Greedy Trial Lawyer
SICKO Reviewed (Bashed) By Insurance Blog - Moore Is Confused
Category: In Your Face
Mike Feehan at INSUREBLOG, has pioneered a new movie review technique, the half-assed critique based on a half-assed viewing. Why waste valuable time watching an entire film when you can see just enough of a movie to spout off?
I haven't seen all of Sicko, just enough to make a few comments. Yeah, the production looks good technically but basically, I think the movie should be no more relevant than, say, Hunt for Red October to an intelligent discussion of the issues of health care and health insurance.Because the undeniable fact is that insurance is expensive because health care is expensive, not the other way around. Does Moore say that? No he does not. The cost of insurance is rising because the cost of health care is rising. Does Moore say that? No, he does not. The high cost of insurance is a symptom of the deeper problem of health care costs - and if our nation cannot solve the deeper problem, we will never be rid of the symptom. Does Moore say that? No, he does not. He's pecking around the fringes, not facing the problem itself. Worse he does not clearly articulate the problem as either health care or health insurance.
Mike, I saw the whole movie and thought it was extremely thought-provoking. I left the theater (after approximately two hours) wondering how is it possible for the citizens in four different countries to have created universal health care systems which seem to provide quality medical care to all. You left the theater (after 20 minutes?) wondering how you could trash Moore's effort and message.
By the way, what does the following gibberish from your article mean and how is it relevant to a discussion of universal health care?
BTW, I favor universal health care. I also favor universal health insurance to help pay for health care. [And, insurance commissions?] There is a lot of work to do because wishing does not make it so. I do not confuse health care with health insurance. [One generates obscene profits for medical providers and the other obscene profits for insurance companies.] I believe that the linkage of group health insurance with one's employment, while a useful tactic for decades, has outlived its usefulness and it's time to re-think. At the same time, I believe that any universal insurance scheme whether public or private CANNOT succeed in this country, unless the costs of health care can be reduced and the annual rate of growth in those costs is brought under meaningful control.
Are you seriously suggesting that we first work on reducing the costs of health care (within the present system of delivery) and, only after achieving an acceptable rate of growth, should we talk about universal health care? If so, I have to ask if your cart even has a horse to put behind it.
If you had watched all of SiCKO you would have heard Michael Moore and others express the belief that any country able to spend billions to blow up people and buildings should be able to spend whatever it takes to provide universal health care to its citizens. I thought it was, as I said, thought-provoking.
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