Top 10 Favorite Documentaries, Part V
The last one on the Top 10 List.
I don't know why I made a Top 10 List because I'll be watching more. Maybe I'll have a second Top 10 List: The Return of the Documentaries.
Go here for Part I, Part II, Part III, & Part IV.
10. Sicko
First, I've never been a big Michael Moore fan. I've questioned his motives for his documentaries. I think he wants to be seen as a liberal hero and he cashes in on that role. I've also found his documentaries to be entertaining more than informative. They do generate controversy and discussion though, so that's not a bad thing (for viewers and Moore).
Moore did a good job with Sicko. It's good because of how effectively he was able to take the American viewer out of our big, sheltered plastic bubble and force us to see just how bad our healthcare system is compared to socialized healthcare in other countries.
Critics shouldn't call Moore anti-American for this one, but they should say that about the U.S. government and corporations. Critics have also done their best to pick apart Sicko. There's even a website dedicated to doing it called The Michael Moore Chronicles. It's run by an organization called National Center for Policy Analysis which exists to promote privatization in almost every industry. What NCPA does is find flaws in other countries' socialized healthcare and try to use that to convince Americans it's a bad idea. The only thing they can't seem to find flaw with is the fact that there is no Canadian, French, or English person who would give up their socialized medicine for our corporatized system. Every system has flaws, but that doesn't mean it doesn't work or that people aren't content with it.
It's sad that people buy into the bullshit that socialized healthcare is a bad thing. SH is not bad for people, it's bad for the medical industry that gets rich from it, and they'll use their power to do anything to stop it. That means buying our congress members and the media to convince us that SH is dangerous to democracy. If they have to, they'll even pull out the Communism propaganda machine to really scare the shit out of people.
Inside our plastic bubble, we accept that some of us have to go uninsured and not get healthcare. Some of us pay a lot for insurance, but don't get good care. We're used to the fact that if we have a pre-existing condition, we might be denied insurance. It's unfair, but hey, that's the way it is. We accept it because that's the way Capitalism in a Democracy works and if you're not a Capitalist, then you must be a Communist America Hater.
There are some emotional moments in Sicko and this is one of the things critics pounced on. But, these are also real people showing real emotions because of the real problems they have. They also reflect the lives of ordinary citizens. John Stossel of 20/20 (very pro-corporatization) and The Wall Street Journal called it a Sick Sob Story. John, you ignorant slut. Put yourself in the position of these people. Donna Smith was a newspaper editor, but she and her husband went bankrupt and had to move into their daughter's basement. They couldn't afford their medical bills (three heart attacks and cancer) because their insurance wouldn't cover it. Or the 79-year old janitor who has to work to afford the medication he and his wife need, even though they're on Medicare.
Rick, who had no health coverage, had the tips of two fingers cut off by a saw and had to choose which one to have sown back on: the middle for $60,000 or the ring for $12,000. He went with the ring finger because it was more affordable.
Moore presents other "horror stories," but I didn't find them shocking at all. Actually, I found them typical. I know people who have been in similar situations. Hell, I have my own horror stories (I'm covered by a PPO).
Moore points out how insurance companies profit. One example, employees who work for Humana have to keep a 10% insurance denial rate. Employees get bigger bonuses for the more people they deny, which means they deny a lot of people coverage.
Tasha was covered by her insurance for an operation, until Blue Cross went through her medical records and found a pre-existing condition: She once had a yeast infection. Then Blue Cross tried to make her pay back the money for the operation. A yeast infection as a pre-existing condition makes as much sense as saying someone who once had a cold has a pre-existing condition.
Some insurance companies hire people to go through people's medical records after operations are paid for to find a "slip-up," such as a pre-existing condition they didn't know they had (but should have known). A man who did this for a living compared it to working on a murder investigation. They had a whole unit set up just for this purpose.
Former medical reviewer for Humana, Dr. Linda Peeno, went before congress and told them how she personally gained from focusing on profits over healthcare. She confessed that as a doctor, she denied a man healthcare that would have saved his life, and he died as a result. But with that decision, she saved the insurance company millions of dollars and "gained a good reputation." She advanced in the medical field to an executive position at Humana, going from making a few hundred dollars a week to a six-figure income, but at the cost of other people's lives.
Moore compares socialized care in Canada, France, and Britain to America's healthcare system. It is weird to see someone walk into a clinic or hospital and get instant medical attention for free. Whenever Moore asked a Canadian, British, or French person if they have to pay for healthcare (pretending not to know), they all laughed. Like, it's the stupidest thing they've ever heard. One Conservative Canadian went to Florida for vacation and needed medical care. He was told his bill would be $24,000. Instead, he went back home to Canada and got care for free.
A British doctor said that physicians get bonuses for giving the best care. For instance, doctors make more money when they get someone to quit smoking or lower someone's blood pressure. The healthier the patient, the more they make.
The documentary really makes us look so backwards. We are definitely not the country that sets an example for the rest of the world, like many of us like to think.
After showing how healthcare works in other countries, we are taken back to the U.S. where we see hospital camera footage of a drive-by "drop-off". It's when other hospitals refuse a patient, so they put them in a cab and send them to another hospital. The cab pulls up in front of the hospital and dumps off the patient. The hospital said it's not uncommon.
One of the best scenes is what Moore does to the man who runs one of the biggest anti-Moore websites. It may not have been intended for revenge, but damn, that was the best (if not brilliant) revenge.
That's all I'm going to say about the documentary because I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it. I highly recommend seeing Sicko if you haven't already. It's the best documentary Moore has ever made.
This is a video clip from YouTube. It's not from Sicko. It's from a series Michael Moore did awhile ago called The Awful Truth. In this one, he helps a man get a pancreas transplant that his insurance company, Humana, denied. What I like about it is the way Michael keeps telling the Humana rep things like (paraphrasing here): "You know I'm not going away, right? I'm gonna be all over you on this." I think the rep is scared of him. The funeral stunt was good too.
Universal Healthcare and the Democratic Candidates
Don't expect much, despite all the promises they're making. Hillary and Barack have both received the biggest donations from the medical industry than any other candidate, which guarantees we won't see universal coverage. I think The Kooch (courtesy of Ron) would do it though, but no one takes him seriously. Besides, sweeping change is too scary for Americans. We'd rather be treated like shit by our government (and support them for it!) and pretend that corporations have our best interests in mind, then start doing something to make our lives better.
