Having recently watched the Michael Moore documentary, Sicko, I wanted to share some thoughts and opinions about the movie and the U.S. healthcare system in general. Overall, I felt that Moore did a really good job of bringing some major issues to the forefront, albeit in a sensationalistic portrayal. However, it is the job of a good documentary to assure that the viewer perceives and understands the importance of the issues being portrayed, and to this end, Moore's work is outstanding. He also injects humor into the equation and comes up with an end product which definitely accomplishes its purpose and entertains the viewer. However, the biggest failure of Sicko is the inability to provide a workable alternative to the current state of healthcare in this country, and Moore's examples of "a better way" leave much to the imagination and do not even come close to convincing one that the systems portrayed would actually work.
As a relative newcomer to the health insurance industry, I have personally observed many flaws in the current system such as a client who had coverage rescinded due to an issue in her medical record which was unknown to her at the time she completed an application, clients who had claims held up for 90 to 120 days while insurance companies investigated whether a claim was due to a pre-existing medical condition, and overcharges on services due to errors in the negotiated rates between a carrier and service provider. I also have observed human error in incorrect explanations of benefits being communicated to members and in the billing process. There is no question that much improvement needs to take place administratively within the private sector of healthcare.
In today's market, I feel that the most important issues are providing coverage for as many people as possible and making sure that people understand the coverage they possess. Many times one insurance company will decline or rate up a prospect while another will accept the prospect given the same information. The inconsistencies in the medical underwriting of policies are much too widespread as are the number of declines based on insignificant medical issues. Furthermore, the lack of uniform disclosure of the basic coverages provided by health plans is alarming. Many people are sold plans with information on important plan features omitted. Some health insurance carriers actually tell their sales people that it is a terminatable offense if they leave anything in writing with a client without taking an application. In all too many cases, the consumer doesn't know the correct questions to ask, and the broker or company in the quest to make the sale fails to cover key exclusions or deficiencies of the plan.
What this all adds up to is a healthcare system that needs a lot of work. However, in this writer's opinion, most of the entities proposing solutions including Mr. Moore, the politicians, and the insurance companies have their own agendas. In a perfect world, these groups would work together to improve and enhance the current system of healthcare. However, in reality, this quest becomes very political in nature with the various factions competing against each other.
I personally don't believe that a purely universal healthcare system is the answer, but as long as the major players in the industry are participants in our capitalistic, profit oriented society, there will be too many reasons to bypass the real issues at hand in the quest for the almighty dollar. I think all any of us can do is to stay on top of the issues and make our voices heard in support of what we believe in. For this, I have to thank Michael Moore for his efforts.
John Pack
Low Cost Health Insurance
2 comments:
John, I agree with you that Sicko is informative, a bit inflammatory, and timely. Though I suppose if it were not slightly inflammatory, it would never get the conversation going that it seems to have generated among my acquaintances.
I also do not believe it is the documenter's place to proffer a solution. Obviating the problem seems enough. And therefore, the solution remains far from clear.
My encouragement is that, for the first time I can remember, consumers, many politicians including governors and presidential candidates, as well as companies like General Motors are on the same side.
Our outrageous cost of providing health care is now affecting comptitiveness of multinational companies -- and as in the recent case of a Toyota plant scheduled for Tennessee but moved to Quebec due to employee health care costs, affecting our capacity to attract business that brings good jobs!
It seems to me the mandatory elements of a solution must include (1) universal access, i.e., no rejection of applications, no denials of coverages for the absurd reasons it was tried on my wife; (2) mandatory basic coverage of all residents of the US through any means necessary, whether employer contribution, personal policy acquisition or as a last resort via tax assessment or deduction; and (3) highly incentivized wellness focus at both the consumer and provider levels.
The reality is that, while universal systems do seem to work, we have vested corporate interests that will fight that possibility at every step. So we're going to simply have to accept a higher cost to cover our citizenry for health care benefits. My fervent hope is that, in this current national debate process, we will improve the standards of care we deliver to levels of other industrialized countries around the world.
I was interested to read your email and new blog about healthcare. I appreciated your review of "Sicko" and invitation to others to get involved. I like your objectve:
"Our objective is to get as many people as possible involved in this extremely important topic. Our collective voices need to be heard regardless of what each of our positions on this important subject may be."
The sense of doing something together appealed to me...
For me the saddest thing about "Sicko" was to simply consider how we treat one another in this country, which we must live in together. The treatment of "how" seemed, at the end of the day, to be cruel. That we could do better is what gnaws at the heart.
Earlier this year I was in Greensboro, North Carolina and offered a workshop called:
Finding the Beloved Community:
Poems of Witness to Live with Heart in a Conflicted World
It was not about healthcare but it was about social justice -- and I was drawing on ideas exprssed by Martin Luther King about "the beloved community."
It's my opinion that when we are talking about issues that include illness and dying, the drive for health and well-being, there is something spiritual in that that requires us to ask:
1.) who are we to one another?, and 2.) what is and what creates a healing environment?
I agree with you that Moore's film does not offer adequate solutions. I think he tries to answer the first question in looking at other systems in other countries but does not address the second.
These past couple of years I've been involved in the making of a film (as a participant in it) called Healing Words: Poetry & the Art of Medicine that shows in a tangible and moving way how hospitals could offer a more humane and creative environment where the whole person matters. If you're interested, I could send you a copy of this film.
Anyway....I think it's good that you spark some conversation about this. Thanks.
Best Regards,
John Fox
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