Moore's "Sicko" Is Sickening

From the US Census Bureau:

Health Insurance Coverage

Overview

The percentage of the nation's population without health insurance coverage remained unchanged, at 15.7 percent in 2004.


The math:

15.7 percent of 300,000,000 equals 47,100,000.

From the National Coalition on Health Care:


Who are the uninsured?



Nearly 47 million Americans, or 16 percent of the population, were without health insurance in 2005, the latest government data available (1).

The number of uninsured rose 1.3 million between 2004 and 2005 and has increased by almost 7 million people since 2000 (1).

From USA Today:

Ranks of uninsured Americans grow
Updated 8/29/2006 10:50 PM ET


By Julie Appleby, USA TODAY
The percentage of people with job-based health insurance dropped again last year, helping push up the level of uninsured Americans to 15.9% of the population, the highest since 1998.
Estimates released Tuesday by the Census Bureau show that 46.6 million people lacked health insurance in 2005, up from 45.3 million in 2004. Unlike in other recent years, there was no increase in the rate of enrollment in government-based programs, such as Medicaid, which had helped to offset declines in private insurance.

Job-based health insurance, which is the way most Americans get their coverage, began falling in 2001, even as health insurance premiums rose at double-digit annual rates. Last year, premium growth averaged 9.2%, lower than in previous years, but still three times inflation.

I qualify for a free mammogram based on my income. If I get cancer I qualify to lose my house and business and go on welfare. Why does that seem like a good idea to Conservatives? We all support the police and fire departments with our tax money, why not the medical establishment?

GW, You'll like this letter to a California valley newspaper.

We don't know good health care

At the end of his June 14 column, "Moore on health insurance: Entertaining but flawed," Daniel Weintraub claims that Michael Moore's advocacy of an "ever-expanding government" will cause a "ridiculous extension of dependency." That statement is itself ridiculous. I lived and worked in France for 15 years (even became a French citizen), and I did not become "dependent."

Moore is right: After the humane and caring medical treatment I received in France, I feel like I'm in a Third World country here. Americans don't know what good health care is because they've never had it.

As to an "ever-expanding" government, the last six years have seen huge expansions of our military and government security bureaucracies. The same people who oppose a health care "bureaucracy" have no problem with a huge military bureaucracy, or with other government bureaucracies such as public education.

The assertion that government bureaucracies make us "dependent" is preposterous. Are we "dependent" because government bureaucracies handle our military and educational needs? With what we've spent in Iraq, we could have easily funded a superb health-care system.

What would you rather have your tax dollars spent on: unnecessary wars and illegal domestic spying or excellent, low-cost health care?

Yes CI, I totally agree.

Those who lack health-care insurance.

Nearly half go without health insurance only for four months or less, usually while between jobs. Others with employment could easily add health-care insurance through their work for a very small premium. Many without health-care insurance consist of young people (18 million uninsured are between the ages of 18 and 34) who consider themselves -- given their youth and good health -- unlikely to face large health-care costs.

Over 14 million of the uninsured, according to the Census Bureau, live in households earning $50,000 or more annually. Over 7 million are in households earning more than $75,000 a year. These people could afford health-care insurance, either out-of-pocket or by making minor adjustments to their lifestyles.

a comprehensive report by the NATIONAL COALITION ON HEALTH CARE .

from the report :

"The Impact of Rising Health Care Costs

National surveys show that the primary reason people are uninsured is the high cost of health insurance coverage (9).
Economists have found that rising health care costs correlate to drops in health insurance coverage (10).
Nearly one-quarter (23 percent) of the uninsured reported changing their way of life significantly in order to pay medical bills (10).
Almost 50 percent of the American public say they are very worried about having to pay more for their health care or health insurance, while 42 percent report they are very worried about not being able to afford health care services (11).
In a poll conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health, 43 percent of respondents named high costs as one of the two most important health care issues for government to address (12).
In a USA Today/ABC News survey, 80 percent of Americans said that they were dissatisfied (60 percent were very dissatisfied) with high national health care spending (13).
One in four Americans say their family has had a problem paying for medical care during the past year, up 7 percentage points over the past nine years. Nearly 30 percent say someone in their family has delayed medical care in the past year, a new high based on recent polling. Most say the medical condition was at least somewhat serious (13).
A recent study by Harvard University researchers found that the average out-of-pocket medical debt for those who filed for bankruptcy was $12,000. The study noted that 68 percent of those who filed for bankruptcy had health insurance. In addition, the study found that 50 percent of all bankruptcy filings were partly the result of medical expenses (14). Every 30 seconds in the United States someone files for bankruptcy in the aftermath of a serious health problem.
One half of workers in the lowest-compensation jobs and one-half of workers in mid-range-compensation jobs either had problems with medical bills in a 12-month period or were paying off accrued debt. One-quarter of workers in higher-compensated positions also reported problems with medical bills or were paying off accrued debt (15).
If one member of a family is uninsured and has an accident, a hospital stay, or a costly medical treatment, the resulting medical bills can affect the economic stability of the whole family (16).
A new survey shows that more than 25 percent said that housing problems resulted from medical debt, including the inability to make rent or mortgage payments and the development of bad credit ratings (17).
A survey of Iowa consumers found that in order to cope with rising health insurance costs, 86 percent said they had cut back on how much they could save, and 44 percent said that they have cut back on food and heating expenses (18).
Retiring elderly couples will need $200,000 in savings just to pay for the most basic medical coverage (19). Many experts believe that this figure is conservative and that $300,000 may be a more realistic number. "



full report is rather long , please go to link for full text .
hbg

full article :
http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml

We don't want socialized medicine in the USA, that's why.

We spend far more, but our health care is falling behind
Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, U.K. spend less and do better job, studies say
Victoria Colliver, Chronicle Staff Writer

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Filmmaker Michael Moore might be onto something in his new documentary, "Sicko." These days, fewer Americans are buying the claim that the United States has the best medical system in the world.

With polls showing that health care is Americans' top domestic concern, politicians are scrambling to propose reforms. Consumers are buying lower-cost online drugs from foreign sources, and some even become "medical tourists" to obtain affordable treatment in other countries.

Studies show Americans aren't healthier, nor are they living longer than people in industrialized nations that spend half per capita of what we do on care.

For example, a 2007 Commonwealth Fund study that compared the United States with five other nations -- Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand and the United Kingdom -- ranked the U.S. health system last. The study looked at access to health care, efficiency, equity and healthy living, among other measures.

And a 2000 report by the World Health Organization, the most recent available from the U.N. organization, put the United States 37th out of 190 nations in health care services -- between Costa Rica and Slovenia. France was rated No. 1, the United Kingdom in the 18th spot, Canada at No. 30 and Cuba a couple of notches behind the United States in the 39th spot.

In a New York Times/CBS poll conducted in March, health care ranked as the top domestic concern. And in "Sicko," Moore highlights Americans' disillusionment with their health care system, comparing it to systems in other countries, including France, Canada, Britain and Cuba.

Many health experts say Moore might be glorifying other systems -- particularly the once in France. Still, they accept his argument that other nations are doing a better job than the United States in providing coverage for all residents and making sure people have access to primary care and preventive services.

The United States has a private system for all but the poor and elderly. The countries lauded in "Sicko" have national systems funded primarily through the government.

"We, unlike any other country, have 46 million people who are uninsured, and that raises a whole host of health and financial issues," said Ken Thorpe, professor of health policy at Emory University.

Those issues are undermining the health of Americans, several studies have shown. While the United States may have cutting-edge medical technologies, many people lack access to such advanced care, limiting any positive health impact.

"Ours is really is a sick-care system. We have tremendous technical capabilities to deal with people with serious illness," Thorpe said. He argues, though, that it is far more cost-effective to prevent people from getting sick or at least catch illnesses early through better monitoring.

Karen Davis, president of the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit foundation that supports health care research, said many of the problems associated with poor primary care can be traced to the fragmented structure of our health care system. U.S. patients often have trouble seeing the same doctor on short notice, see multiple doctors who sometimes fail to communicate with one another and forgo care because they don't want to spend the money.

"We tend to have more medical errors than other countries, in part because of this highly specialized, fragmented system," she said. "More things can go wrong and do go wrong."

Moore's film has been criticized for showing the positive side of health systems in other countries while glossing over negative aspects.

"There's almost only positive attributes about the British, the French and Cuban system. Invariably, no system is perfect. I think this sort of detracts from his credibility on these comparisons," said Stephen Zuckerman, health economist with the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C.

Moore ignores the fact that private coverage still exists in most countries with nationalized health care. And he avoids showing solutions other than adoption of a government-funded system, often known as single-payer.

"He's trying to be entertaining. But if the objective here is to kick off a serious study about the British and Cuba as an alternative to the U.S. system, you need a lot more than what was presented in 'Sicko,' " Zuckerman said.

In "Sicko," Moore addresses one of the biggest criticisms of the Canadian system -- long wait times for care -- by asking patients in an Ontario emergency room how long they had to wait. All respond that they got treated quickly.

But the Commonwealth Fund report found that both U.S. and Canadian patients were more likely to wait six days or more for an appointment. Waiting times for specialists or elective surgery were shortest in the United States and Germany. U.S. patients were less likely than Canadians to have to wait more than four hours in an emergency room, the report found.

Moore also implies that care in Canada, Britain and France is virtually free. He dismisses claims that the French are overtaxed by showing the comfortable life of a French couple who even have money left over to travel.

But la vie francaise isn't entirely en rose. The country has a high unemployment rate of 9 percent along with high taxes. In France, taxes amount to more than 44 percent of gross domestic product, compared with 26 percent in the United States, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Still, the United States spends a higher percentage of its gross domestic product on health than any other country -- more than 16 percent compared to France's 10.7 percent. The United States spends $6,102 per person in public and private funds compared with $3,159 per capita spending in France.

Americans living in France generally praise the French system.

You don't have cash for health insurance, yet you've got cash to go and see a crap movie like Moores?

Why do you think someone else should be paying your way in the world. Why don't you pay your own way?

One of the reasons I left the republican party; no heart, it's about the money.

Speak for yourself. Most people I know would love to junk their health insurance company.

Why do you want Corporate Facism to control this country? You may vote for your congressman and senator, but corporations tell them what to do.

But what about the people who are denied coverage even though they earn more than $75,000 per year? People like my family?

We were denied because my son has mild asthma. He was diagnosed more than a year ago and we still have his first filled prescription -- that is how little he needs to use it.

Didn't matter. Coverage denied.

I keep seeing that figure thrown around like it proves something. It proves nothing.

Not having health insurance does not equal not paying your own way. When I didn't have health insurance I sure as hell paid my own way -- at full price to offset the discount your insurance company negotiates.

Please tell me that you don't pay thousands of dollars each year for all the trips around the World that you've been taking...
and then tell me "it's about the money"...Without money, you couldn't be running all over the globe...could you?

Do you pay for your trips with popcorn balls?

Why do you think I don't expect to pay? Of course I would pay - just like I do for roads to be fixed and for police to patrol my neighborhood. My husband and I just can't afford the $8,000 dollars a year it would cost (our income is $35,000 (before taxes). PLUS most health insurance companies will not cover us because we do landscaping and that is considered a "high risk" occupation due to injury and skin cancer.

If health insurance cost what a movie cost ($6.50 in my town) I would have no trouble affording it.