Thought Press.

There have been a number of thoughtful responses to Michael Moore’s edgy new film SiCKO. Personally, I felt the movie captured the fault in the United States healthcare system with crystal-clear presentation. About 50 million of Americans are uninsured. The state of the country’s private healthcare system is a sad example in comparison to the rest of the Western world who seems to get by much better on a universal plan.

The film displays the evils of the healthcare industry, its focus on sole profit, and Western countries (Canada, UK, France, Cuba) where universal healthcare provides quality medical care and offers doctors quite a comfortable compensation. The numerous reviews and responses trumpt Moore’s work in bringing this issue to our attention, yet claim there are a few fact-picking situations, creating a bit of an imbalanced documentary.

“Moore claims that ERs don’t overcrowd in Canada. Yet a recent government study suggested that only about half of patients are treated in a timely manner. Moore suggests that Britain offers quality medical care; meanwhile, one in eight Britons waits more than a year for surgery. France is held up as the promised land, with free health care, doctor home visits, and even laundry service for new moms. Not a word, however, about the heat wave of 2003 that killed 13,000 elderly because the hospital system was unresponsive.” - David Gratzer, NRO

But Moore’s website posts emails from Canadians stating, “I would like you to know that wait times to see a doctor in Canada aren’t nearly as bad as some media heads would like you to believe.” Even still, SiCKO provides yet another disturbing truth about poor government control of basic rights, handing it off to private healtcare and pharmaceutical companies whose hands are stretched out waiting for our money instead of focusing on proper care.

>> Read one response to SiCKO
>> Sign a petition for a healthcare bill and find out what else you can do
>> View Michael Moore and Dr Sonjay Gupta on Larry King Live [1, 2, 3]