Since my previous article opened a political can of worms…why not continue?
I see on my last post someone referenced the movie Sicko by Michael Moore. Recently I was required to watch this for one of my classes. It left me speechless (figuratively of course, I actually couldn’t quit asking questions and wanting to discuss everything I had just seen.)
In my efforts to become more informed, I still lack knowledge when it comes to healthcare. Being a 21-year-old college student, I haven’t had to deal with healthcare issues. I know I have health insurance, through my parents, and a little white card in my wallet to prove it. Strep throat is the most extensive illness I have had that needed medical attention, and after flashing my little white card, everything went smoothly. I’ve never had healthcare problems, so I guess my naïve mind figured this was the same for everyone.
Wrong-o.
Watching Sicko opened my mind to a world I didn’t know existed. Denied? I didn’t know that was possible. The movie gave some examples of when being denied can be deadly: A young child was declined immediate care because she was at the “wrong hospital” and later died in cardiac arrest, and a husband and father died of cancer because the insurance company refused to cover a procedure they saw as “experimental”, even though doctors had approved and suggested it.
I’ve never heard of such things and as much as I would like to think they are fluke deals, research proves that denial of care takes place a lot more often than I thought:
More than 40 million adults stated that they needed but did not receive one or more of these health services: medical care, prescription medicines, mental health care, dental care, or eyeglasses in 2005 because they could not afford it.
This was my first Michael Moore film, but I still knew I had to take in what I saw with a grain of salt. He has an opinion –an obviously strong one- and he has a way of making his point quite convincing to those who view his films.
Instead of believing everything that movie tells me, I want to dig deeper and eventually form an opinion of my own on this matter. As a Christian, what do I believe about healthcare? If people really are suffering in such ways, shouldn’t I know what is going on? I may be getting by just fine (for now at least) but that doesn’t mean that others out there aren’t fighting the systems for their lives –literally.
Moore interviews some Canadian and European citizens on their system and makes it pretty clear what “all” those who receive socialized healthcare think. But I would like to hear some more opinions. Are there any Europeans or Canadians out there that would like to tell us how you feel about your present healthcare system?
Also, if there are any Americans out there who have faced some extreme healthcare problems, I would like to hear from you as well.
Inform me.
