Michael Moore Flick "Sicko" Will Compare U.S. Health Care with Cuba's

[Douglas Carpenter]

(please kick and recommend)

link to full article:

http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/50911/


snip:"Sicko, which will be premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in May, is a comic broadside against the state of American health care, including the mental health system. The film targets drug companies and the HMOS in the richest country in the world -- where the most money is spent on health care, but where the U.S. ranks 21st in life expectancy among the 30 most developed nations, obviously in part due to the fact that 47 million people are without health insurance.

The timing of Moore's film is propitious. Twenty-two percent of Americans say that health care is the most pressing issue in America. Health care will clearly be a major issue in the upcoming presidential campaign, as the problems with America's health care system have mushroomed during the Bush administration. For example, between 2001 and 2005 the number of people without health insurance rose 16.6 percent. The average health insurance premiums for a family of four are $10,880, which exceeds the annual gross income of $10,712 for a full-time, minimum-wage worker. In addition, the lack of insurance causes 18,000 excess deaths a year while people without health insurance have 25 percent higher mortality rates. Fifty-nine percent of uninsured people with chronic conditions such as asthma or diabetes skip medicine or go without care.

snip:"America's second-class health care system

Clearly one of the themes of Moore's films, highlighted by the trip to Cuba, is to challenge the myth that the U.S. has superior health care when compared with other countries. In a recent AlterNet article, attorney Guy Saperstein explained,

"The World Health Organization ranks health care systems based on objective measures of medical outcomes: The United States' health care system currently ranks 37th in the world, behind Colombia and Portugal; the United States ranks 44th in the world in infant mortality, behind many impoverished Latin American countries. While infant mortality in the United States is skewed toward poor people, who have rates double the wealthy, the top quintile of the U.S. population has infant mortality rates higher than Canadians in the lowest quintile of wealth."


link to full article:

http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/50911/


.

[Scurrilous]

1. Despite hardships, Cubans live longer

<snip>

""Fidel: 80 More Years," proclaim the good wishes still hanging on storefront and balcony banners months after Cubans celebrated their leader's 80th birthday. Fidel Castro may be ailing, but he's a living example of something Cubans take pride in — an average life expectancy roughly similar to that of the United States.

They ascribe it to free medical care, mild climate, and a low-stress Caribbean lifestyle, which they believe make up for the hardships and shortages they suffer.

"Sometimes you have all you want to eat and sometimes you don't," said Raquel Naring, a 70-year-old retired gas station attendant. "But there aren't elderly people sleeping on the street like other places."

Cuba's average life expectancy is 77.08 years — second in Latin America after Puerto Rico and more than 11 years above the world average, according to the 2007 CIA World Fact Book.

It says Cuban life expectancy averages 74.85 years for men and 79.43 years for women, compared with 75.15 and 80.97 respectively for Americans."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070422/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cuba_living_long

[Douglas Carpenter]

3. interesting....thanks for posting

[cascadiance]

5. I've seen this on other shows on FSTV and Link TV too...

And another glaring statistic is America's infant mortality too, which is worse than Cuba's and is 44th in the world.

This was an interesting paragraph from the above article:

"The World Health Organization ranks health care systems based on objective measures of medical outcomes: The United States' health care system currently ranks 37th in the world, behind Colombia and Portugal; the United States ranks 44th in the world in infant mortality, behind many impoverished Latin American countries. While infant mortality in the United States is skewed toward poor people, who have rates double the wealthy, the top quintile of the U.S. population has infant mortality rates higher than Canadians in the lowest quintile of wealth.

Hmm... I wonder why! Well, you could rationalize that because the bottom part of our society doesn't have health insurance at all, that's why their mortality rate is so much higher too. But when they talk about "the wealthy", I have to believe that also speaks for a lot of POOR quality health care caused by our screwed up insurance system-paid health care too that affects others that aren't ultra wealthy (who pay for private doctor care, etc. out of their pocket) in the "Let's move em in for 10 minutes, give 'em a prescription, and move 'em out" system we have today that most of us have to deal with even if we do have health insurance.

[blondeatlast]

2. Sounds GREAT. I love this--that embargo is really hurting Cuba, eh?

According to the Associated Press as cited in the Post article, "Cuba has made recent advancements in biotechnology and exports its treatments to 40 countries around the world, raking in an estimated $100 million a year. ... In 2004, the U.S. government granted an exception to its economic embargo against Cuba and allowed a California drug company to test three cancer vaccines developed in Havana."

Yeah, US, let's get Cuba where it hurts... :eyes:


K&R, and K, and K, and K...

Edit: the typing fingers aren't awake yet, it would appear.

[glarius]

4. I've heard the right wingnuts on CNN and other places saying Canadians

are dying in the streets because of our "socialistic health care", so I can imagine what they will say about communist Cuba's health care. When will they get the fact that the only thing that really works for the population is universal health care? I once heard Jerry Falwell on CNN actually saying that Canadians are not allowed to take their children to hospitals until they are at a critical state!

[Douglas Carpenter]

6. k+R

[blondeatlast]

7. ...

:kick::kick::kick:

[blondeatlast]

8. Happy b-day, Mike--and kickety-kick! nt

[Catchawave]

9. Happy Birthday Mikey and a

KnR for your film too :toast:

[Douglas Carpenter]

10. one more kick for info

[Douglas Carpenter]

11. one final kick

[Douglas Carpenter]

12. one final kick