Blog: Comments on SiCKO
Sunday, June 24, 2007, link
Comments on SiCKO 2:52 a.m., link
I saw a sneak-preview of Michael Moore's new movie SiCKO last week. A gentleman I work with was kind enough to give me a ticket. SiCKO juxtaposes private American Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) with the public health-care systems that exist in Canada, Cuba, England, and France. Moore begins by conducting case studies of several disenfranchised HMO customers. Somewheres in the movie he illustrates how President Nixon endorsed the apparently corrupt HMOs.I am sceptical about the representativeness of Moore's portrayal of health care around the world. I cannot comment on the veracity of Moore's claims about health care in the United States, Cuba, or the European countries that he discusses. However, I posit that he equivocally portrays health care in Canada. Moore's movie omitted the following:
- the private clinics in Canada,
- the expensive drugs that many Canadians cannot afford, and
- the lack of public funding for dental and orthodontic work in Canada.
Now -- with scant evidence -- I claim that the movie's scenes shot in the Cuban hospital were almost certainly orchestrated by some political propagandist. I am utterly unconvinced that foreigners would command the attention of several doctors and the use of expensive medical-imaging equipment immediately after arriving at a hospital. Cuba is a poor nation (GDP per capita: $3 900 [1]), hence expensive equipment is rare. Even in a rich nation such as Canada (GDP per capita: $32 614 [2]), patrons of public health-care systems can wait months before undergoing expensive diagnostic tests. Thus some Cuban politico must have arranged for the Americans to receive the attention.
I encourage the reader to see the movie for herself. Too lazy to do more research, I want to hear what people who have first-hand experience with the any of the health-care systems discussed in the movie have to say. I am also interested in reading any objective literature on the matter.
[1] "Cuba", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba, Accessed June 24, 2007.
[2] "Canada", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada, Accessed June 24, 2007.