Sicko

In The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care (2009), the author of the book, T.R. Reid travels to industrialized democracies to discuss the different methods of health care delivery system used in these developed countries and compare them to the health care system of the United States. According to T.R. Reid (2009), “the thesis of this book is that we can find cost-effective ways to cover every American by borrowing ideas from foreign models of health care” (Reid, 2009, p. 11). This thesis illustrates that the American health care system can manage health care costs effectively and provide care to all by using some of the successful health care delivery models of foreign nations. The purpose of this book analysis is to discuss the four different health care models presented in this book and provide my prioritization or ranking of these models. This analysis also aims to investigate a case known as the Nikki White case described in this book and discuss the lessons learned from it. Furthermore, this analysis is going to provide my remarks on the, “An Apple a Day” comment relative to the Public Health Model. Lastly, in this book analysis, I will share my conclusion on the basic premise of the book along with my take away messages that I will remember into my future as a Public Health professional.

However, this system has been a part of a never ending healthcare debate. Many argue that this system underperforms habitually as the deliverables are in no match to the amount of spending. The discussion has largely been based on government-mandate of universal health coverage plan and the costs of the healthcare in the country. This structure has repeatedly been questioned on it access, efficiency and quality. Several feel that the beneficiary is not the average American but insurance companies and health care lobbyists. Like everywhere else, where there is refute; there is reform. In the year 2004, the First Lady of the United States, Hillary Rodham Clinton’s attempt to reform the healthcare scene by criticizing its basis and offering remedies was defeated by the Congress. In 2007, filmmaker Michael Moore’s, Sicko; denunciated the American healthcare system and how it affects its people.

Leonard Peikoff believes that national healthcare is unethical and tramples on the individual “negative” rights of hard-working Americans. He makes a point of clearly defining what our “negative” rights are; they are our ‘unalienable, individual rights’ as Americans, in the context in which it was written in the Declaration of Independence, the right to “life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness”. According to Peikoff, “…all legitimate rights have one thing in common they are rights to action, not to rewards from other people.” (Peikoff 2); it is this right to action (pursuit) which Peikoff attributes to the success

Health care spending in the United States of America as a percentage of the economy has reached astonishing heights, equating to 17.7 percent. This number is shocking when compared to other counties; in Australia health care is 8.9 percent, in United Kingdom 9.4 percent, in Canada 11.2 percent. If the American health care system were to hypothetically become its own economy, it would be the fifth-largest in the world. While these statistics sound troubling, they lead us to look for answers about the problems surrounding our system. The first health insurance company was created in the 1930s to give all American families an equal opportunity for hospital care and eventually led to a nationwide economic and social controversy that erupted in the 1990s and continued to be shaped by the government, insurance companies, doctors, and American citizens. In this paper, I will go in to detail about the various opinions regarding the controversy, the history behind health insurance companies, and the main dilemmas brought out by the health care crisis. Greedy insurance companies combined with high costs of doctor visits and pharmaceutical drugs or the inefficient hospitals all over America can only describe the beginning to this in depth crisis. Recently, the United States health care industry has become know for the outrageous costs of insurance models, developments of various social and health services programs, and the frequent changes in medicinal technology.

In The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care, T.R. Reid, a Washington Post reporter and NPR commentator, compares the United States’ health care system to the systems of other industrialized democracies. In this journey, he analyzes costs, quality, and overall functioning of the different systems. Through his first hand experiences around the globe, Reid illustrates a variety of systems, emphasizing the changes America needs.

“If Obamacare is so wonderful, why is it that its loudest advocates don 't want to be subject to it,” stated Senator Ted Cruz. As financial and social hardships began to become apparent in the United States, one major problem facing the citizens and governing body is Health Care for all. Socialized medicine is a health care system where the government funds and runs health care facilities, employs the health care professionals, and pays for all health care amenities. This idea of giving high quality care to citizens previously unable to afford healthcare has caused problems in the United States, and this idea of “socialized medicine” has proven to create hardships in other countries in the past. Obamacare has introduced socialized medicine in the United States, which has caused negative effects both financially and ethically.

In recent years, health care has been a huge topic in public debates, legislations, and even in deciding who will become the next president. There have been many acts, legislations, and debates on what the country has to do in regards to health care. According to University of Phoenix Read Me First HCS/235 (n.d.), “How health care is financed influences access to health care, how health care is delivered, the quality of health care provided, and its cost”.

Health care debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States (Factcheck.org). Our privatized system has failed the chronically ill population of our country. The political climate that we currently have for these issues is not addressing these issues at an appropriate pace. Health care in the United States is the most expensive in the world, and health care inflation is increasing the fastest in the world (Reid 9). As of 2005, the United States health expenditure as a percentage of GDP is fifteen point three percent (Reid 9). We currently have a system where health care costs are increasing faster than wages, and this has been going on since at least 2000 (Starr, 161). We lead the world in health care spending, and this is a hemorrhage that needs more than a bandage. Some of the other problems we face in this country are access to care, quality of care, and efficiency of care. In this paper, I will dive in to the reasons why we have these problems, and I will analyze both sides of the argument of reform. The two major political parties in the United States have very different types of solutions for these issues. I will dissect each of these approaches, and explain what works about each sides approach, and what does not work about each sides argument. I will also discuss the current US social programs that work, and explain how they work. We need congress and the president to act in cooperation to solve these issues. Our convoluted

“Sicko” is a documentary produced by Michael Moore that focuses on health care in America.The documentary provides an in depth understanding and analysis of the unceasing health care problems in America. Most of these problems result from the corruption present in the American health insurance industry. The message that Michael Moore is trying to get across to his audience is that of the immortality within the American health care system. Michael Moore is able to get his message across to the public by incorporating the three rhetoric techniques of logos, pathos, and ethos. He uses logos by comparing America’s health insurance to those of other countries,

Two simple questions, without a simple answer to either. In this paper were going to try and answer these questions and a few other important questions about the healthcare system in our country.

According to Squires and Chloe, the United States of America is considered as the greatest country in the world, with the largest economy, military powers, freedom of religion and speech, and one of the most successful democrats (2). However, the United States in the only western modernized nation that does not offer free healthcare services to all its citizens. Apparently, the costs of the healthcare services to the uninsured individuals in the US are prohibitive, where the insurance companies are interested in making higher profit margins than providing adequate health care to the insured (Squires and Chloe 4). These conditions are unexpectable and incompatible with the United States

Imagine a nation where one did not have to worry about deductibles, high monthly insurance rates, and being denied health care. Is this possible? Can the United States (U.S.) have this or is such a nation fiction? Michael Moore, known documentary filmmaker, set out on a mission. This mission was featured in his documentary, Sicko. The mission consisted of multiple rhetorical strategies to disclose the positive and negative effects of socialized health care. The great thing about this topic is that it’s applicable to a wide audience. From teenagers just starting to get health insurance, to people midway through their life that may have been burned by the industry, to seniors that need to still work in their eighties to pay off their health care bills. Moore gives good insight to both sides of the argument, and allows the audience to examine all factors. Through many accounts of Moore’s credibility, emotional connections, and pure facts; the audience is strongly convinced that the U.S. should move to a socialized health care system.

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

In the same breadth, Moore fails to talk about how the U.S. market-driven medical innovation has resulted in high survival rates, high patient satisfaction rates, and effective new drug launches in the U.S . All the stories we see are told only from the viewpoint of the victims with no input from the insurers or the doctors. He makes no mention of the U.S. government funded systems like Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP and the VA. All he mentions is about how America spends the most on heathcare (16% of GDP), but ranks low on most of the key indicators of health care and has almost 46 million uninsured.

I think Michael Moore’s movie Sicko educates audience on not to take too kindly, not to look too positive on notorious America’s health care system. I think it reveals that America’s health care is market-driven, profit-oriented health insurance and health providers where as in Canada, United Kingdom, Cuba, and France, health care is free. But, I also think that the movie overall looks too much negative aspects of USA health care system and too positive on health care system in other countries, UK, France, Cuba, and Canada. In USA, health care is not basic fundamental right, not social justice. For instance, the film shows audience that a group of September 11 heroes, who are suffering from devastating and debilitating ailments, have been denied medical care or denied treatment by health insurance companies that they require in America. The documentary also reveals the defective, unreliable, cruel America’s health care system that has been so subscribed to and fixated on making huge profits and large sum of money out of the sick and injured patients rather than saving their lives. For example, the movie shows that America insurance process claims not to pay beneficiary’s ailing claims or the medical claims but dismiss them as evidenced by confession of a former employee of an insurance company. This does not only impact uninsured but also insured people who are covered by insurance whether through employer based or self-purchase.