This idea of National Health care...can we make it a reality in the U.S.?

Okay... so this past weekend I watched a film by Michael Moore called Sicko...and it was about the Health care system in the United States and elsewhere...in the documentary he talks about the uninsured and the insured...he interviews Americans who actually have moved to other countries because of the health care system...and who travel to countries such as Canada just to get the benefits of socialized medicine. In the documentary he talks about the various insurance companies and how people are denied health insurance because they are too fat or too thin; therefore, too much of a liability for the company. He also mentions how even people who have insurance have declared bankruptcy because they couldn't afford their medical costs. How backwards is that??.....Also...the insurance companies are so rigid and specific and you must tick all categories before they will pay for it...but if a person is sick and needs medication or a hopsital visit ..shouldn't their needs come first before their means??

he says we have the worst infant mortality rate in the western world...a baby born in el Salvador has a better chance of surviving then a baby born in Detroit...doesn't that just seem wrong??..and backwards once again?

In the documentary he discusses the health care system in France, Canada, Cuba and the United Kingdom...he takes a group of Americans to Cuba to receive health care. They are treated like royalty and pay NOTHING ....absolutely nothing for procedures and prescriptions that would cost them thousands of dollars in the states...an inhaler costs 5 cents rather than $120 which is how much they cost in the states...isn't that backwards??? He mentions the prison at Guantanamo Bay...and the medical treatment they can receive...and its the only place on American soil where they can receive free universal health care...is that backwards??

he interviews a doctor in England who works for the government and is paid by the government and drives an expensive car and lives in a house in a really great neighborhood. The doctor says that they get paid by what they do...so the better they do for their patients, the more they get paid. So there is a new system and if you get most of your patients to stop smoking or if you get most of your patients to get low cholesterols then you get paid more. Sounds like a great idea huh?...why don't we do that..or maybe we do and I just know nothing about it... He also interviewed Tony Benn (former member of Parliament) and these are some goodies from Tony...

"with the power of global capital now...instead of being represented, people are being managed, people are being changed to fit them into the system, instead of the system being changed to fit the peoples needs...the world is now run by int'l organizations and corporations. A healthy nation is in the interest of all of us...health is still on the basis of cash and not need."

Michael Moore mentions the common argument against national health care which is..."We don't like working and someone else not working and i dont want to pay for that person who isn't working and im healthy why do i want to pay for someone who is not healthy." and Tony Benn responds by saying...that's a very individualistic view. why don't we look after our fellow citizens? are we not all one family....Jesus was one of the major founders of the socialist idea that we are all one family...and indeed we are because if your neighbor has some serious disease you pick it up ...if your neighbors house catches fire your house catches fire. The bible is a story of the Kings who had power and the prophets who preached righteousness...because jesus preached justice and justice which is a moral question. The most powerful religion in the world is the people who worship money. and this religion's values are based on power and weakness, profit and lot...not on right or wrong. capitalism is much more damaging in the teaching it does than socialism becuase it teaches you to compete and struggle to defeat somebody."

in the extras Michael Moore talks about another country that blows France out of the water...a place he couldn't put in the film...a place where the standard of living is one of the highest in the world. France and England only give you 6 mos maternity leave, this country gives you a full year. The countries health insurance will pay for a 2 week tropical vacation to help you during the long winter and pay for a new car if you are having trouble with the public transport system....its not a far away planet..its Norway. Norway is first on the united nations human development list...ranked number one for per capita income, literacy, education, health care. They don't have a death penalty...their police officers don't carry firearms...and the list goes on...

What can I say about the United States??...people are shackled with debt...unable to move forward and live in fear of losing their jobs and being unable to pay off their debt in hopes of getting ahead in life. in America we have socialized education, the police department and the fire department and the library....why don't we have more of these free socialized things...like Health care? I know...i know every program has its pros and its cons...but don't the pros outweigh the cons in this situation? Can't we pay more in taxes if it will benefit future generations ...don't we care about humanity and the good of the people. It is important to take care of those who are weakest...who are unable to take care of themselves. how are we doing this??

Peter asked me awhile ago what happens to people who don't have insurance...or who can't pay their bill and I truly did not have an answer for him...after seeing this movie...I now have an answer....the hospitals throw the people out...the put them on the street or take them to a free clinic. Now is that right??....WHO ARE WE?? IS this what we have become...a nation that dumps its own citizens like so much garbage on the curb because they can't pay their hospital bill....i always thought we were a good and generous people. They say that you can judge a society by how it treats the worst off...and how are we doing that right now?

Just so interesting how I can move to Northern Ireland for a year...walk into a doctor's office as an American citizen and see a doctor...they do not ask me for my insurance card, they treat me first, and then ask the questions later...but it was such a relief to not have to worry about paying anything!!! Truly, I dread seeing the doctor now...you wonder how much each visit is going to cost you out of your own pocket...you question if its even worth the visit...if you are really THAT sick and in need of a doctor's diagnosis. But thanks be to God, I havn't been sick in AGES....but i know these thoughts would go through my head...and I know these thoughts go through soo many peoples heads and they end up not seeing a doctor. Is this really right???

Michael Moore ends the movie by saying this..."in the end we truly are all in the same boat...and that no matter what our differences we sink or swim together. Thats how it seems to be everywhere else...they take care of each other. No matter what their disagreements. ya know when we see a good idea from another country we grab it..if they build a better car we drive it, if they make a better wine, we drink it. So if they have come up with a better way to treat the sick, to teach their kids, to take care of their babies, to simply be good to each other...then whats our problem?...why cant we do that...they live in a world of WE ...not ME. We will never fix anything until we get that one basic thing right..and powerful forces hope that we never do and that we remain the only country in the western world without free universal health care. ya know if we ever did remove the choke hold of medical bills, college loans, day care, and everything else that makes us afraid to step out of line..well watch out, because it will be a new day in America."

so I just wonder...where do we go from here??...how do we even begin changing the system and educating each other on the importance of a national health care system...all I can say is...I strive to LIVE out my Christian values...and as a Christian I am called to look after the least of these, to value each individual ...our nation is founded on God..but how exactly are these Godly values being carried out in our policies and programs?? We live in such an individualistic society and i just wonder if this will ever change...if people will ever stop focusing on themselves and how much money THEY can make and start thinking about how they can begin to help the less fortunate...