Makes you wonder what they learn in school.
Schools, Health, Defense, Postal services should all be partially/fully under government control.
Isn't it already? I mean the government controls our defense. The postal system is controlled by them. And they do give orders to schools about what to teach. With the "No Child Left Behind Act." We have private or public health insurance (federal government). Everything is controlled by the government.
who would live in america,,,,not me,,,,the american dream?....more like a nightmare...good luck to mr moore,,,a david and golieth battle ahead,,,,,
This movie makes me so angry at this medical' system. ...And the idiots who fuss about taxes (which they will pay one way or the other) I don't even understand them.
Der Oberst: That's a common argument against universal healthcare, in return i just gotta say that a bit higher taxes is a small price to pay for knowing that you won't be abandoned on the street cause you can't pay your healthcare bill.
Alos, yes the cuba part is a bit exxagerated, think he actually got legal issues cause he closed in to guantanamo bay.
My best friend dead from cancer June 01, 2009, She finally got her first health care plan at 47 one year ago with 2K deductable. I LOVE YOU ANGELA, single mother of 3. My heart is broken. I can't believe you're gone. Cancer of the gall bladder and intestines.
Michael Moore is the best. His movies have really educated the masses. Thank you Michael. Love Always.
The people of the USA are good people.
But they sold there freedom.
Easy done!
So buy it back with votes. Elect an independent.
The poor of the USA are slaves to the system.
Poor education for the poorso they do as they are told.
You could lose your job if you didn`t work hard!
So do the same to your politicians.
You can not buy good government .
But you can buy "A" government.
wow...I'm glad i saw this.
The one documentary everyone has to see, and see again...
Moore is a SICKO...
Der Oberst - I understand what you say about HIGHER TAXES, however, if we lose our job that MAY have health insurance, to continue it and be insured is upwards from $350 a mo. (for one person). Are your taxes equivalent to that? Plus we get hosed with the pharmaceuticals and their enormous markup on the prescription drugs.
Very entertaining, clearly bias, no depth analysis of the american health insurance.I believe that it was not necessary for Moore to take these sick people to Cuba just to make his point clear, wasting lots of valuable time which could have been used for a more comprehensive report.
By the way, I'm from Germany, we have a compulsory health insurance over here, just like in Britain.
The disadvantages of compulsory insurance are not explored by Moore for example HIGHER TAXES!!!
***Stars
Regards,
Der Oberst
Say what now? The sick lady got her $120.00 medicine for 5c . How much more comprehensive do you need to get? Do you think she felt going to Cuba was a waste of valuable time?
By the way Moore showed the people who earn less than their American counterparts AND pay higher taxes, as well as EU resident Americans who have experience of both systems and the opinions were unanimous.
There were child mortality stats and life expectancy to support this.
I dont know whether you would even consider living under an American health system but I'm fine in britain even though I have never been ill and paid lots of tax towards the system.
The grass is always greener on the other side but here in the UK, America seems like a health desert in serious drought.
I live across the border from the U.S. (Cd. Juarez, Mx.) and I would often see or hear about american people coming here to see a doctor, go to a dentist or buy their medicines and always wonder why. Now I clearly see why
I have never been more embarrassed of my government then I am at this moment!!!!!!!
WOW!!!! really puts a new perspective doesnt it! and people call Obama a socialist!!! GEEZ!!!!