How do we fix this? Posted by Liz at 07/05/07 04:50 PM

I finally saw "Sicko" with a friend the other night. About half way through the movie, after we hear the heart breaking tales of a few Americans' health care disaster stories, Michael Moore asks the question, "Who are we?"..a question that stays in your mind long after the closing credits. But a more appropriate question might be: How do we fix this? Sure, Moore may paint an all too rosy picture of health care abroad and only focuses on the negative here. But the audience is left with a clear message: Our health care system is broken and too many Americans are falling through the cracks.

So we know the problems: skyrocketing health care costs, 46 million uninsured, too many INSURED facing high medical bills , medical debt and high prescription drug prices.

The movie profiles the stories of a few 9/11 workers and how they have not received adequate medical care after spending time at Ground Zero. One worker in particular has to pay roughly $100 a month for medication to keep her lungs working. Moore takes these workers to Cuba and there she discovers the cost of the same medication in Cuba is 5 cents. You can't help but feel for her while she cries out of frustration, saying that she has always struggled to pay for her medicine at home. At that moment, this worker realizes she is paying too high a price for the inequalities of our health care system.

So we look to the government for answers. Congress had a great opportunity to lower prescription drug prices this year, but the Senate blocked the vote on Medicare Part D negotiation (a great example of special interests at work). The drug industry did everything they could to protect their massive profits from Part D. And less than two months ago, reimportation was also blocked in the Senate.

So whether you have seen the movie or not, how do we fix this? The public deserves some answers very soon.

comments (3)

1 Posted by Amanda at 07/16/07 03:51 PM

i don't have health insurance. maybe i'm no worse off. i had no idea how bad it was even for people with coverage.
i left the theater feeling really cheated. cheated that other countries in the world provide their people not only healthier lives, but more vacation time, assistance with daycare, maternity leave, college education, etc etc etc etc.... these people have lives free of debt. can you imagine it? I can't!
the Mayor of San francisco is pitching a new program here that would give everyone basic care. It would make this city the first in the nation to provide coverage for the uninsured. His plan would be open to any person living here regardless of immigration status or pre-existing medical conditions. Its amazing. I can't imagine it really happening either.
definitely something I would vote on! There's enough people without insurance, maybe it could swing the vote! No doubt this is going to be the hot-button issue in the next presidential election.

2 Posted by moving at 07/31/07 01:53 PM

If San Francisco offered free health care can you imagine what that would do to the economy? There would be such an influx of uncovered citizens - they would drown in poverty!

3 Posted by Denise at 08/01/07 04:15 PM

The Answer is HR 676: Single Payor Health Care for the US.

Just google PNHP: Physicians for a National health care plan - and you don't have to be a phyisican to join. We could cover everyone in the US for less than what we spend now. And, those who work in health ins. companies now will have jobs in the new system.