Michael Moore's "Sicko"

Hubby and I watched Michael Moore's Sicko a few days ago. Wow. Now, I've not seen any other Michael Moore films, so I don't have anything to compare it to. This film was fantastic. He points out the biggest problems with our healthcare system using real examples of people who have dealt with the worse and the standard. He also goes to a number of countries with socialized medicine to debunk the popular arguments used against such systems. After watching a film like that, one cannot see our healthcare system as successful in the least.

I found it very interesting for the birth aspect. Moore goes to France and visits a maternity room at a hospital, where mothers receive excellent care (and have lower mortality/morbidity than in the U.S.). He also touches on the fact that new French families receive state-funded postpartum doulas. How fantastic is that?

The film made me angry about our healthcare system (as though I wasn't already angry about it). It pointed out many of the problems I already saw in the system and pointed out ones that are horrifying. I know that there are often ways of getting around many aspects of the high prices and poor care we receive, but it doesn't work so well if you have a long-term problem or if the insurance companies are very much against you or if your premiums and co-pays add up.

I think that all emergency services should be completely free of charge, that all children's healthcare should be completely free of charge, that all elderly healthcare should be free of charge, that prenatal and pregnancy-related care should be free of charge, and that all other services should be affordable for everyone. I think that higher taxes should be implemented to make this possible. I do not think that medical personell would experience a lowering in pay for such care.