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Michael Moore’s Activism Against HMO’s - Sicko
By Kimberly Bock | June 30, 2008
If you think I’M opinionated, you ought to hear Michael Moore and his antics.
I watched one of his documentaries over the weekend, “Sicko“, and it inspired me to buy every one of his films. 
He’s witty, he’s opinionated, and determined to uncover injustices. “Sicko” explains the foul play behind HMO’s and the detriment to American citizens as a direct result of utilizing HMO.
He visits France, Canada, and Cuba to discuss their Governmental health policies in those countries.
Did you know, in some other countries, health care is FREE for their citizens? 100%.
They understand the importance of illness PREVENTION. You know, as the old saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
Whatever your illness, these countries citizens receive immediate free treatment and care. Even if they need serious surgeries, extensive cancer treatments, coverage for childbirth or a common cold.
If you watch the movie, you’ll see the facts that our government tries to conceal, like who was paid off and why Hilary’s attempt to make sure we were all covered failed.
I was shocked to learn how other countries even receive pay while they are laid up! 30% of usual employment paycheck comes from their employers, while the other 70% is covered by their government, to nurture them back to health!
It’s a must see.
Here’s a YouTube trailer of “Sicko”.
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Topics: Activism |
July 4th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Hi Kim,
Haven’t gotten round to watching Sicko yet, but I’m a huge fan of Michael Moore’s work. I’d definitely recommend his books if you haven’t read them yet - I started with ‘Downsize This!’ which is great (though prepare to feel very angry with ‘The Man’).
July 20th, 2008 at 4:21 am
I recently watched Sicko at home. It really lit a fire under my butt. I am so grateful that somebody has finally taken the time and effort to “out” the medical system in this country. It is about **** time!!! I worked in the allied healthcare industry for over ten years, up until I became disabled as the result of an auto accident. That’s when I became a victim to this horribly dysfunctional and corrupt system I was witness to for so long. I am currently carrying COBRA coverage through Blue Cross / Blue Shield of Texas (HMO). And, let me tell you that they are absolutely wretched. I have been in the Emergency Department of my local hospital with horrible abdominal pain, swelling, constipation and nausea several times this week. Earlier today, I noticed a large amount of dark black blood in my stools. Accompanied with a low grade fever, lightheadedness and yet more abdominal pain, I reported once again to the Emergency Room. The doctors there said they wanted to call in a gastroenterologist for an endoscopy. After several hours and some blood work, they returned to my room and stated that they were discharging me home. Feeling no better at all, I asked them the reason for this and they stated my blood pressure and hemoglobin were fine, and that my HMO would not authorize an endoscopy unless I had lost “a lot of blood.” Now, I don’t know how all of you feel about this, but the half-pint I found in my toilet this afternoon was quite alarming. I voiced this concern to the ER staff, only to hear, “well you really need to follow up with this referral we are giving you.” Unfortunately, my HMO doesn’t recognize referrals from the ER doc, only from my primary care physician, who I have phoned many times only to hear that he is not available to see me for several weeks. I can’t even explain how horrible this is, to know something is horribly wrong with my body and to be hung out to dry like some menial financial liability. You can bet your sweet behinds that if things get worse I’ll be throwing lawyers at them like a little kid at T-ball.
July 20th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Hello Heather.
I was shocked at the blatant disregard for our countries citizens concerning healthcare. I thought it may have only been a raw deal that I was served and hadn’t researched it prior to watching Michaels movie.
Some say he’s just a one-sided US hater with bias, but the facts/case studies seem to speak loud and clear.
I am not quite sure what you’ve found on the internet for assistance and rebuttal, but I just found a site (from New York state, but I believe it addresses US, not just state) that offers an entire section on “Managed Care Bill of Rights)
On the page, I read this (amongst a mile’s worth of further information)
“There are three general areas in the new statute which the Attorney General is particularly concerned about because of their impact on consumers. First, the Bill gives consumers certain rights to information about their health plans. Second, the Bill provides consumers with certain rights to access specialty, out-of-network, and emergency care. Third, consumers are given various rights to contest certain health plan decisions through mandatory grievance and utilization review procedures.”
http://www.oag.state.ny.us/health/compliance.html
I’m not sure if this is of interest to you, but now you have me curious as to what sort of action we can take as consumers. Do we have protection? Are there steps we can take that may lead to their providing more for us in order to avoid sh*t hitting the fan?
I am sorry to hear that your health is poor, and hope that you find more favorable conditions in the near future. I know how awful it feels to be ill, and feel alone, much less, discarded and left to scrounge for any help you can get.
Hopefully I’ll be able to find further consumer help pages and will email you with them if so.
My prayers are with you and yours,
Kimberly