I've been sick the last two days. So has Eli. On Monday afternoon, we both went to the doctor. He had thrown up a couple of times but she said just to monitor him and be careful what he eats for a couple of days. I had a horribly sore throat, no strep, and was given an anti-biotic prescription.
I also went to the doctor last Friday. I wasn't sick, but I've had a dry cough now for about 4-6 weeks that hasn't gone away, and am getting tired of it. My wife works for an ear, nose, and throat group, so I was able to visit with no co-pay out of pocket.
The two doctor visits, and a prescription for my cough and one for my sore throat cost a total of $85.00. To be honest, there's hardly ever a time when we can afford a sudden loss of $85.00. So not only have I been sick, but very frustrated as well. Not to mention the doctor on Friday ran a flexible scope up my nose, down my naval passage, and into my chest. Not enjoyable.
I've been to the doctor a total of 3 times this year. Before April, it had been probably almost 3 years since my last doctor visit. I hate going. Not because I don't trust them. But because I hate getting a cold, paying $20.00 to see the doctor, then paying another $20.00-$40.00 for some medicine, only for the cold or flu to take as long to go away as it normally would. I can understand going when you're REALLY sick or injured in a way that you can't possibly care for yourself. But how many people go at the drop of a dime? Everytime they feel something? Everytime they get a cold? Everytime they have nausea? It's been said that this is part of the extremely high cost of healthcare....the fact that people who have free or low cost healthcare grossly overuse it.
Sorry, I guess I'm just venting a little. Feeling mostly better now, both physically and emotionally. Throat still a little sore, and the cough is not gone. I'm very grateful for doctors. It's hard to understand how hard they work to get to where they are. They do incredibly important things daily to help people stay alive and healthy. And although I DO believe that God can heal people even today, I'm not really one who shuns doctors as a way to fortify my faith in the healing power of God.
I just don't like going to see them....could just be that I really hate needles?
Topic #6 - Going to the Doctor
Sicko - An Angry Review
Last Friday night my wife and I saw the movie Sicko, by filmmaker Michael Moore. I really did not know what to expect from this movie. I only know that I really enjoyed Bowling for Columbine and Farenheit 9/11, and was willing to see whatever new movie he released. In fact, from the billboards and the title, I really thought this movie would be another "Bush Bashing" or "Administration Bashing" type of movie.
I was surprised to see it really focuses on an incredibly important issue...healthcare. The movie is not about Republicans or Democrats, nor does it delve deeply into who's to blame for our nation's healthcare debacle. It simply makes a very strong point...many other countries in our world provide FREE, universal healthcare to ALL of it's citizens. Why can't we?
I don't care if you personally don't like Michael Moore. This is one documentary you need to see. It's gotten consistently strong reviews as a movie. You can check out this one from Rolling Stone magazine, or this one from EOnline, or this one from the Boston Globe. What you'll find in most reviews are people saying this is probably Moore's best overall movie to date. He tones down the political rhetoric and really focuses on the issue at hand. Sure, he over-emotionalizes a little, and stretches a point or two a little to far. But the movie is funny, maddening, serious, emotional, and somtimes truly unbelievable.
Here's the hard part. The movie really, really has got me ticked off. I don't want to give up too much subject matter, because you need to see it for yourself. But here's the kicker: Canada - FREE healthcare for everyone. Great Britain - FREE healthcare for everyone. France - FREE healthcare for everyone. Cuba - FREE healthcare for everyone. Moore shatters some preconceived notions that Americans have about the universal systems. "Doctor's make little money in universal healthcare" (wrong). "The quality of care is just not as good" (wrong). "You have to wait forever to get anything taken care of" (wrong).
In probably the most talked about part of the movie, Moore actually takes a group of sick Americans - some of whom are suffering because of their involvement in the 9/11 clean up and rescue missions - to Cuba. While there, these people receive totally free healthcare services and free prescription medications. One women breaks down crying when she receives several boxes of a respiratory medicine for free....the same medicine she has to pay $100's of dollars for in America.
So why am I ticked off? (I hope no one from some secret government search engine reads this) I'm ticked off because this movie has really added to my dislike of the country in which I live. I've begun to wonder (and not only because of Sicko) whether America is really the nation in which we are expected to believe it is. It's the "land of the free", but there are many free industrialized nations in our world now. Is America really that much better of a place to live than Canada, England, France, Italy, or Australia? Would it not be a stetch to say that in many industrialized nations, people probably actually have MORE freedoms than we do?
Capitalism used to be a term that would invoke pride in Americans. We all have the opportunity to do well in life because of the opportunities capitalism provides. But isn't capitalism now polarizing and in some ways destroying our nation? Every year, the majority of Americans who declare bankruptcy do so because they cannot pay their medical bills.
In Sicko, Moore goes to a pharmacy in Great Britain. In Great Britain, at every pharmacy, no matter what medicine you purchase, it costs 6 pounds, or roughly $10.00. ANY medicine. Doesn't matter if it's 30 pills or 90 pills, ibuprofen, viagra, or amoxicillin, the prescription costs $10.00. A heart medicine that would cost a senior citizen $200.00 to buy here....$10.00 there. How's that for capitalism? Here's a country we consider to be an ally, possibly even a contemporary. And if you live there, you pay NO medicals costs (ever), and any prescription you need costs $10.00. Here, hundreds of thousands of people go bankrupt each year because of these same needs.
As you can see, I'm mad. I often joke with my wife about moving to Canada. I'm always half-joking and half-serious. Of course, it would be difficult to do, since ALL of our family are in the Kentucky/Tennessee area, and we would have no jobs lined up. But there are so many times when I wish we had the courage to just do it. It seems to me that America has devolved into a place controlled by egotistical power, political polarization, greed, money, fear, endless laws, and even manipulative suppression. It's where I live. I'm pretty confident it's where I'll always live. But it's become almost impossible for me to take pride in that fact, and Sicko is just a small part of it.