I just got home from seeing Sicko and its power cannot be underestimated (or misunderestimated for you Bush fans). I can tell it is great because even though it didn’t really tell me anything about our health care system that I didn’t already know, it provided contrasts, examples and related information in such a way that made a huge impact on me. I think the impact will be similar on at least 70% of the American people. The pressure to change after people start seeing this movie in large numbers will be irresistible.
The movie changed one important thing about my views on Healthcare. I have been in favor of Universal Healthcare for some time, but this movie convinced me that my version of Universal Healthcare, and that of most Democratic Presidential candidates, including the one I support, is/was wrong. The insurance companies cannot be a part of the solution. They cannot be a part of the solution because they are the problem. The only solution that will work is a government run single payer system. Kudos yet again to Dennis Kucinich for being right on this issue. I hope my candidate changes his position and plan soon.
After Sicko, I feel about the HMOs and Managed Care companies like the fictional Sarah Connor in the Terminator series of movies felt about the company that was going to give rise to the machines that would ultimately destroy human civilization, I want to smash them, for they have destroyed our Health Care system and the lives of countless numbers of people. Managed Care and the HMOs have killed people in this country, probably a lot of them, people who paid to have their services take care of them. They have maimed and put at risk the health of millions more. I can say that after seeing Sicko without the slightest fear that I could be engaging in hyperbole. (Note: Despite the ‘smashing’ comment, I am not a violent person and would never do anything illegal or violent to the HMOs.)
I now know why Fred Thompson attacked Michael Moore. I didn’t watch it (Thompson's attack) and have no interest in doing so, but it is clear that Sicko is a tremendous threat to the conservative right posit that our for profit healthcare system is the best in the world and better than any government run system. When Thompson becomes the Republican nominee, which I believe he will, if he faces a Democrat who advocates a single payer system he is going to have a hard time and his candidacy will be hurt attempting to justify the right’s fervent desire to continue the status quo. Under the pressures of a campaign, Thompson isn’t going to be able to continue a performance from a chair while smoking a cigar.
