The "I've seen SICKO" Thread.

Thought it might be interesting to see how many people post in this thread- and how many DUers had been impacted by something in the movie.


I saw it last night in Chapel Hill. NC.

exception for Sicko as I did for Farenheit 911.

....in live in South Orlando and work over by Millennium Mall and usually go to the Cinemax Complex at Festival Bay Center on I-Dr but was surprised that they did not have it listed.

with all the outdoor shops.

I saw that it was playing there Friday night when I was at the Regal to see another film with a group of friends (they all want to see SiCKO next).That theater almost always has a few of the "art house" films showing, though I thought SiCKO would qualify as "Mainstream". It's a good theater but parking is hell, so go early!

I have an ongoing Worker's Compensation case concerning Aetna and I could
tell horror stories about it. They refuse to pay bills as ordered by the
Industrial Commission, they refuse to pay for meds that are critical that I have,
I end up biting about $475 a month out of pocket they keep refusing to pay.
I have medical bills that have went into collections that Aetna was ordered to
pay...the Company I was injured at is a global conglomorate that is self-insured...
think..They own Aetna. This makes making any headway vitually impossible.
At the last meeting in front of the Industrial Commission, Aetna basically says
they think that I will die (the rats always do under the same conditions I was
exposed to) before they have to pay me so they are going to do
everything possible to delay hearings and stall for time!!!!!!!
:grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

Loved it. His best movie yet.

The part with the firefighters in Cuba really got to me.

everything in the film impacted me. but, the thing that is still nagging at me today is how shitty it must be to work in health care these days. no wonder my doctors, by and large, don't have patience for someone who is really ill.

i left the theater thinking that we, as a culture, don't deserve to continue -- shouldn't be allowed to continue -- if we can't treat our sick. we're barbarians.

of us being in the same boat leaving quite an impression on me. I feel I left the theatre motivated to both create change and be kinder to the people in my "boat". I feel sorry for all of us, except those who have greedily accumilated millions of dollars every year by gouging and taking advantage of us.

Kaiser Permanante immediately comes to mind. Here in Minnesota, UnitedHealth has made news with it's completely outrageous, over the top executive salaries.

"Today, the 58-year-old Dr. McGuire is chief executive officer of UnitedHealth Group Inc., one of the nation's largest health-care companies. He draws $8 million a year in salary plus bonus, enjoying perks such as personal use of the company jet. He also has amassed one of the largest stock-options fortunes of all time.

Unrealized gains on Dr. McGuire's options totaled $1.6 billion, according to UnitedHealth's proxy statement released this month. Even celebrated CEOs such as General Electric Co.'s Jack Welch or International Business Machines Corp.'s Louis Gerstner never were granted so much during their time at the top."

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06108/683054-28.stm

All this money comes from us, and not at our benefit. Why does one person need 8 million dollars a year, if it means people who have health care needs get taken advantage of to do that? Why?!!!

Some Americans are greedy, selfish, and celebrated assholes.

It was implemented nationwide not too long before I was born (I'm almost 40) -- so within a couple of generations, it's somehow become part of Canada's psyche. Interesting, eh? (Michael Moore wasn't imagining things when he pointed out the appeal across the political spectrum). In a way, it's even more important for us, than Social Security is for the US, because Canadians fret about unity so much.

Weirdly enough, when the right-wingers shrieked about "socialized medicine" affecting America's morals ... it might just happen, only not in the negative way they claim, if Canada's experience is anything to go by! I think this is what Michael is hinting at ... that the current US approach is at odds with what he sees as America's progressive leanings (he spent quite a bit of his last book stressing how the GOP's views do not represent most Americans).



"Indeed, the National Forum on Health that was appointed by the Prime Minister to advise him on how to improve the health system and the health of Canada's people, went on to conclude that "its significance has broadened into symbolic terms as a defining national characteristic."
http://www.healthcoalition.ca/ensuringeng.html

"There are only a few things that are so deeply ingrained in the fabric of our national consciousness: hockey, medicare, and the Charter of Rights. The Charter is not merely part of our constitution; elle est entrée dans nos coeurs."
*the Charter, by the way, is our constitution -- imagine a government program getting that kind of approval!
http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/AboutCourt/judges/speeches/charter_e.asp

"The poll indicates 56 per cent believe social programs such as Medicare are a defining part of Canada's national identity - as opposed to 29 per cent who believe our military history fulfills that role."
*until the 1970s, schools used to teach that military history (war of 1812, involvement in WWI) is what first defined us as a nation -- looks like that's changed!
http://www.canada.com/globaltv/national/microsites/vimyridge/story.html?id=09664a96-c77d-43f7-80b8-0f9d6f6d4b0b

the benefits of an entitlement such as universal health care or universal secondary education, it becomes a great deal more difficult to take that entitlement away. This is what conservatives fear the most- a generation of children having free, assured, universal access to health care. They'll expect to have it as they grow old, and they will expect their children to have it as well. Their children will go on to strengthen those laws, expand upon them, and work to make the system progressively better and better.

I think if we manage to get single payer, universal health care, we should consider doing something similar for education. I'm imagining a system wherein, if you keep your grades above a certain level, you get to keep going to school. You know, something like what they do in France. :)

Here in southwest Michigan, the city of Kalamazoo is blessed (in every sense of the word) by something called the http://www.kalamazoopublicschools.com/education/dept/dept.php?sectiondetailid=10657&sc_id=1131662979">Kalamazoo Promise. I'm thinking of something nationally, including adults, that's similar to the requirements for eligibility under this foundation (I am very hesitant to call this a charity- in fact, I won't). Interestingly, they're moving to a dot com address, which tells me they may be or already are seeking donations to secure this promise for years to come. (By the way- when this was announced by a group of anonymous private donors, the entire region went into raptures and ecstasies. It was a truly beautiful thing to behold. "Promise qualified" appears on the 'for sale' sign of every home within the area defined by the foundation. If you're thinking of moving to Michigan, Kalamazoo is a very obvious choice.)

Mr. Dick Appropriately Named DeVos during the gubernatorial race told us all, for the record, that he didn't think the students would appreciate what they'd been given because it was given to them; they didn't earn it like the pro basketball players he went on to mention in the same article (IIRC; this was a while ago). He did this in an article in the Kalamazoo Gazette which I'm far too tired to actually link to right now.

I guess my point is, people appreciate "free stuff" (even if it's paid for via taxes, like libraries, police, firefighters, and the like) more and more the longer they have it. That's what truly scares conservatives to death: we'll like what we end up with through our taxes and we'll end up demanding we keep it, generation after generation. It would mean an end to aggressive, "preemptive", and outright profit-motivated warfare being waged by the 'military/industrial/corporate complex' if we had free health care and free education; they would no longer have the manpower or funding to wage aggressive war. I don't for a moment think an industrialized nation such as the US couldn't switch to an aggressive military stance in a comparative heartbeat were there cause to do so. Our response to Pearl Harbor and the threat of Adolf Hitler is proof we can respond in devastating force if there is justification to do so.

If such programs of 'free' health care and education existed for all, I for one believe the American people would endeavor to find the spirit we all seem to have collectively lost as a nation. It really began on September 11, 2001, when the leader of the most powerful nation on Earth decided to cravenly use that terrible national disaster for partisan political purposes. Instead of answering any current or potential terrorists with an expansion of what America is- a call for ideas to make America even greater, to thumb our collective noses at all true terrorists, as it were- our Fearless Leader instead proceeded to cause an even greater disaster, ignore a natural one, and reward the kakistocrats in his maladministration across the board with ever greater financial, political, and judicial appointments, contracts, tax breaks, legislative maneuvers...

That list could go on all day.

We need universal programs like police and firefighters. We desperately need universal, single-payer health care. To topple for all time Bush and his ilk, we also need universal access to secondary education.

One step at a time, as they say. One step at a time.

Though we are both fortunate to not have had problems with our insurance companies. The stories got to us, especially the one about the parents moving into their daughter's house because of their medical bills and the meeting that Michael had with the expatriates in France where one of them said that she felt guilty because of the riches that she was enjoying at 22 where her parents were suffering in the US after a lifetime of work. I think the major impact that the movie had on me is the fact that other countries think of the greater good when determining the alllocation of resources and they don't have the "me first" attitude that is so prevalent in the US. I think this is one thing that will need to change before we see any real changes in this country. That's why I don't share Michael's optimism that we can fix the health-care crisis in this country.

It's all we talked about over dinner.

Fantastic movie! I wish every American would see it.

On Larry King last night they reported it was doing great business already, but I'm just wondering how that squares with your own experiences.

They were expecting more people for the later shows though, and there was a line of people waiting to get in when we were exiting.

I overheard 3 women in the bathroom after the show ended, and they were discussing moving to France. Ditto for the elderly couple sitting next me to me in the theater. It's definitely having an impact on those who've seen it.

The theatre was pretty full and everyone clapped when it was over. It got an excellent reaction from the crowd. I should also say that we saw in a part of town that wasn't particularly Democratic.

We were at the 9:20 show and it was full.

It was all poignant to me, but perhaps the most was the Cuban and American firefighters together.

I was also very impressed with the English and French docs he talked to. The seemed to really enjoy being with their patients.

I was smack dab in the middle of the varsity theatre.

I'm glad I saw it on the first night, and glad I saw it in Chapel HIll. It only would have been cooler had I seen it with y'all!

I thought I had seen it all, but clearly I had not. We are an evil country when we can let a child die because of a high temperature we have refused to treat because of this network crap or for any reason for that matter. I knew that other countries had health care, but seeing actual people who care more about each other than they do money was heart-breaking because I only wish it was my country. We are the slaves of Corporations in a Country of Greed!

We live in a country where it's largely considered "unpatriotic" to question this goal.

Two of our group were nurses, and they were the first to say how great they thought the film was.

This was in Pleasant Hill, CA, where it played the largest theater in the plex - 800+ seats and it was pretty full. Big audience response, too - laughing, booing, applause.

Southeast Virginia, Norfolk? I'm waiting for the local Drinking Liberally gang to host a free viewing...underground, of course :evilgrin:

Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, I had many choices of where to see the film. I was happy about that, since it seemed like it was showing in even more theatres than F9-11 was in our area. Move-on members were handing out literature as we left. The film was excellent.

I would say probably at least 8 different ones within less than a 20-mile radius or so. Definitely more theatres than F9-11 was at when it opened. I figured it would be at one of the art theatres, but it was at a lot of mainstream theatres.

It was what I expected. Compelling and one sided. The story was chosen to support the end result. I have no problem with that at all -- this is part of what makes Michael Moore a valuable asset. He consistantly gives voice to a viewpoint that doesn't get much attention by anyone else.

The theatre was about 1/4 full -- which is about average for around here.

Pretty amazing when a documentary about the American health care system is sold out in Canada.

about what is portrayed of the Canadian system?

The "wait time" nonsense is ridiculous. The way our system is set up, a person who requires urgent medical attention is put at the front of the line. We love our health care, and the part in the film where G.H.W. Bush says "ask a Canadian" about how much they "hate" their health care got very loud laughter in the theatre.

On another note, the part where Moore meets his Canadian relatives at Sears to get insurance is SOOO true. It reminded me of a story one of my profs told, about how his father-in-law went to the states for the day, and was injured (with no insurance) and had to stay in the American hospital for 3 days. My prof brought in the bill he was sent, which came out to something like $16,000. So while it may seem paranoid to go through all that trouble for just a day's travel in the States, I think our paranoia is warranted. :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat:

... when they heard Bush's dad making that declaration. (Some of them were health care workers who had just come off shift, and were still wearing their uniforms.)

Re: the travel insurance thing, it seems that we learn about this early ... I remember that, growing up in the 1970s, even kids in elementary school were talking in hushed voices about neighbours or family members who had suffered some mishap in the States and received whopping bills. One guy in my high school reported going Christmas shopping with his family in Buffalo, when an altercation broke out on the street, and the cops swept in and arrested everybody in sight -- including the guy's older brother. When his mom tried to tell the officers that the teenager wasn't part of the group that was fighting, she was pushed to the pavement and injured her knee. That day-trip turned into an overnight in hospital that produced a 4-digit bill! The whole school heard about it, and everybody's parents freaked out. One class's field trip across the border almost got cancelled as a result, people were so worried. To this day, I still get travel insurance when I'm going to the US (my mom starts nagging me about it, the minute she hears I'm thinking of going there).

As I was waiting for the crowd to leave the theatre after the Sicko showing, I overheard knots of people going past, telling each other similar stories. One of the nurses handed me a pamphlet listing comparable costs ... I was shocked to hear that the ECG which my local hospital gave me for free, after I came into the emergency room last year complaining of dizziness and shortness of breath, would have cost $300 in the US.

Theater had mostly older folks but the movie got a warm response. While my wife and I were walking into the theater, an eldery couple in front of us whispered to one another, "I wonder if everyone here is liberal." I replied, "I hope so!" He smiled and I gave him a thumb's up. Amazing film.

It was heartbreaking and, as usual, Moore did a fabulous job. I teared up a few times. The packed theatre broke out into applause when it was over.

It made me want to move to France! I just don't get why we can't solve this problem here when so many other countries have been able to. Well, I actually do get it, but I don't like it. Money is more important than people here and the lobbyists have the congress in their pockets. We need public financing and we need to get rid of the lobbyists. The problem is big pharma and the insurers.

Luckily, I have good insurance and have never been affected by any of the problems shown in the movie. But that could be because we've been lucky enough to have never had any health issues that our insurers have refused to pay for. Up until this year, we were in an HMO for a long time. It was a pretty good one, though, and I was actually satisfied with it. This year my company moved to a high deductible consumer driven health plan with a health savings account, so I find myself really thinking about anything before I do it. I've switched my Rx to all mail order, but it's still costing me way more than it used to. The fortunate thing is that my company funds our HSA with $1100 and I've been funding it more with money I used to put into my flex account and money I used to put in our stock purchase plan. Still, until it gets built up, I really watch it.

I work for an HR consulting firm and a lot of our clients are going in the CDHP direction and getting rid of retiree medical altogether. It really sucks -- we really do need a universal national health care system.

I'm sorry Mike, but I can't afford to go see it anyway. As repentance, I will advocate it on-line, tell everyone to see it, and star in any commercial you deem to air. :evilgrin:

trying to organize a national strike for national health care

Saw it at the 10:30am Saturday showing (June 30) in Creve Coeur(St. Louis), MO...

It was fantastic! If anyone watches this and still thinks we have the best system of healthcare, there's something wrong with them!

Unfortunately, there were only about 20 people in the theatre with my wife & son. I hope it's only because it was the early show...

I really was moved by the film, as was everyone else in the audience. It was the 5:15 show, so there were only a few people. We cheered and jeered.

The only thing I didn't like was how Moore described Canadian/French/British healthcare as "free." Of course, it is not technically free since they pay for it with their taxes, and the RWers will jump on that one. We here, of course, call our libraries and K-12 education "free" in the same way that Moore uses it, but that won't stop the RWers. I would have preferred it if he had delved a little deeper into the tax issue, in order to defuse that complaint. Like, we get war, corp welfare, etc., for our taxes, and the French get health care and university ed for everyone. Like that.

We can have it for "free" meaning we won't pay nickel more in taxes AND you can eliminate any co-pays, co-insurance, and health care premium dollars AND still get top notch care if we fund our military at the rate as either Russia or China and not at the rate that is more than the next 10 countries COMBINED.

We can have it for FREE indeed.

Northrup Grumman and Halliburton won't like it though.

Does anyone know if that Cuban doctor was married? That guy was hawt! :evilgrin:

I thought so, too!

that the UK doc is married. :cry:

Yeah, he looks like he's hurting on his salary of approx. $170K US. :eyes:

dg

Plenty of people. Applause at the end, a lot of laughter, a lot of "What the hell?" type stuff when the systems of other nations were shown, and what I am most proud of - applause when the old English dude said (and I'm paraphrasing here) "If you have enough money to kill people you should have enough money to take care of people."

Take that, people who paint geographic regions with wide hateful brushes.

Audience applause at the end of it. Overheard the guy behind me say "Guess I have to go to goddamn Cuba to get my back fixed" as he stood up to leave.
Had already seen it online but the scene with the Cuban firefighters and the 9/11 rescuers still made me tear up.
Hmmmm...let's see, I'll have an empty nest household in 2 yrs (single mom, I'll "only" be 44 yrs old then). Thought about traveling the US as a travel nurse (agency foots the housing bill) but now I am thinking France looks like a much better destination!!!

had my Sicko name tag the theatre was mostly filled
Got an applause

It was Awesome
I work in this horrible system and its horrible
Its collapsed and hospitals can't keep up and will go bankrupt

So many great scenes. But the line that really hit me was from the Frenchman
who said in France the government is afraid of its citizens, and in the U.S.
the citizens are afraid of their government.

my favorite theatre which has stadium seating and is just 5 minutes from
my place.

I cried during all of the heartbreaking stories: The one where the husband is denied the bone-marrow tranplant and then dies (even after he, his wife, and his son go to the board of directors at the company and ask if the CEO's wife would heve been denied-may they f'in rot in HELL), I cried when the little girl died because the hospital wouldn't take her so she had to go to the hospital that was "in network." But I think I cried the most when Michael was showing the lady that was being dumped in the streets of L.A. and he just pauses and says: "Who are we." and then his narrative is chilling. The whole Cuba trip with the 911 workers and the others was... I don't even have the words. My God, these people VOLUNTEERED their time to DO A WONDERFUL THING and then suffered horribly and because they weren't covered under the "city's plan" got NO HELP AT ALL. When the other lady (not the 911 lady) was crying to the hot Cuban Doctor when he told her it was all going to be okay and they were going to help her, I lost it. At this point I was sobbing. Films have always been a hugh part of my life and I have to say this one has effected me more than any other - ever.....I'm going to do something about this situation our country is in, I just don't know what - yet.

Loved it. Brought my boyfriend, who is not a political junkie, and he learned a lot from the movie and got quite upset at the way things are. Good job by Michael Moore.

We all gave it a hearty round of applause at the end.

We saw it tonight in San Antonio Texas.

They are only showing it at one theater in town. The line was long and we thought we were not going to get tickets, but they were showing it on two screens so we managed to squeeze in. I would say about 600 people at the 7:30 PM showing. There was another long line for the 10:20 show.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1218299

Theatre was about half full.

:kick:

saw it last night..........Better than Fahrenheit 9/11 not as good as Bowling for Columbine........

first showing of the day, almost sold-out (practically unheard of, since the paper had the movie starting at 10:45 a.m.). The lobby was pretty full when we came out; most of those folks were going to see "Sicko."

dg

"Health Care Movie" *roll eyes here* add *sarcastic tone* and *attitude*.....they both LOVED the movie and are moving to the UK after they graduate college. They're both 14. :) My son's friend immediately called his dad after the movie and said, "Dad, we are moving to the UK!" :rofl: The movie made a HUGE impression on them. I knew it would.

We loved the movie too! It's just INCREDIBLE! One of the most touching scenes was when the 911 first responders were in Cuba and the lady was told she was going to be alright. Everything was going to be fine and she started crying because she couldn't remember ever being told that by a U.S. Doctor! That was it, I lost it. The movie rolled me into a ball of emotions.....sad, happy, mad as hell, disgusted and Michael's kindheartedness touched my soul. I love that man.:loveya:

on edit: we drove 30 North to Crestwood, IL to see the film. It was more than worth the drive. The theater was huge and was about half full. Applause at the end too!