Did you see "Sicko"? How would you have dealt with this situation?

Question

yesterday, the local volunteer fire department had their monthly fund-raising breakfast. We met up with our neighbor and went there for breakfast. Over breakfast we talked about SICKO.

A guy sitting at the other end of the table started with the standard republic kook-aid rhetoric. "Can't pick your own doctor....bureacrats managing your health...socialized medicine...doctors would get out of medicine...yadda yadda yadda"

I started asking him a few questions - his answers are in bold

Who pays for your health insurance now? "employer, with an employee co-pay"

If for what ever reason you no longer have a job, would the employer continue to provide health insurance? "no"

What would you do, could you afford health insurance for yourself and family? "uhh..uhhh..."

Any medical problems that would be considered pre-existing? High blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes? "Yeah, but.."

Assuming you could afford an individual plan - you would be denied coverage because of those pre-existing conditions. In a Universal healthcare type coverage - you would still have health coverage. Now about picking your own doctor - let's say you want Dr. Jones, but Dr. Jones is not within your current healthplan's network - can you still go to Dr. Jones without paying 'out of network' fees or needing a referral or pre-approval? "no"

then you really can't pick your own doctor can you? With Universal healthcare, all doctors are included. Now, let's say you have a particular medical problem, your doctor wants to send you to a specialist or for a special test - either you or your doctor has to contact the insurance company for pre-approval and it could be denied because either they won't cover the cost of the test or because the particular specialist is not 'in-network'. So you still can't PICK YOUR OWN DOCTOR.

he snorts the quality of healthcare will go down - me: the united states is ranked 37th in the world, just above Slovania in terms of healthcare services for it's citizens.

there won't be any doctors, they'll stop practicing because they can't make any money - me: well, let me ask you this do you want to be treated by a doctor whose motivation for being a doctor is to make money, or to provide the best he/she can in keeping you healthy? right now, they get bonuses from insurance companies by NOT recommending certain treatments/drugs/procedures - or on the flipside get bonuses from drug companies by prescribing stuff you don't need. Don't know about you, but when I see a doctor I would want to see one that is concerned about the health of his/her patients, not one that is concerned about the health of his/her bank account.

I don't want some bureaucrat making my medical decisions me: who makes them now? some bureaucrat at the insurance company - they decide which doctors you can or cannot see, which procedures you can or cannot have, which medications you can or cannot have, which medical conditions they will cover or not cover. these bureaucrats at the insurance companies get bonuses and promotions by DENYING YOU SERVICES or COVERAGE, and they come out and tell you their first responsibility and obligation is to the STOCKHOLDERS. Our healthcare system is based on concern for profits, not people.

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I may not have changed his mind, but I did see alot of people around us nodding their heads. I did tell the guy to go rent/buy SICKO, watch it, do some research on his own and then make up his own mind.

As we were leaving, one woman came up to us, asked for the name of the movie again, said she wanted to watch it, then told us how her husband lost his job a could of years back and they had no health insurance until he found another job, she was scared out of her wits that during the interim time that she, her husband or kids would need medical attention and how would they pay for it.

Answer 1

It's amazing how selfish and ignorant people can be. Like the idiot above who said free clinics are enough. That's so ridiculous. Can you get a major operation at a free clinic? Can you go through chemotherapy at a free clinic? Can a free clinic help you in a life or death, emergency room type situation? No.

It really is horrifying to realize just how corrupt and inhumane the system is. It's shocking to think that many people are refused treatment and allowed to die because they either don't have insurance, or their insurance company finds a way to skirt around paying for necessary treatment. A few years ago a boy in my state died after he was bitten by a poisonous snake, rushed to the nearest hospital, where he was refused treatment due to being uninsured. I find it absolutely horrifying that I live in a country that allows this to happen, and even more chilling to encounter so many people who will defend such a system and insist that it is the "best in the world."

Answer 2

I have seen sicko, however, I had already been told of the state of the US health system in med school.

As far as Doctors will leave public healthcare, that is not true. In Ireland, the UK, France etc we make around the same as our collegues in the US which is a lot.

Access to healthcare is a basic human right, the US pays for it in Iraq and Afghanistan but will not give it to it's own people.

Then you hear about communism, universal healthcare is not communism is the EU and Canada communist? Plus there are many socialist schemes in other areas such as education etc. There are some people getting very rich from this scheme while hard working americans are sick and can't recieve treatment. The very people that are telling your country about how universal healthcare does not work, its communist etc etc are the ones making the money from this scheme.

If universal healthcare was taken from the UK, Ireland, France, Canada, or any other country that has it there would be a revolution in that country.

have a look at these sites and then try and say your system works!

http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:WORLDHEALTH2.png

Answer 3

I hate to burst your egalitarian bubble, but your naiveté is kind of .... sickening.

Read the excellent response here above by the guy who was in the military and hasn't been able to see a dentist in two years.

Here's what will happen with Universal Health Care: the best doctors will simply continue their PRIVATE practice, leaving the peasants to fend with the doctors who can barely speak intelligible English. Yes... those beloved doctors that swell the ranks of the HMO's.

Instead of scapping a system which works reasonably well, why not fix the present system? Force the health care providers to stop all the nonsense they currently engage in. They'll continue in this field, because the profits will still be excellent.

Right now, 85% of people have health insurance. A lot of people who claim they can't afford to get it simply aren't budgeting their money the way our parents did.

Why should 85% of people have to have the same health care and doctors that "Loquitia " has to pump out her 8 welfare babies? Why should 85% percent have to suffer for the perhaps 8-10% of people who currently cannot afford health insurance?

Fix the current system. Make it accessible to people with lower income; that eliminates the need for a bureaucratic, government-run nightmare.

Remember, everything the government does costs 3-5 times what it should. Just look at road construction for your guide. Just one mile of road resurfacing often costs millions of dollars. Done privately, it would be a fraction of that.

Answer 4

i have seen sicko and i totally agree with you and what the movies shows we need to change our system. i also want to thank you for having the courage to talk to hard headed people about what is really happening in this country, by talking we will slowly chip away at the strangle hold insurance companies have on our health care. like you said you may have not changed the gentelmans mind but im sure you did open others peoples eyes.

Answer 5

good job,ur totally right we don't even get to choose the doctors we go to now if ur in serous trouble.hospitals can't turn anybody down is what most people who are in favor argue,yeah hspitals can't but insurance company who run the the doctors can

Answer 6

I have had several similar conversations and can still not understand why people think the health care system we currently have is any good.

Answer 7

There's this thing called a free clinic. We already have these and they've been around for years. There's also this thing called medicaid; also been around for years. We already have universal health care. Why do we need more?

I'm in the military, so I have government health care. I haven't been able to see a dentist in over two years.

You think it will be the health care that Clinton and Obama get in the Senate, but it will be far, far different for the peasants.

Answer 8

LOL. Good job.

Answer 9

hilarius comedy ? Really did you see Sicko ? see again please