Saw SiCKO last night, from an undisclosed source.
SiCKO is the latest, and best one yet from Michael Moore. This time he examines the US Health Care system. We need to strap members of our government down and make them watch it. If they don’t then act when its thrown right in their face, they should be executed. I like the part where he introduces Hillary Clinton as the one that was gonna fix it all back in the 90’s, then makes sure to mention how she turned her ass around and is now one of the biggest hypocrites. Also, it’s classic when he takes some 9/11 volunteer rescue workers all the way down to Guantanamo Bay for proper treatment, is denied entry, then proceeds to get them treated in a Cuban hospital which is one of the nicest hospitals I have ever seen.
Personally, I came into this movie having only one issue with my health insurance so far, but the issue I had pissed me off badly. Anthem BC/BS(supposed to be one of the best, but as this movie will clearly show, there is no best), denied every heartburn med that my doctor prescribed and forced the use of Protonix, which had side-effects. Then after six months, they wanted to see a specialist fill out and fax to them a form, otherwise they would then deny the Protonix. So, I went to a fucking specialist (after getting a referral) and got a goddamn camera down the throat, and got the fucking paper signed. Had to arrange for someone to drive me there (they wouldn’t do it otherwise), and miss a day of work.
Even with that shit in order, it still was a $30 co-pay for two weeks worth of this crap. I ended up just eventually getting Prilosec OTC and taking it everyday (instead of just the 14 day round which makes it FDA-approved for OTC). A month ago, I got a letter from Anthem recommending exactly what I had come up on my own a while back (taking Prilosec OTC in this fashion) which again, is still not the approved FDA dosage for OTC of this drug. (Pretty sure that’s got to be illegal)
What if I had a real problem like the people in the film? I guess I would really be fucked then, regardless of my coverage. I may have the cash for the deductibles now, but as the illness would inevitably progress (due to the worst care, anything better than the least deemed experimental) it would not be long before I would be taking out loans. Who knows, their lack of interest in fixing the problem and just prescribing the pill of their choosing, and the fact that the heartburn remains when unmedicated (even though I now exercise regular, don’t smoke all week, and eat better), I may see bowel or stomach cancer in the next 10 years. Then I guess because the heartburn was a pre-existing condition, I will be either denied care at the time, or retroactively forced to pay in full months after treatment.
If the US gov took only a small percentage (like 20%, or less) of all the money they spend on the military industrial complex yearly, we could have this good health shit that other countries have. Eisenhower did this (didn’t spend as much on “defense”) during his administration, and now we have a system of highways to drive around the country on. - This assumes that we would actually elect people that don’t have their heads up their asses, and wouldn’t squander the money.
Of course, we are so corrupt at this point, none of this will ever be fixed. It would require new laws to ban certain practices that take place between congress and the health care industry, and some overturning of existing laws. We don’t even go after people too hard who break current laws(Alberto Gonzales), or if we do(Valerie Plame scandal), a scapegoat is chosen(Scooter Libby), when all the rest of them were guilty too. Oh, and Tom DeLay’s trial, whens that going to be? How about those impeachments? All this and we are going to vote next year for one of these “business as usual” candidates? We need to demand more “mad as hell” candidates like Ron Paul and Mike Gravel! I guess taking the time to do something does not fit in to the american people’s pre-occupation with celebrities, the latest cell phones, and anything else in their selfish little fucking bullshit lives.Come to think of it, we deserve every fucking bit of all this.