I saw SICKO last night, SICKO is not about the the uninsured

[LSK]

Sicko is about the rest of us who have insurance. The insurance for profit industry has a top priority. Their priority is to NOT PAY CLAIMS. They are constantly inventing new games to DENY PAYMENT OF CLAIMS. Preexisting conditions, mis-filled out forms, going to the wrong hospital or doctor are all schemes they have invented to NOT PAY CLAIMS.

Insurance adjusters are PROMOTED if they can deny more claims and save the company more money. One adjuster was in tears as she explained her job and she said she just wanted to be as big a bitch on the phone with people so she didnt get to know them. Thats how she dealt with the stress and guilt of her job.

Moore then went to Canada, Great Britain and France and used examples to debunk myths of their medical systems.

He went to Canada and found none of the so-called long lines or waiting lists.

He went to Great Britain and found a doctor who was paid by the NHS and lived in a million dollar home and drove an Audi.

He went to France and found that the Govt will provide a nanny service that will even do laundry for you.

He found all these services were free.

Then he tried to find out how this is paid for and came about? He noted that the French people got killed with taxes and went to find out how their life was under this crushing burden. He then showed a middle class French couple living in a nice apartment with a flat screen TV and all the nice things that can be found in a typical American home. He asked them what their bills were and they replied rent and groceries.

He then illustrated how the French strike and protest in mass for the things that they want. A former legislator in Great Britain said that the people vote for people who do look out for their best interests. He said that if a Govt can find the money for war and killing people like they did in WW2, they can find the money for healthcare.

Moore then tried to find out what happened here in America showed Nixon approving of a system of healthcare for profit here. He then showed right wing propaganda (including Reagan doing a commercial) trying to paint socialized medicine as a communist red scare. Next he showed how Hillary tried to change the healthcare system in the early 90s and was shutdown and then eventually showed that she even recieved contributions from the Health Insurance industry (although he did not explain to the audience that it was campaign contributions).

I went to the movie with a friend who has family in Greece and he completely agrees that the European systems WORK. His reaction was "what am I still doing here in the US?" I will try to do some more research into European systems.

Moore made no mention of a solution and did not mention Dennis Kucinich and HR 676. Until we have change in our country regarding Insurance companies, I will pray every day that I do not get sick. Even thou I am insured.

[Maat]

1. Exactly!

I had to have a surgery about 4 years ago (I was scared to death - my EX-doctor implied I had a female-variety cancer, or that there was a fair likelihood of such). It was a routine D&C - I was so scared, I didn't check the preapproved facility. As a result, we got stuck paying for a large portion of a simple procedure, and it amounted to thousands.

Then I cut my ear - same thing. Even though I had to go to the emergency room, I still had to pay quite a bit.

One reason is that we are self-employed, and have to pay a large deductible.

[aquart]

2. We can't shoot insurance company execs on sight. We can't.

So what would be a better option?

[kurth]

4. No need to resort to firearms

Calling Dr. Guillotine.

[aquart]

18. Well, that's always my first choice.

But Americans have more guns than guillotines.

[mmonk]

7. Let insurance companies have property and casualty,

auto, and life insurance. Don't let them insure healthcare access, only catastrophic hospital care, and maybe pharmaceuticals. That would be a start.

[Donnachaidh]

8. take them out of the medical care loop COMPLETELY

As poorly as they've handled regular medical care -- you want to allow them to handle CATASTROPHIC hospital care? :wow:

And the pharmaceutical area should be HEAVILY regulated. Insurance companies have a track record of refusing people drugs too.

[LSK]

9. you have to start somewhere

Great change cannot be done instantly in this country, there has been too much brainwashing of people against their own interests and fools still vote for Republicans.

I believe John Edwards program is a temporary start in the right direction that might be possible to implement in the short term, meanwhile the Kucinich plan will take longer to convince people to accept, but should be the ultimate goal.

It is a long battle ahead thou and Moore's film is a giant weapon in the fight for our side.

[Warpy]

13. Privatizing medicine and put it in the for profit area has FAILED

It is KILLING PEOPLE, literally. There is no worse business FAILURE than that.

Anyone who suggests keeping those bastards anywhere in the loop is CORRUPT.

[mmonk]

14. Catastrophic care costs, not necessarily determining

whether you are allowed to get care for such catastrophic care (unless you can find a quick way for hospitals to make catastrophic care affordable). If it's the only thing they can insure, then that limits what procedures they can insure which would fall under a national system (so they aren't faced with too many claims). At least that was my thoughts. I'm trying to deny them the ability to determine access to healthcare instead and let the physician and patients determine care.

[ananda]

3. Thank you.

That was a very helpful synopsis.

I often find myself wondering why so many Americans tolerate the intolerable.
Then I find myself trying to answer that question, and the reasons seem rather
complex.

Sometimes I think that people are set up as pawns or victims of the corporate
system, and out of fear.. fear of not having that job.. fear of being targeted as
not "normal".. fear period.. they just let the oppression continue.

Of course, America is also a society that thrives on addictions.. and somehow
perhaps people are narcotized and entertained to the point that they just don't
care about serious issues. We're also a society that promotes individualism and
isolation from our neighbors such that a network of allies and cooperation often
seem impossible. IOW, the divide and conquer strategy works.

Sue

[Joanne98]

5. k&r

[pacalo]

6. Thanks for the great commentary.

I'm living in a horror health-care story myself right now. My husband had back surgery to repair a disk after a lifting mishap. Almost four months after the surgery, he's no better than he was before.

Getting a surgeon was the beginning of the nightmare. We looked online to find a neurosurgeon on our healthcare plan, & of all the neurosurgeons listed, none were able to take my husband sooner than the next month. And since our medical facilities are all located in Katrina-affected areas, there were many who were no longer here.

Because of my husband's extreme pain & the time element involved (not being able to go to work), we had to choose a doctor who wasn't in our plan. We were desperate at the time & had hoped the insurance company would consider the circumstances. No, they said, because there were 50 surgeons available in our area, according to their information, & they would not pay for the surgery. Again, because we live in a Katrina-affected area, their information apparently needs to be updated. As of now, the insurance company said they will review our case & get back to us, but we're not hopeful.

Grrr.

[Joe Chi Minh]

10. I see the sense of your post, LSK, but it's tempting to think John

Edwards should maybe force the insurance companies to go 'cold turkey'. Far from improving since John Grisham's incidental expose of their devilry, the insurance companies seem to be ever on the lookout for a 'better', i.e. more profitable, means of wreaking their wickedness on the American taxpayer.

Big Business has betrayed the American people too viciously and for too long, for them to expect you to continue to trust them to honour their contractual obligations.

[LSK]

12. see post 9

I think Edwards plan is a start. I heard him mention that we have to outlaw pre-existing conditions on Hartmann's program.

Edwards plan addresses some of the problem, but I think its a temporary bandaid fix until this country finds the political will to pass HR676.

[jarnocan]

11. PDA and Move on have fliers and petitions also Kucinich links

http://pol.moveon.org/sickoflier/guide.html?id=-6713437-zjkrPy&t=3
article about fliering and link on bottom of page.

http://kucinich.us/issues/universalhealth.php can 'vote' here:)like a petition

http://www.pdamerica.org/

[Beaverhausen]

15. Great review. I was so angry after seeing it.

We need a big change in our system. Let's hope this film finally wakes people up to the true nightmare that is our current healthcare system run by insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies.

[Gregorian]

16. I think it's a chain of links.

If we try to level the playing field, then it has to happen across the board. If education costs so much in order to become a doctor, then somehow that must be changed, or we end up paying for it through medical costs. It's just a thought off the top of my head. But it sort of makes sense.

[hfojvt]

17. thankfully I have not had that problem with my insurance company

even though I had a $13,000 hospital bill for what was really a pre-existing condition (swallowing problem which I can remember from college days 27 years ago and for which I went to the emergency room in the past.) I did have a little problem with the hospital in that they kept sending me a bill for $13,000 even though the insurance company was showing on their website that they paid.

Plus, to me it was another case of a walletectomy. I call that the American medical system's answer to every problem. The doctor says "Hmmm. The problem seems to be too much cash in the wallet. So we need to perform surgery, an emergency walletectomy, to remove the cash and that should fix things." They used to bleed their patients. Now they just bleed them of cash.

I had five days of hospitalization for something that is usually an outpatient procedure. I should have gone home Friday night, after two days, and I would have insisted on going home Friday night if I was paying for it. Instead I just about had to fight my way out on Monday.
Even when they do necessary procedures, they pad things, such as an extra three days of hospitalization.

That is something that bothers me about single-payer. Unless there are some kind of controls, people will exploit the system, doctors and patients, for their own profit. There's no logical regard for the cost nor the amount of services used when it's 'free'. I wonder how they avoid those problems in other countries. Perhaps one way is with progressive taxation, There's not much point to making another million if the government is just gonna tax away 80% of it.

[pookieblue]

19. when I was younger,

I never fully realized just how expensive medical care can be. I have insurance, thank god..becuase after I was diagnosed with MS, I found out the hard way. It's tough with the copays.. my copay for one of my meds was close to $300.00 a month. for just one month supply of one of my meds. Not to mention the tests, doctor visits, etc that comes with the package of treating an illness. yes the insurance pays 80% of that. But still the 20% copays really add up. and it's a struggle.

While I was on the first med, I was 'rationing' it out to make it last longer. I still forgo tests that my doctor would like me to have, because I don't want another medical bill.

Thankfully after two long years of being on the first medicine, I had to switch. and now I am on a different one, where the drug company helps with the copay. (the medicine costs over $1200.00 a month before insurance. That's just too much IMO. )

However, it's still struggle for me, because I am behind the 8 ball is seems when it comes to my medical bills.

Something has to change and soon. Because as it is now, the number one cause of bankruptcy in the US, are medial bills.

[Lisa]

20. absolutely! As you point out, Moore makes that quite clear -- it's about betrayal

... of the people who thought they were insured (and who had, presumably, been paying those companies all this time).

[blondeatlast]

21. My SICKO story: Upper-middle class, great jobs, insured, financially responsible (no credit card

debt), pretty damn healthy for a 30ish woman who'd injected insulin for her entire life.

We had excellent coverage through my husband's work, or so we thought. Then I nearly had a heart attack, needed surgery, was pre-approved, received the surgery, all is well, right?

Six months later, we find out the claim will not be paid. Why?

Because his employer had not paid the premiums in 5 months (time is important here). Employer shortly thereafter defaults on EVERYTHING, including the rent.

Our only choice was to declare bankruptcy, from which we've thankfully emerged intact (this was before the disastrous bill, thank God.) We consulted a lawyer who said he'd love to nail the employer to the wall, but he told us that due to employer's having seemingly vanished, it would cost a literal fortune to track him down and bring him back to the states. In the meantime, we still had that debt and our house was at stake. We had no choice.

The middle class is a medical crisis away from financial ruin and sadly, most are simply oblivious to it.

[marions ghost]

22. yes this is the delusion

we who have insurance live under...that we are "protected" & that our claims will be honored. "Most are oblivious" to their vulnerability--true.

Your story says it all. :hug:

[cascadiance]

23. Damn right! I've got permanent ulnar nerve damage because of my insurance coverage...

I had a decently paying contracting job earlier, but because it was a small outfit, I had a pretty cheap health insurance coverage package.

Anyway, I was having a lot of problems of numbness and spasms in my left hand that I went to see my "primary care physician" to get help with... I rely on my hands for my livlihood, being an engineer. It was starting to get out of hand so to speak.

He told me not to worry too much about it, that it was something happening as I was getting older. Just "nerves" or something like that.

I asked to see a specialist, and the appointment he wanted me to see in their network was minimally quite a few months out just to see him.

I looked through my insurance plan and noted that I could get coverage for someone that was out of network too. I found my own specialist that could see me within weeks.

I went to a neurologist to get checked out. The neurologist had me get X-Rays from my original doctor's office, did other tests, etc. and concluded that I had some severe ulnar nerve damage in my elbow, which was caused by a combination of usage issues that abused the nerve near the elbow joint through being on the phone a lot for my job (I'd been doing a lot of customer support then), driving with my left elbow bent and a lot of the time sitting on an open window when driving, playing a video game machine a lot recently then, etc.

His recommendation was:
1) I should look to getting an operation where my nerve would be rerouted around my elbow joint so that it would no longer be pinched by bending the elbow, and if done quickly, could reverse some of the nerve damage that was starting then.
2) I shouldn't only take his word for it and I should get a second opinion to confirm this to be the best course of action.
3) If I got the operation to NOT have an orthopedic surgeon do it, but demand that a neurosurgeon do it, since if done wrong, could really screw up usage of my left hand permanently and be worse than the condition I already had.

I went back to my original doctor on this, and they said they'd refer it to their head physicians, and to wait a bit while they talked it out.

After a few weeks of them hemming and hawing, they came back and:
1) sent me to an orthopedic surgeon to follow up with (even though I specifically told my doctor of the neurologists stipulation I should go to a neurosurgeon).
2) I went to the orthopedic surgeon they referred me to. This guy acted as if I hadn't seen ANYONE yet (I don't think he'd looked at my neurologist's report at all) and wanted to go through the same round of tests all over again. He wanted to do the same X Rays over again. I pointed out that his hospital already had X-Rays that they'd done for the neurologist that I'd just seen.

Anyway, I got so uncomfortable with the unprofessionalism, etc. that this "specialist" was showing, that I said to myself that I was better off not getting the surgery done at all than trusting these guys and getting it messed up, so I turned it down and now live with a permanent numbness in my left pinky as now the nerve damage is permanent. I tried to get treatment through unconventional means later such as accupuncture, etc. but that didn't really help either.

Thank you U.S. Health Care! Thank you for providing me coverage that screwed my elbow/hand up that probably wouldn't have been screwed up if I had health care coverage shown in the other countries of Sicko, which I just saw earlier tonight.

Well, that's MY "annecdotal" story!