Sicko is a documentary film produced in 2007 by Michael Moore, an American filmmaker. Moore main investigation revolved around the United States of America health care centering on pharmaceutical industry and health insurance.
In Sicko, Moore relays a detailed comparison between profits oriented the United States of America healthcares and free and non-profit oriented organizations in the United Kingdom, Cuba, Canada and France. Based on the plot in the documentary, over fifty million Americans do not have health insurance cover while those who have are majorly victims of fraud from insurance companies and the red tape (Moore 128).
To ascertain this, Moore interviewed both doctors and patients from the United Kingdom on salaries, cost and equality. He also interviewed those people who thought that they were insured but in the end were denied the chance to get medical care. At the end of sampling, Moore discovered that the fundamental mission of most American health care systems is not aimed at saving the lives of humongous patients but rather to scoop out huge profits.
Moore also exposed the existing corrupt cycles in American political system that formed a barricade hindering millions of Americans from enjoying their right to health care. Most people are still undermined while others lack the chance to access health care and those affected most were the poor people. This paper mainly addresses inequality in healthcare system based on the documentary film Sicko.
One major problem faced by the United States’ system despite being a developed nation it does not guarantee its citizens proper healthcare. Over fifty million citizens of the United States do not have health insurance. It will take years for one to examine this issue because of the corruption that exists in political system. This has made it even more complicated hearken to the plea of citizens.
Therefore, this means that a lot more would continue to suffer as long as an amicable solution is not found. According to 2006 census report conducted in the United States, forty six million American citizens were not insured and more than 36% of American families who were living below the line of poverty were not part of health insurance scheme. On the other hand, 21% of black Americans did not have health insurance while 34% of Hispanic Americans were also not in possession of health insurance (Nolte 210).
More than 8 million children in the United States of America did not have health insurance and this means that those people who live under the poverty line are more likely to die since they cannot access good hospitals due to insufficiency of funds. According to the 2006 census report, over eighteen thousand people die due to the lack of insurance. This shows that despite being the most industrialized country in the whole world, America lacked one important thing and that is proper health insurance system for its citizens.
A report delivered by the UN Human Development Report indicates that those people who are not insured have less chances of accessing regular outpatient care. Therefore, this means there are high chances for them being hospitalized as a result of avoidable problems with their health. Once in hospital, these patients receive minimal services from the doctors and nurses hence are more likely to end up dead.
This occurrence is different from what patients with healthcare insurance who normally receive regular services from the doctors and the nurses. Uninsured patients normally have less access to preventive care as compared to insured patients. More than 40% of uninsured patients usually do not have regular doctors or medical care centers to attend to them when they fall sick because of the cost (Kao 192).
Some do go without recommended treatments while others do not get drug prescription from the health providers due to inadequate funds. This clearly accounts for the main reason as to why the largest percentage of people dying in America are those without health insurance thus becoming a lucid portrayal of imbalance in American Healthcare system.
Despite the fact that many people in America continue to suffer as a result of grounded imbalance in healthcare system, it is quite controversial that the country spends more money on health care as compared to any other developed countries. The United States spends approximately $2 trillion each year on health care and this means that it should spend $6, 697 on each person yearly on health care (Nolte 210).
However, it is still quite ironical that most of the time there are bankruptcies in American healthcare system which is normally caused by high medical bills. You will however find that those people who have high medical bills come from insured citizens.
According to the report by the UN Human Development, despite the fact that the United States spends the highest amount on funds on healthcare, there are other nations which spend less money on healthcare as compared to the United States but have healthier population as compared to the United States of America.
The average percentage for the United States of America private health insurers overhead is 11.7 for Medicare, 3.6 in Canada while in France it is 1.3. The mortality rate for infants in the United States is much higher than that of other developed countries. Therefore, this translates to the fact that there are high chances for survival for a baby born in El Salvador as compared to Detroit. In Detroit, the mortality rate for infants is 15.5 while in El Salvador it is 9.7. Canadians have an average of three longer years of survival as compared to those people living in the United States (Kao 192).
Older people in Britain are much healthier as compared to American counterparts who suffer from strokes, diabetes, cancer, heart attacks and lung diseases. According to a study conducted by American Medical Association, it is expected that the poorest people living in Britain can live much longer than the richest Americans. This shows the position of poor Americans as far as matters of health are concerned. Cubans too have averagely a longer lifespan as compared to Americans with a lower infant mortality rate.
In conclusion, this paper mainly addresses inequality in healthcare system based on the documentary film Sicko. There are a lot of inequalities in healthcare system in the United States which has denied many American citizens a chance to lead healthy lives. America as a nation has not considered health care as a universal need despite spending much on healthcare systems. This sector has continually lagged behind due to the embezzlement of funds.
The United States actually has not found a proper solution to decimal access to healthcare insurance among its citizens. Michael Moore in his documentary film, Sicko, exposes the reality of inequality in healthcare system in the United States where he shows how a large number of Americans lack health insurance while those who have health insurance have been denied health coverage by the United States insurers whom they had trusted with their money. Much shocking and heartbreaking realities about American health care system is revealed in the film through the interviews conducted by Moore.
Works Cited
Kao, Caroline. “Diagnosis: Michael Moore—media paint filmmaker to be health care system’s main problem.” International Journal of Health Service 38.1(2008):191–193. Print.
Moore, Michael. Sisko. New York: Weinstein Company, 2007.Print.
Nolte, Emily. Measuring the health of nations: updating an earlier analysis. California: Free Press, 2008. Print.