Tainted, ridiculous, fake, self-serving, unfair, one-sided, offensive and yet still entertaining. This is how I would describe Michael Moore’s latest film, Sicko. Do real people (non-zealots) believe the political rhetoric that Moore spews throughout his alleged “documentaries” as truth? For those unfamiliar with Sicko the movie, it is more of an “infomercial” for Socialism than it is a documentary about America’s healthcare crisis.
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Sicko attempts to highlight selected individuals and their healthcare troubles as the “status quo” for the American for-profit insurance industry. Its main message is that government-run health care is a better model than the present US health-care system. It exclusively portrays the present system as being corrupt and putting the almighty dollar ahead of care delivered to patients.
The movie starts by retelling the stories of people who submitted their “Health Care Horror Stories” to Moore as solicited via his blog. You can only imagine the type of stories that were shared. Some were simple in nature while others were tragic, all intended to scare you into believing that your insurance carrier would rather you die than pay your claim.
Ironically, the details of the stories come exclusively from the patients or family members that are claiming impropriety. There was not one Doctor, nurse, employer or insurance company representative interviewed pertaining to these cases. Nor were there any details pertaining to the type of insurance coverage provided.
Having been involved in the insurance business for many years, I recognize that mistakes can and sometimes are made. That does not make them any less tragic or horrific for those making the mistake. The insinuation that bonuses are paid and promotions given every time a service or claim is denied is completely ridiculous.
Similar to auto or homeowners insurance, there may be exclusions to your health insurance policy. If you incur a charge that qualifies, it is paid. All four of my children were born while I was insured through an HMO. I never paid more than a small co-payment for my wife’s pre-natal care or the delivery of our children. With our fourth child, my wife was hospitalized for 7 weeks due to complications. Again, we paid our co-payment without further obligation. Legitimate examples such as this were noticeably absent from the film.
Why wouldn’t they be absent? Mr.. Moore with his deceptive film making practices want you to believe that doom and gloom persist in our healthcare system. He wants you to believe that the system is corrupt and that maintaining socialized Fire, Police and Postal services qualifies the government for taking on healthcare. He wants you to believe that patients in Canada, France and the UK receive “free” healthcare through their socialized medical systems. (Nothing is free -I’ll save that for my next blog entry). He wants you to join him in becoming a Socialist.
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