SICKO: Je T'aime France!

1:05pm Saturday, Jun 30, 2007 | Edit Note | Delete

Went to Michael Moore's Sicko thinking that I wouldn't come away with much since we, as Canadians, already have Universal Health Care. We all were affected by the political grudge match of the aftermath of 9/11 in Farenheit 9/11. We all could feel the sorrow and the outrage of the accessibility of guns in Bowling for Columbine. But Universal health care...medicare? I mean, we already have it...why do I need to see this movie?

Michael Moore tackles the slimy underbelly of the American Health Insurance system and compares it to other countries around the world. He proves that not only does the US have one of the worst medical systems in the industrialized world but that the insurance companies worry more about profit than approving people who need necessary treatment that here in Canada we take for granted.

Some telling examples are the lady who was approved for this treatment that would normally cost her $7000 if insurance didn't cover it. She did the treatment thinking everything was hunky-dorey. Then she gets a letter from the insurance company saying they are cancelling her policy and refusing to pay the hospital because she didn't disclose to them that she had a yeast infection in the past. Another example is of this guy who accidentally chopped off two fingers and had to decide which one he wanted to keep because he couldn't afford both.

Moore interviews people who've been in the middle of this racket (such as retired insurance workers, and this one guy who's sole job is to find any loop hole in the contract to get the insurance's money back from the customer AFTER they do treatment). And puts to rest the propaganda the US is shovelling out to their people to make them believe that universal health care is equivalent to communism. He takes us on a tour around the world to countries who have complete government paid health care stopping in Canada, Britian, and France (who gets free 24 on-call doctor service, free laundry and childcare, and unlimited paid sick leave for you to recover from your treatment).

Did you know that the terrorists at Guantanomo Bay are given free health care by the US government yet the average US citizen has to fight for their right to live?

This is only the tip of the iceberg. Moore's Sicko makes me realize how wonderful and lucky we are to live in a country where we don't have to worry about being stabbed in the back by these kind of companies, where people come before profit.

Very enlightening, humourous, and healthy summer movie.

8.9 Michael Moore baseball caps out of 10