Health Care In America Documentary Summary

After watching the documentary Sick Around America, I have to say that it depressed me. I do not believe that everyone has equal access to healthcare in the United States. I believe with the Healthcare Reform things have improved slightly allowing more Americans to have the opportunity to have healthcare; however, there are those families who make slightly more than the cutoff bracket to receive the cheapest premiums through the government and then are forced to buy healthcare that is still too expensive, and if they do not have healthcare they will receive a large penalty. I believe a lot of families in the working and middle class populations will still have difficulty affording healthcare premiums. Also, just because families can pay the

Escape Fire: The Fight To Rescue American Healthcare by Matthew Heineman and Susan Froemke addressed many issues seen in the American Healthcare system that have gone uncorrected for years. The importance of primary care physicians was noted and this view continued to make more and more sense as the film went on. The lifestyle choices that Americans are and have been making do not promote wellness and actually make the jobs of primary care physicians much more difficult. Also discussed in the film, was the severe issue of the overuse of narcotics in the military. The thought that alternative therapies can actually make a significant difference in people’s lives is to most people something that sounds completely insane. But, these therapies have been working for those that need them most. What truly impacted me during the film was how interconnected all of our problems in the American healthcare system are. The fixes seem to be possible and not as difficult as some would have others believe. After seeing this film I feel that I have gained a new respect and understanding of the system that I will be a part of in the not too distant future.

The absence of low income health care benefits was also a policy affecting the families in the documentary. The health care system has been a historically broken system. People often rely on their employers for affordable health care coverage and companies often don’t offer it, or as we witnessed in the documentary, they cut hours to part time because they don’t want to (or in some cases can’t afford to) shell out the money for employee health insurance. Most people who are working minimum wage jobs, especially part time minimum wage jobs, certainly cannot afford high individual or family health insurance premiums, and hence are not maintaining their health. People earning minimum wage are often living in poverty and there is a direct link between poverty and the uninsured.

Health care in America is a serious issue as it involves families that are unable to receive accessible, affordable and quality medical treatment. Middle class or impoverished families are unable to receive the benefits of health care due to low income levels and a volatile economy. Politicians discuss the reformation of the health care system, but people who are uninsured suffer the consequences of a system that overlooks middle class families in favor of wealthy families, a dominant issue for conflict theorists. Some argue that the health care system is not in need of reform and state that

The lucrative healthcare companies in America have created an immeasurable gap between good healthcare only being for the privileged upper class Americans which has left a horrible effect on the middle and lower class Americans. As modern medicine achieves new heights, the prices of healthcare seem to tread right behind maintaining an unbroken pattern that American classes have grown accustomed to over the past few decades of paying more for less. Leaving many Americans uninsured, underinsured, or even in debt. In a speech Bernie Sanders a U.S. Senator from Vermont spoke at a presidential campaign October of 2015 which he discussed the unruly problematic healthcare trend of price gouging, that is the medical industry getting the most it can from American citizens. In a blog Bernie Sanders states that “46 million Americans today have no health insurance and even more are underinsured with high deductibles and co-payments” (Sanders). 18,000 Americans die every year from preventable illnesses because they cannot cover the cost and don’t go to the doctor when they should. Sanders summed this situation up with this “Health Care is a Right, Not a Privilege” (Sanders). After researching the issue of healthcare, I have come to the conclusion that the American healthcare system is disintegrating due to the ravenousness of modern medical industries, first I will discuss a few reasons to why the healthcare system is failing the modern American

The movie portrays how Moore traverses the various regions of the country collecting the various horror stories of individuals, who have had to resort to other forms of health support. Accordingly, the documentary delves deep into the statistics to show how the state of the health insurance system was in the year 2007. For example, there is a special mention 50 million Americans in the nation do not have any aspects of health insurance. As the film progresses, their filmmaker indicates

In today’s day and age, American households can all agree that health insurance is not a luxury, but a necessity. Without it, costs of emergency room visits and prescription medicines can be financially devastating. However, in the past many families and individuals have taken the risk of not being insured due to the high cost of the insurance itself. To attempt to reform this unfair system, the Obama administration signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010. The law, coined “Obamacare,” has received much opposition due to its expansion government programs and increase in spending. It brings to question how much the government should be involved in an area that for the majority of America’s history, has been

In the article, “America’s Healthcare Revolution, Who Lives? Who Dies? and Who Pays?” by Joseph A. Califano Jr, the author starts by explaining the fact that the US is an aging society. Clifano states that the combination of three important factors, i.e., the aging US population, the increasing cost of healthcare and the decreasing proportion of actual workers, will cause the US to encounter an unfunded healthcare liability. This unfunded liability, according to the author, will eventually place a substantial pressure on publicly-funded health, and long-term support programmes for the elderly. In support of his vision on healthcare delivery system in the United States, the

The world is not perfect. This is the phrase used by almost all humans because not all humans are perfect. These imperfections may include war, poverty, hunger, and much more. One of the world’s problems and at least in this country deals with women’s health. Health care is one of the imperfections here in the United States. Health care in the United States has been in hot topic both in past and recent years. Access and having adequate health care can be a real struggle for women and other social groups in this nation. There are different types of factors in which effect how certain people experience this type of low quality and inadequate health care.

Throughout the movie, the authors identified troubling faults and failures of the current system. These included the lack of appropriate coverage, the undressing push for finance over health care quality, unsustainable costs, unethical business transactions and risks, the failure of healthcare in the United States to address the underlying issue of disease processes and the commonality of treating symptoms verse the cause.

Imagine your doctor just told you that you will need cataract surgery. No big problem, you think to yourself, It’s only a 45-minute surgery. I’ll be good as new in no time. You then find out that there is an 18-month waiting list to get the surgery. The good news is you don’t need the surgery; the bad news is you’ll be blind if you don't get it. This is just one chilling story told by the actual patient in Stuart Browning and Blaine Greenberg’s documentary on Canada’s healthcare system.

Healthcare in the United States is rooted in the private sector. The private sector directly funds 56% of the expenditures through private health insurance, household expenditures and copays, and other private expenditures. (CMS, 2014) The US healthcare system can thank the private sector for providing much strength such as new diagnostic technologies, innovative treatments and procedures, and dynamism. American hospitals and physicians are regarded internationally as being of high quality. Americans can also be proud that the physician- patient relationship is among the most trusted and valued relationships in the country. By allowing the private sector to take a lead role in the healthcare system, the United States values

America is without a question the leading country of medical and scientific advances. There always seem to be a new medical breakthrough every time you watch the news or read the paper, especially in the cure of certain diseases. However, the medical research requires an enormous amount of money. The U.S. spends the most money on health care yet many people, mainly the working class Americans are still without any type of health insurance and thus are more susceptible to health risks and problems. The concept of health insurance for Americans was formulated over a century ago. Most Americans obtain health insurance from

All around the globe, in places including Britain, Canada, Cuba, France and many other countries the mere thought of pulling out a credit card and paying for health services in hospital seems ludicrous. This is because these countries all have free universal health care, meaning that the majority of health care cost are covered by the government. In other words it is free! However, this is not the case the United States of America, where healthcare is privately funded and covered by insurance companies. Michael Moore, in his documentary Sicko explores the flawed US health care system comparing it to countries with universal health care and resolves the current system is corrupt and full of injustices. Throughout the film interviews that the audience can empathize with are conducted making the viewer feel certain emotions leading them to believe that the American health insurance companies are full of is corruption. In addition, images of past events that viewers can resonate with stir up strong emotions and plant the seed of how flawed the health industry is. Furthermore, Moore literally casts himself as the lead character and is able to manipulate certain scenes in order to convey his message because he is able to guide the flow of the scene. By using several cinematic techniques such as good casting, relatable images and personable interviews Moore is able to construct his version of the American health industry, leading the viewer to believe

The Michael Moore movie pointed to a myriad of issues relating to the American healthcare system that are both startling and interesting. The movie was produced before the Obama Administration signed the Affordable Care Act into law, but Sicko reports that nearly 50 million Americans do not have health insurance. About 18,000 Americans die each year because they don't have health insurance. The system is clearly broken, and politics seems to have been the reason that insurance companies keep a strangle hold on consumers. For example, Sicko reports that there are nearly four times as many lobbyists in Washington D.C. pushing for their clients' agenda as there are members of Congress.