Michael Moore Gets Served By Dr. Sanjay Gupta

[AUChizad 0]

Part 1

Part 2

PWNED!!1

[BZ770 2]

Here is the truth

http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/checkup/...ecord-straight/

[Tiger in Spain 0]

The phrase "the truth" and a link to Michael Moore's website cancel each other out. It's like algebra, only using common sense.

[BamaGrad03 0]

Bottom line, Michael Moore is a socialist. There's not a hospital in the country that wouldn't treat an ER patient. If my arm fell off and I had no insurance, a doctor isn't going to let me die.

Now, if I have no insurance, and I want to go to the doctor every time I get the sniffles, I have to think twice.

MOST people who have a job have affordable health insurance. I am self employed, and my insurance is 89 bucks a month with a 2500 dollar annual deductible. That's not bad.

If you are homeless, you can still get healthcare. There are free clinics, there are ERs.

But if we socialize health care, we will be putting something very important in the hands of a government that has shown to mismanage things like it.

Bottom line, would you rather manage your money... the private sector...or the government?

[bojack34 2]

Here is the truth

http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/checkup/...ecord-straight/

I hope you are being sarcastic.

[MDM4AU 336]

From The National Center for Public Policy Research

"Sicko" Presents False View of Cuba's Health System

by Ryan Balis

Leftist filmmaker Michael Moore claims his latest documentary, "Sicko," will "rip the band-aid off America's health care industry,"1 which Moore sees as wrongfully dominated by private drug companies and profit-seeking HMOs.

In part of "Sicko," released June 29, Moore takes a group of ill 9/11 rescue workers to Cuba for health treatment.2 Though most of the workers on Moore's two-week sojourn in March 2007 were insured,3 Moore's motive in going to Cuba is to showcase the supposed superiority of the communist country's "free" national health care and to compare this to "the misery people are put through on a daily basis by our profit-based system" in the U.S.4 (The Department of Treasury has opened an investigation into whether Moore violated the U.S.'s longstanding embargo of Cuba.)5

As with Moore's previous documentaries, "Sicko" provides a brash handling of public policy disputes. The film's underlying push is to, in Moore's words, "ignite a fire for free, universal health care."6 When this premise is examined, the rosy myth of socialized medicine's achievement in Cuba is crushed.

Cuba's Heath Care System: The Reality

Under the Cuban government's health care monopoly, the state assumes complete control. Private, non-governmental health facilities, where ailing citizens could buy treatment, are illegal.7 As a result, average Cubans suffer long waits at government hospitals, while many services and technologies are available only to the Cuban party elite and foreign "health tourists" who pay with hard currency. Moreover, access to such rudimentary medicines as antibiotics and Aspirin can be limited, and there are reports that citizens excluded from the foreign-only hospitals often must bring their own bed sheets and blankets while in care.8

Despite the reality, Cuba's universal health system continues to be glorified. "Defenders of Cuba's communist government cite universal health care and education as 'gains of the revolution,' claiming the average Cuban is far better off today than under the dictatorship of Fulgencia Batista," wrote Tom Carter of the Washington Times.9 Moreover, "The health care system is often touted by many analysts as one of the Castro government's greatest achievements," says an updated 2002 State Department report, which rejects the notion that Cuba's health conditions have significantly improved for most Cuban citizens since 1958.10

When examining the woeful reality of health care in Cuba, Moore's and other liberals' drive to establish a 'socially equitable,' centrally-planned medical system in America should be rejected as a foolish proposal. Though state-sponsored health care is trumpeted in Cuba as a basic human right achieved by the revolution, according to many reports, including those by Cuban defectors, universal availability of and accessibility to top quality care are fantasies.

Below is a snapshot of reports from those who have witnessed Cuba's health care system up front. They serve notice of the horrors of socialized medicine.

Cuba's Health Care System in Practice

Says Canada's National Post, which assessed Cuba and its health system in a three-part series:

Even the most commonly available pharmaceutical items in the U.S., such as Aspirin and rubbing alcohol, are conspicuously absent [in Cuba]... Antibiotics... are in extremely short supply and available only on the black market. Aspirin can be purchased only at government-run dollar stores, which carry common medications at a huge markup in U.S. dollars... This puts them out of reach of most Cubans, who are paid little and in pesos.11

The same National Post story continues, quoting Jasmin, a nurse from Moron, Cuba, "We have nothing. I haven't seen aspirin in a Cuban store here for more than a year. If you have any pills in your purse, I'll take them. Even if they have passed their expiry date."12

Cuban defector Dr. Leonel Cordova told the New York Times about his experience practicing in Cuba, "[E]ven if I diagnosed something simple like bronchitis... I couldn't write a prescription for antibiotics because there were none."13

Along these lines, Patricia Grogg of the Inter Press Service writes:

[A] survey carried out in pharmacies late last year [in 2000] by the local [Cuban] magazine Bohemia failed to find 211 of the medicines included on the official list of products produced to attend to the health of this Caribbean island nation's population of 11 million... 'They say scarcity of medicine is no longer such a serious problem, but I've been trying for days to buy aspirin in this pharmacy, and they always tell me there isn't any,' complained Mara Dolores Pea, a 60-year-old pensioner, outside her neighborhood pharmacy.14

In addition to a limited supply of medicine, according to a 2005 report in the Boston Globe, Cuban health care workers are in short supply:

A 45-year-old nurse in Camaguey Province said she has worked without a doctor in her primary-care clinic for more than two years since the physician was transferred to another clinic to replace a doctor sent to Venezuela. 'My patients complain every day. They want me to act as a doctor, but I can't,' she said. 'The level of attention isn't the same as before.'15

The nurse is alluding to a program in which one-fifth of Cuba's health care labor supply - some 14,000 doctors and 6,000 health workers - has been contracted out to work in Venezuela. Under a special "oil-for-doctors" exchange between Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Cuba's Fidel Castro, Venezuelans receive free eye surgery in Cuba. In return for these medical services, Cuba receives 90,000 barrels of discounted oil per day.16

Ordinary Cubans have suffered as a result. "Blackouts, shortages of consumer goods and other problems persist," wrote Gary Marx of the Chicago Tribune.17

Indira A.R. Lakshmanan of the Boston Globe wrote:

The system has suffered setbacks... since the cutoff of Soviet aid some 15 years ago, with hospitals and clinics in need of renovation and equipment, pharmaceutical costs soaring, and patients saying they must bring bedclothes, food and fans to hospitals. But complaints about a lack of medical personnel are new, dating to the cooperation with Venezuela that some observers disparagingly call the oil-for-doctors program.18

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro of National Public Radio reported:

peaking privately... some Cuban patients and doctors say the system has been feeling the strain of treating the Venezuelans in their home country and on the island. Doctors say that there's a shortage of trained specialists. Most Cuban doctors now they say become general physicians and forego specialized training because what is needed in Venezuela are community doctors. Patients in Cuba complain that their hospitals are stretched and they're not getting the same standard of care they're used to.19

Finally, the Chicago Tribute reported in 2005:

At least one nurse involved in the eye operations said Cuban physicians are sacrificing quality for quantity as they hurry to complete as many operations as possible. The nurse said the number of eye operations at her hospital has soared from about 15 to more than 120 daily, and many patients fail to receive important preoperative tests, she said. The surgeries are performed round-the-clock... 'Nobody is in agreement with this, but they say that you have to do it without discussion,' the nurse said. 'The patients are being mistreated.'20

Despite shortages of medicine and care, especially since the exchange agreement with Venezuela, not all Cubans suffer. "In Cuba there exists TWO health care systems,"21 explains U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), who fled Cuba with her family to the United States when she was seven years old.22 "[O]ne [care system is] for tourists, as well as Communist Party officials, and another for Cubans, who are forced to take with them even the most basic necessities when visiting a Cuban hospital; even aspirins are scarce."23

Reports on therealcuba.com, a privately-run website that contains anecdotes, including ghastly images, of suffering anonymous Cubans cut off from the rich foreign-only facilities. As explained on the website,24 the horrors of socialized medicine are not, in fact, evenly or universally experienced:

Castro has built excellent health facilities for the use of foreigners, who pay with hard currency for those services. Argentinean soccer star Maradona, for example, has traveled several times to Cuba to receive treatment to combat his drug addiction. But Cubans are not even allowed to visit those facilities. Cubans who require medical attention must go to other hospitals that lack the most minimum requirements needed to take care of their patients.25

Are Cuba's health care woes the result of the longstanding U.S. economic embargo? Not a chance, according to a group of 18 exiled Cuban doctors. The doctors made their personal views clear in a joint letter in 1997:

We remain mystified as to why people of ordinarily good will and faith would seek to find fault with the United States for the disastrous situation inside Cuba, while failing to direct the blame squarely where it belongs - at the feet of Fidel Castro, who continues to rule our country with an iron fist after 38 years in power.26

The exiled doctors continued:

We, who have only recently emerged from the belly of the beast, can categorically and authoritatively state that our people's poor health care situation results from a dysfunctional and inhumane economic and political system, exacerbated by the willingness of the regime to divert scarce health resources to meet the needs of the regime's elite and foreign patients who bring hard currency.27

# # #

Ryan Balis is a policy analyst at the National Center for Public Policy Research

Footnotes:

1 Michael Moore, "Statement in Response to Bush Administration's Investigation of 'Sicko,'" Michaelmoore.com, May 10, 2007, available at http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikeinth...dex.php?id=9780 as of June 1, 2007.

2 Janon Fisher, "Moore's 'Sicko' Stunt," New York Post, April 15, 2007, available at http://www.nypost.com/seven/04152007/news/...anon_fisher.htm as of June 1, 2007.

3 Monisha Bansal, "Nurses Praise Michael Moore's 'Sicko,'" Cybercast News Service, May 22, 2007, available at http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Pag...L20070522a.html as of June 1, 2007.

4 Michael Moore, "An Update from Michael Moore (and an Invitation to His Film Festival)," Michaelmoore.com, July 7th, 2006, available at http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/...Date=2006-07-07 as of June 1, 2007.

5 For a copy of the Treasury Department's letter to Moore, see "Uncle Sam Probes Michael Moore," The Smoking Gun, May 10, 2007, available at http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years...0071moore1.html as of June 1, 2007.

6 Michael Moore, "A Letter from Michael Moore: 'Sicko' is Socko in Cannes!," Michaelmoore.com, May 23, 2007, available at http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/...Date=2007-05-23 as of June 1, 2007.

Moore expands on his intention for "Sicko" in an interview with Entertainment Weekly: "What I'm suggesting is the elimination of private health insurance, which is a much bigger thing. I don't know any politicians who are going to take that stand, which is too bad. I don't know many liberals who can take that stand. They want to reform the system and put Band-Aids on the system. The system needs to be scrapped and we need to invent something here that will benefit all Americans."

See Daniel Fierman, "Ready for Moore?," Entertainment Weekly, June 1, 2007, p. 28, available at http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20035285_2...40352_3,00.html as of June 1, 2007.

7 Glenn Woiceshyn, "Canada's Healthcare System is Bad Medicine," Capitalism Magazine, March 31, 2006, available at http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=4618 as of June 1, 2007.

8 For example, see Isabel Vincent, "For Cubans, a Bitter Pill," National Post (Canada), July 4, 2004, p. A11, available at http://www.cubaverdad.net/references/for_c...bitter_pill.htm as of June 1, 2007; "Health Care in Cuba: Myth Versus Reality," The Cuban American National Foundation, available at http://www.canf.org/Issues/medicalapartheid.htm as of June 1, 2007; Anthony DePalma, "Michael Moore's Math," New York Times, May 27, 2007, available at www.nytimes.com/2007/05/27/weekinreview/27depalma.html?ex=1338091200&en=1bdee5894044959f&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink as of June 1, 2007; Fred Thompson, "Paradise Island," National Review Online, May 2, 2007, available at http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OWNhN...DFkOTdjN2Q4ZmE= as of June 1, 2007. See also blog entry by "Jose," Moorewatch.com, May 4, 2007, available at http://www.moorewatch.com/index.php/weblog/comments/1624/ as of June 1, 2007; "Hospital Clinico Quirurgico," http://www.therealcuba.com/Page10.htm as of June 1, 2007.

9 Tom Carter, "Report Doubts Cuba Better under Castro," Washington Times, p. A13.

10 "Zenith and Eclipse: A Comparative Look at Socio-Economic Conditions in Pre-Castro and Present Day Cuba," Bureau of Inter-American Affairs, U.S. State Department, February 9, 1998, revised June 2002, available at http://www.state.gov/p/wha/ci/14776.htm as of June 1, 2007.

11 Isabel Vincent, "For Cubans, a Bitter Pill," National Post (Canada), July 4, 2004, p. A11, available at http://www.cubaverdad.net/references/for_c...bitter_pill.htm as of June 1, 2007.

12 Ibid.

13 Anthony DePalma, "Michael Moore's Math," New York Times, May 27, 2007, available at www.nytimes.com/2007/05/27/weekinreview/27depalma.html?ex=1338091200&en=1bdee5894044959f&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink as of June 1, 2007.

14 Patricia Grogg, "Health Cuba: Nearly 80 Percent of Medicines Produced Locally," Inter Press Service, March 19, 2001, available at http://www.aegis.org/news/ips/2001/IP010312.html as of June 1, 2007.

15 Indira A.R. Lakshmanan, "Help for Venezuela Strains Cuban Health Care," Boston Globe, August 2005, available at http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/25/news/doctors.php as of June 1, 2007.

16 Ibid.; Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, "Medical Care Draws Cuba, Venezuela Closer," All Things Considered, National Public Radio, November 24, 2005.

17 Gary Marx, "Chavez Seeing to Cuba's Revival," Chicago Tribune, November 27, 2005, p. 3.

18 Indira A.R. Lakshmanan, "Help for Venezuela Strains Cuban Health Care," Boston Globe, August 2005, available at http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/25/news/doctors.php as of June 1, 2007.

19 Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, "Medical Care Draws Cuba, Venezuela Closer," All Things Considered, National Public Radio, November 24, 2005.

20 Gary Marx, "Chavez Seeing to Cuba's Revival," Chicago Tribune, November 27, 2005, p. 3.

21 "Michael Moore's Cuba Problem," Miami Herald Blog, May 10, 2007, available at

http://blogs.herald.com/cuban_connection/2...el_moores_.html as of June 1, 2007.

22 Victoria Stuart, "Ileana Ros-Lehtinen: Opening Doors in Congress and the Community," Florida International University Magazine, Spring 2000, http://news.fiu.edu/fiumag/spring_00/alumni2.html as of June 1, 2007.

23 "Michael Moore's Cuba Problem," Miami Herald Blog, May 10, 2007, available at

http://blogs.herald.com/cuban_connection/2...el_moores_.html as of June 1, 2007.

24 Please note: Although therealcuba.com website includes some photographic documentation of its claims, much of its information is not sourced.

25 "Hospital Clinico Quirurgico," http://www.therealcuba.com/Page10.htm as of June 1, 2007.

26 "Defecting Cuban Doctors Blame Castro for Cuban Health Crisis," CubaNet, April 14, 1997, available at http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y97/apr97/14e9.htm as of June 1, 2007.

27 Ibid.

The National Center for Public Policy Research

[BZ770 2]

I used to work for a software company that specialized in hospital billing, and I got to see the firsthand waste of hospitals charges. Moore is too far out in left field for me, but it is a noble idea of national health coverage. Hillary was about it in 1992 never caught on. I went on a college trip to scottland, and one of the guys on my trip got bad sick went to a clinic in Glasgow, not a homeless clinic, cost him nothing and left with some medecine. I thougt that was cool. I lost my job while back and the place I am currently working at doesn't offer insurance, and my wife's work does not offer it either. I have priced personal coverage, but it is too far out of reach . I took this job temporarily to pay bills, but not having insurance for myself, wife and son is something I do think about daily.

[Jenny AU-92 0]

I went on a college trip to scottland, and one of the guys on my trip got bad sick went to a clinic in Glasgow, not a homeless clinic, cost him nothing and left with some medecine. I thougt that was cool.

That's great and yeah, it's cool, but do you think that hospital REALLY gave that stuff away for free? Just because your friend did not pay for it does not mean it is free - that's the argument that liberals use ALL THE TIME. "FREE Healthcare" is NOT FREE. SOMEONE paid for it - in that case, probably the taxpayers of Glasgow. And in this country, we cannot trust our government officials to manage the tax dollars they are getting now, much less the money from the HUGE tax increase we would all face if universal health care passed.

[channonc 466]

There needs to be a better solution than just turning it all over to the government. Insurance companies, hospitals, health care providers, and patient advocacy groups must all come to the table. Heading down this path will only encourage the government to take it over.

Secondly, there is already "free health care" in this country. When I was little, my mom refused to pay for our vaccinations from our pediatrician, instead, she took us to a public health clinic where we were immunized for free.

The only solution is for the industry to come up with a better plan. Something much more cost efficient and easier for consumers.

[autiger518 1]

I'd like to point out something else that a lot of people dismiss and that is people's time. Time does cost money...yet another added cost to these "Free" health care systems. Granted waiting in a US Hospital is time consuming but not as bad as in some of these other countries (ie Canada) where waiting to get this "Free" Health Care takes more than 3-4 hours. Not to be cliche but the adage is true there is no such thing as a free lunch.

[BamaGrad03 0]

I'd like to point out something else that a lot of people dismiss and that is people's time. Time does cost money...yet another added cost to these "Free" health care systems. Granted waiting in a US Hospital is time consuming but not as bad as in some of these other countries (ie Canada) where waiting to get this "Free" Health Care takes more than 3-4 hours. Not to be cliche but the adage is true there is no such thing as a free lunch.

If it's a major operation it can be 3-4 years.

[WAR EAGLE!!! 0]

What Michael Moore's film does not portray is the "behavior" culture of the US compared to other nations. 30% of America is obese. There are Millions more that smoke packs of cigerettes daily, and more that are hooked on both alcohol and drugs. If we have a nationalized health care system, all of the "illnesses" people get from being a fat ass, smoking, drinking and popping pills are all going to be paid by the larger majority of people that do take care of themselves. If you ask a group of one hundred somewhat healthy people, that take care of their body, don't eat too much, drink too much, or smoke too much; the large majority of those people are going to reject a national health plan. However, If you take the same number of people who are all obese with possible complications that go along with being obese (diabetes, heart problems, etc), people who smoke a pack or two a day( acceptable to cancer or other diseases), or people that drink like a fish every night (liver problems, dimensia), these people would LOVE to have their health care taken care of.

It all comes back to what I think is the main difference between most democrat thoughts and republican thoughts....personal responsibility. Most republicans hold accountable the idea of personal responsibilty while democrats think that everyone else owes them something. The problem is, I am not sure if Democrats REALLY believe that or if they just believe that is what keeps them in power. If your constituents are dependent on you for certain things (welfare or a national healthcare plan), you are assured votes from those people that you have taught to do nothing for themselves.

[TitanTiger 20,510]

I gotta say, in so far as this interview went, I'm not sure I see where Dr. Gupta crushed Michael Moore in this debate. He corrected a few facts and he did point out that socialized health care is not "free". There are trade offs. You either pay like we do with premiums, copays and so on or you pay through higher taxes, but either way, you pay. The upside of their system over ours is that everyone is covered, even for wellness and routine care, not just emergencies. The upside of our system is, we typically have more advanced treatments available sooner and there is no rationing or ridiculous wait times for procedures that will often get done that day or within a few days here. But other than that, I'm not sure is was being "pwned" or that Dr. Gupta was even trying to shoot him down in that manner.

[DKW 86 7,440]

Fact from over the radio. 1/8 of the patients in GB wait over a year for surgery.

Think anyone in America would tolerate that?

[AUChizad 0]

I gotta say, in so far as this interview went, I'm not sure I see where Dr. Gupta crushed Michael Moore in this debate. He corrected a few facts and he did point out that socialized health care is not "free". There are trade offs. You either pay like we do with premiums, copays and so on or you pay through higher taxes, but either way, you pay. The upside of their system over ours is that everyone is covered, even for wellness and routine care, not just emergencies. The upside of our system is, we typically have more advanced treatments available sooner and there is no rationing or ridiculous wait times for procedures that will often get done that day or within a few days here. But other than that, I'm not sure is was being "pwned" or that Dr. Gupta was even trying to shoot him down in that manner.

How about where Moore tries to rudely interrupt Gupta "Can I speak? When can I talk? I have something to say. Are you gonna let me talk?" Then Gupta says. "Yes. Go ahead." Moore is given the floor and responds. "Uh...man oh man..." and is literally speechless.

My ruling = PWND!

[GalensGhost 0]

MOST people who have a job have affordable health insurance. I am self employed, and my insurance is 89 bucks a month with a 2500 dollar annual deductible. That's not bad.

Family insurance BC/BS is nearly $300 a month. I've heard of some people paying more than $500 a month. That's not feasible to me.

Something needs to change. Socialized medicine isn't the answer, but something needs to change.

[FootballFanatic 4]

I didn't see him get owned anywhere.

Frustrated yes, owned no.

To be honest reading the stuff around this makes me wonder how simple things like health care gets so politicized and polarized when its such an important issue.

Its crazy.

We all have to at least agree that the prices that hospitals charge are unrealistic for a lot of things. My wife was charged 58 dollars for a single loritab which is more than a whole bottle cost her to fill after her car acccident.

There is a huge problem out there with insurance and healthcare. Its not fair to the low income portion of our society and only people with reasonable health care and a healthy financial lifestyle can say that it is. What the answer is for the problem is a mystery. The answer isn't let the industry run itself. Its not out to help us in any way, its out for a profit on our suffering plain and simple. If it costs too much to save our lives they find a reason to deny coverage.

Michael Moore may be a pompus windbag with an agenda, but how does that make him automatically wrong. He presents very interesting facts in his documentries if you can sift through the drama and sensationalism to see the raw data. Things aren't that great but they could be worse.

Lets all look at a way to make it better.

[WAR EAGLE!!! 0]

MOST people who have a job have affordable health insurance. I am self employed, and my insurance is 89 bucks a month with a 2500 dollar annual deductible. That's not bad.

Family insurance BC/BS is nearly $300 a month. I've heard of some people paying more than $500 a month. That's not feasible to me.

Something needs to change. Socialized medicine isn't the answer, but something needs to change.

Yes...when I worked for myself I paid $850 per month for my insurance.

I agree...the heallthcare industry is screwed up, but I don't think a nationalized government plan is the way to go either. One of the ways would be to try and control both the doctors AND the insurance companies. My wife had a pretty standard procedure done, and we got hit for a $150 co-pay. When asked I asked the hospital if it costs $150 everytime someone had one of these procedures done...I got a nasty, "oh no sir, it costs $4500 to do this procedure". I said...ok, so the insurance has already paid $4350 for this then and I only owe $150. "oh no, was the reply. The insurance settled for $550. You need to pay the other $150"

That is ludacrous (no, not the rapper). Somehow the healthcare industry needs to be held accountable for providing their services at a "fair" costs. It's not just doctors either...hospitals are horrible too.

[jw 4 au 526]

Family insurance BC/BS is nearly $300 a month. I've heard of some people paying more than $500 a month. That's not feasible to me.

Something needs to change. Socialized medicine isn't the answer, but something needs to change.

I can't agree more! Group wide insurance with my firm rose 16% this year and we were thankful - it dropped from a 20 to 26% increase over the each of the past several years. I believe the system is to blame, the insurance companies robbing people blind and the doctors/hospitals knowing how to work the system. They are in cahoots together! It doesn't cost $150 for a Loritab, only they know they can charge that and get paid what its worth from some (thier deal with the insurance providers) and that exagerated fee gets paid from the rest (or at least some of the rest). We need more regulations or limits set, but unless you really want a decrease in your professional service, it is not socialized healthcare.

Michael Moore may be a pompus windbag with an agenda, but how does that make him automatically wrong.

What makes him 100% wrong is that if he got sick, he would NOT go the Cuba for treatment. To second that, he is so extremely wealthy that if he got sick and we did have socialized healthcare, he would find a way to pay that extra money (no matter how much) to get the best healthcare and not the standard healthcare that the rest of America would be getting. You cannot be any more wrong than that. And if he ever does need to see a doctor or have longterm treatment somewhere (I absolutely do not wish any harm on him) I would bet it would be very awkard in that hospital providing his substandard healthcare!

[AUman43 5]

It's really too bad that this subject has to be breached by one Michael Moore! IF someone else with more credibility and a better public image were to address this issue, it would stand amuch better chance of being noticed and heeded.

Remember the time, not too long ago, when people from foreign countries came to the US for medical treatment? Some still do, but they are either people with $$$$ or someone who has been publicized in the media as needing surgery and cannot afford it. Now, many of our doctors are foreign doctors who have been trained in the United States and many of which will eventually return to their native countries to practice medicine. Many people, particularly those without insurance but gainfully employed or retired, travel to Asia (primarily Thailand) for expensive medical procedures. These hospitals are staffed with American trained physicians and have excellent facilities and equipment. The cost for the same procedures that are performed in the US generally runs 50% or less there. Moreover, the hospitals are not understaffed with nurses who expect to make $50,000 to 75,000 per year. In short, The American Medical Community has priced themselves out of the market.

The culprits are; high cost of malpractice insurance in US; competetive nature of hospitals in acquiring and using high tech equipment and the cost associated with it; greedy doctors; greed and corruption of the pharmaceutical companies and failure to adequately reinvest profits in research; GREED GREED GREED... The eventual results, if something is not done....will be a declining profession and lower quality health care in this country and available ONLY to those with money!