Quote:
Originally Posted by Kenny@JleviSW
I've just finished watching Sicko and wanted to cry. Some of the stories in there were just sad. It made me sick to my stomach at the same time. I think America's health system is so fucked up it's not even funny.
There was a story in there in which a little girl (4 years old I think) had a 104* fever. She was insured with Kaiser Permanante. Her mom called 911 and she was taken to the nearest hospital. The people there checked with the insurance company and denied treatment for the little girl because it wasnt a hospital that's within the Kaiser's network. The mother begged the doctors to help her little girl out but was removed from the hospital because she was deemed a threat. After 4 hours of delay they were transported to another hospital, just in time for the little girl to go into cardiac arrest. They worked on her for about 30 minutes when a doctor walked in to announce she's expired.
I wanted to start this thread to see what you guys think about the system we live in.
For those who are interested in seeing the movie, here's a free link.
http://www.tv-links.co.uk/show.do/9/4667 |
The healthcare system in the US is still the best in the world, but it does have room for improvement. The Canadian system would be a huge step backward. There are travesties in every health system. There are no perfect systems. Yes it's sad what happened to the little girl, but we all have a responsibility to ourselves and our children to manage our own health care. Why didn't mom get the kid to the right hospital for the insurance she bought?
I'm sure I'll get flamed here, but health care is a business just like anything else. The land, buildings, equipment, nurses, doctors, janitors, staff, meds, equipment - they all cost money. Add to that the ridiculous law suits, and the cost is rising fast. Don't like the healthcare system here? Fix tort reform, and you'll see costs come down.
Before you start flaming me, tell me one other business where you can walk in the door and the business owner will provide goods or services to you knowing full well they will most likely not get paid?