Sicko Film Summary

Accessibilities to these kinds of services increase the overall health of the general population. With healthier people means longer life expectancies and an overall boost of the economy. It is well proven in medical studies that in a universal health care system, the standard of living of each individual is increased. Studies show that people living healthier lives allows for them to maximize their contribution to society. It is also known that Canadian citizens have the longest life expectancies in the world, higher than the United States of America by three percent. The one major difference between the Canadian health care system and the American health care system is that is that they have a privatized health care system. A documentary such as “Sicko directed by Michael Moore” demonstrates the crisis of American citizens without health care coverage. Canada’s universal health care system ensures those who cannot pay for health to not suffer, contrary to the Sicko

Many Americans were led to believe that the introduction of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2009 would put an end to disparities in health care access. While it did improve the situation for a small percentage of the population there are still many Americans who lack access to good quality health care. Health care access in America is determined by money and those in lower socioeconomic groups frequently tend to miss out on adequate care. In a recent health care report by the national health research foundation Kaiser Family Foundation, it was noted “health care disparities remain a persistent problem in the United States, leading to certain groups being at higher risk of being uninsured, having limited access to care, and experiencing poorer quality of care” (Kaiser Family Foundation). The current health care

For sometime, many US citizens have not had the resources to acquire an adequate health insurance plan. Although faced by many oppositions, the US government has found a solution, The Affordable Care Act. The Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare”, is a US healthcare reform law that focuses mainly on providing more Americans with access to an affordable health insurance. The Affordable Care Act is said to expand the affordability, quality, and availability of private and public health insurance through consumer protections, regulations, subsidies, taxes, insurance exchanges, and other reforms. Signed into law by President Obama in March 2010, hence the nickname “Obamacare”, the

46.8 million Americans were reported as uninsured in 2013, which equivocates to one sixth of the population. Those without insurance have revealed that they risk “more problems getting care, are diagnosed at later disease stages, and get less therapeutic care” (National Health Care Disparities Report) and those insured risk losing their insurance. Inadequately covered citizens are often working-class individuals who simply cannot receive insurance due to uncontrollable inconveniences and therefore jeopardize having medical coverage. In these instances, Americans have a chance of being diagnosed with diseases that they had no opportunity to prevent or could not diagnose them at an early stage of the illness. Patients have suffered unnecessarily due to lack of health care, and “18,000 Americans die every year because they don't have health insurance” (PNHP). Health care is essential for Americans despite pre-existing conditions, and a free market insurance program would allow citizens to received the health care that is so desperately needed. A universal health care system is a matter of human rights and would solve America’s problem of one sixth of the population being

A high-rate of Americans living without health insurance coverage in one of richest countries is a major social issue facing the United States. Sered Fernandopulle and Ebrary research showed that there are over 40 million uninsured Americans that are falling through the cracks of the health care system. The question why have already been answered. Now the other question is what does it means for society as a whole when an extremely high-rate of adults and children suffer due to inadequate and inaccessible medical care. Uninsured Americans’ lives are greatly being impacted, by not having no health insurance, according to interviews with 120 uninsured men and women and dozens of medical providers, policymakers, and advocates from around the nation. Sered, S. S., Fernandopulle, R. J., & Ebrary, I. (2005;2004;). Uninsured in america: Life and death in the land of opportunity. Berkeley, Calif: University of California Press.

American democracy is, understandably, the most idealized form of government within our country, and for good reason. There are components of democracy that are necessary to a healthily functioning nation, but these are far more widely discussed than the problems with American democracy, which need to be acknowledged so that they might be improved upon. Rather than trying to hide the metaphorical chinks in democracy's armor, we should be striving to fix them. One of the largest problems with democracy in the United States is its current system of healthcare, which not only fails to provide insurance coverage to all Americans, but also provides more privilege to the wealthy, who have access to higher quality healthcare. Implementing universal healthcare would greatly improve American

With the proposed tax adjustments and the payment plan involving both the individual and employer, Senator Sanders’ health care plan becomes not only viable but also cheap when held against most Americans insurance deductibles. Compared with most so called first world countries, the United States as a whole spends far more on healthcare; “At 17.4% of GDP in 2009, US health spending is half as much again as any other country, and nearly twice the average”(OECD 1). OECD stands for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which includes such countries as Britain, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands among others. The fact that the U.S. spends comparatively more than these other “socialist” countries displays that having a streamlined, national healthcare system can in fact be run without breaking the bank or creating unmanageable costs.

As the 2016 Presidential Elections draw near, the topic of much debate is that of healthcare. Some candidates vow for universal healthcare and mandate health insurance for all, while others believe that tax credits and health savings accounts will resolve the current crisis. Consequently, the nation has been divided on which plan to support and move forward with. Some fear universal health care will diminish the quality of care and lead to long waits, while others fear that health savings accounts and tax credits won’t be enough to insure all and will do little to diminish the administrative costs of the current system. Ultimately because healthcare is a basic right that should be guaranteed

Sicko is a documental film made by Michael Moore in 2007. The director is the main speaker in the movie. Moore is a famous American documentary maker who was awarded for several of his works. There was not any special occasion for creation of this film; it looked like the director collected enough facts from different time periods and social groups and decided to reflect the situation in his new project. Moore mentioned some horrible, contradictory cases, they all had similar level of “severity”; there was not any specific event that could be treated as the trigger for the documentary’s creation. All Americans below the upper class be treated as the potential auditory for the Sicko. Moore involved people from different cities and social groups, but all of them were united by the same problem. The topic affects everyone who contact with health insurance

“Healthcare Reform 101,” written by Rick Panning (2014), is a wonderful article that describes, in an easy-to-understand language, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law March 23, 2010. The main goal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was to provide affordable, quality healthcare to Americans while simultaneously reducing some of the country’s economic problems. Two areas will be covered throughout this paper. The first section will include a summary of the major points and highlights of Panning’s (2014) article, including an introduction to the ACA, goals of the signed legislation, provided coverage, and downfalls of the current healthcare system. The second part will be comprised of a professional

The four case studies discussed in this book talk about how this phenomenon has negatively affected the people and places it has reached. The first case study deals with anorexia nervosa patients in Hong Kong and how America’s view on anorexia affected the people in Hong Kong. The second case studies talks about the Sri Lanka tsunami and the efforts of people to aid the victims of this tragedy. The third case study is centered on a schizophrenia patient in Zansibar. The fourth and final case study discusses a pharmaceutical company’s exploitation of Japanese depression patients (or lack thereof) to make a massive amount of money. These four studies are only a few of the many examples of how America is negatively passing on ideas on how to treat people and

Puzzled on what was right for her, Rachel Pearson studied in the creative writing MFA program at Columbia University before she attended medical school and eventually be exposed to the inhumanity of contemporary American health care system. The MFA program provided her with the ability to have a distinct voice through vivid storytelling. This well-balanced book teaches the readers about the deficiency and injustice of the healthcare system. Through Pearson’s journey as a medical student, we get the real insider details on how the system works, a system that discriminates based on race and class, and a system that regardless of matter of life and death situations will not treat you if you are uninsured or a prisoner. As a medical student Pearson

As Bernie Sanders once said, “Health care must be recognized as a right, not a privilege.” Most developed countries choose to live by this quote while the United States of America chooses to go against it. Universal health care has benefits on multiple levels, whether it’s a single individual or the people in a whole. The U.S is one of the few developed countries that doesn’t offer universal health care to their people, yet the U.S spends more than seventeen percent of their GDP on health insurance. Many people believe that universal health care is a simple one solution problem, but the truth is that there are multiple forms of universal health care that provide all citizens with the health insurance they need.

Pathos is prominent throughout the documentary. Moore appeals to the audience’s sympathies by saying things such as, there are people who have it all, and there are people who have nothing (Michael Moore, Capitalism: A love Story). There are a lot of heart-wrenching examples of pathos within the documentary, such as the family evictions, dead peasant policies, pilot pay and the PA Childcare. Citibank foreclosed on Randy and Donna, who owned a farm in Illinois, and they were humiliated when the bank paid them a thousand dollars to clean the home they were kicked out of for not being able to pay their mortgage. The foreclosure letter they received came out of Flint, Michigan, ironically a city where there is a demolishing of homes because the shrinkage of residents who have been leaving the city in search for jobs (Michael Moore, Capitalism: A love Story). Dan and Erma are a couple that were surprised to find out that Dan’s employer had taken out a life insurance policy on him in the event of his death. Dan died of cancer, and Amegy Bank named their selves as the beneficiary in a life insurance policy for $1,579,399.10 in the case of Dan’s death. It is a sad thought that a company could make a profit on the death of an employee. As Moore said there is a law prohibiting someone from taking a fire insurance policy on someone else’s house, but an employee can take out a life

In this documentary Becky Melke a social worker expresses how she felt after not being able to help a family who needed health care. Becky while telling this story was crying and was emotionally affected because there was just nothing she could do. Some insurance companies such as Blue cross, Cigna, Horizon, Boos, and many others are not willing to support these individuals who have symptoms like Cancer, Diabetes, High Pression, risk