Sicko
- Started
- Last post
- 65 Responses
- BonSeff0
good luck pushing out an hmo in our capitolist economy.
- -sputnik-0
the bankruptcy thing used to be true until about 5-7 years ago. now the ratio of people filing who actually had a medical issue or other tragedy is much lower compared to those who got into trouble by being financially irresponsible
- mrdobolina0
not trying to be a defeatist either, seff.
- -sputnik-0
either way i hope this movie will stir things up and get people motivated to reform the system
- PonyBoy0
all I say is leave me options in the end...
... if I don't like the care I'm getting... I'll go find my own...
... but make sure those 50 mill. w/out health insurance have care(this includes me... my insur. co. wouldn't give me a second look when I went short on cash - happened to be the exact time I was finding out that I need heart surgery... now I'm screwed cuz I couldn't pony up the insurance money for a couple of months... and when I tried to even-up w/them... they notified me they would cover me... minus my heart)...
... so I'm not saying no to uni health care...
... as long as I still have options if I don't like 'uni' ones.
Talking to my Dad last night... he's good friends w/a middle-aged family who are snowbirds from Canada that hit phoenix for 6 months out of the year...
... while they're here in the states - they get all the specialized health-care handled by paying for it... as they're not happy w/what they get up there...
... but that's a scenario where people have money...
... so I totally understand the need for some sort of uni health care... as long as you don't eliminate private health care...
... I'd be much happier though if someone stepped in and kicked the Insurance scam in the balls... not having money hurts like hell.
- BonSeff0
shareholders always take precedent
- -sputnik-0
what's nuts is that i know 3 people who work here at really decent jobs who pay over $800 per month for a family of 4.
wtf?
- M0NEYCIDE0
I'm in Canada and when I'm in the hospital there's no reason I don't have a choice in the doctor or whatever or types of treatment. There's always such a thing as a second opinion. Part of the problem with two teirs is that the 'second' public teir windes up losing the good doctors and the market for technology is in the private sector so it's not condusive to what the public system would need just what the rich people need. In the end the public system gets cut back and again the 'poor' suffer again.
What drives me nuts about capatalism is not making money it's hording all the money and using the money just to make more money. There's so much fucking money in the world but it's not being used for better infrastructure that benifits for everyone. It's simply making more problems while the greedy rich people act like they have some claim to it because it's a capatalist society and they supposedly 'earned' it. LONG LIVE SOCIAL DEMOCRACY.
- CincodeMayo0
It's really good. I mean sure it's Michael Moore being pretty 1-sided, but it's definitely informative.
I want to move to France.
- mrdobolina0
Do you think the health care industry is going to tell "both sides of the story"?
Seriously, many times there aren't two equal sides.
- -sputnik-0
my aunt lives in france and had to have a brain tumor treated. she's much better and the tumor is gone but she said the quality of care (i.e. how the nurses treated her etc) was very impersonal and poor in some ways.
but she did get treated and isn't in the hole $150k for it, and that's what counts IMO.
i still strongly support a capitalist system which is why i still live here, so i don't subscribe to the notion that it's the root of all evil.
- mrdobolina0
no it isnt the root of all evil, but some things shouldnt be privatzed IMO, like life-saving medicine.
- M0NEYCIDE0
pure, dare i say americanized, capatalism makes this grand, and dare i say evil, assumtion that everything is subject to be monotized and marketized. it also makes the assumtion that somehow everyone has access to this amazing wealth making dream and subsequently the american dream is a huge oportunity given to the free and brave folks who've earned their right or happened to live with this priveledge. it's a wrong assumtion on both parts, the world isn't designed to make people money and the wealth in the world is largley an exclusive, exploitive and oppresive machine.
- -sputnik-0
i guess we can agree to disagree moneycide. my parents, as well as a large number of people i know, came to this country with very little and by working their asses off were able to really build good lives for themselves. they earned every penny. my father built his own company and provides for 20+ employees and their families, not something he could've done in france. hence the move here.
my husband and i work our asses off as well and perhaps from the outside, we seem somewhat privileged. i assure you that everything we have, we've earned by working hard and sacrificing, and it's still a daily battle. we give back to our community, but unless you knew that it might be easy for you think of us as evil, capitalist americans.
mr dob, we totally agree on this!
- bliznutty0
i broke my leg without insurance a few years back, and...
i can assure you without even seeing this movie...
yes there is a HUGE problem with our healthcare program...
the doctor gave me the cheapest, fastest surgery possible, which failed and nearly cost me my leg...
before doing the surgery, he complained that my leg break was holding up his vacation and how he was so pissed
in the end i honestly believe they would've cut my leg off if it were any bit cheaper..
this is the state of American Healthcare today.
- M0NEYCIDE0
well what i'm not saying is that capatalism is bad or that there isn't a lot more opportunity to make a successful life for yourself in the usa or canada considering the similarities. what i'm saying is that the assumtion that this is available to EVERYRONE is wrong. A good chunk of the wealth is made off the backs of people who will never have any opportunity like you and your family wether it be chinese factory workers or mexican immigrants working in walmart. this is the sad fact of capatalism and they are the oppresed and poor majority. ghettos are plentiful in the usa and they're maintained like prisons for people who live in them. some get out some make it better but the 'american dream' is not accessable or will ever be. largley the middle class, the great heros of north america in the end don't own anything and simply spend, borrow and work.
- PonyBoy0
"i assure you that everything we have, we've earned by working hard and sacrificing, and it's still a daily battle. we give back to our community, but unless you knew that it might be easy for you think of us as evil, capitalist americans."
____
you're not alone in your feelings, sput. ;)
- defanddumm0
Sicko-rap videos
- woodyBatts0
My brother, who is a veteran. was released from the marines with a little cough. He mentioned it when he was released, they moved him through his examination, said it was othing.
1 month later he went into a 24 hour clininc where they diagnosed him with pnumonia, and said he had to be admitted to a hospital now. They called an ambulance, took him to the hospital which was ...
...across the street.
Because he went to a hospital, not a VA hospital, it wasn't covered by his veteran's benefits. He didn't have insurance.
His bill was like 30k, 3k was that damn ambulance! And he is still trying to get the VA to cover the bill. He gets calls from debt collectors, it's really really ugly.
- version30
sputniks statement made me think something i usually don't agree with
you should see the money i waste supplying myself, my brother, and funding friends and events with stuff. this money has nothing to do with food or rent, just the daily waste of being a socially active person with a desire for high end goods, not even clothes, its mainly electronics, collectibles, entertainment
i just looked at my account and thought "holy fuck!, i wonder how many policies i could've paid off last month"
but i'm not even insured
if i need the doctor, i pay cash
how many people have the income to buy the things we want but still expect the things we need?
i'm so guilty of this. how many other people have bought rims, a new car, a lawnmower, camera, tv, jewelry, furniture, blah blah blah instead of investing in their future and safety, both physical and monetary
seems the avg american taxpayer could afford the healthcare it demands by investing some of that personal money into proper coverage
i know my parents and grandparents both pay pennies for pills and have 99-100% of all dental, vision, and medical covered by their insurance policies
sure they come at a cost, but in america, what doesn't?