Thursday, July 26, 2007

Sicko

I saw Michael Moore's Sicko recently. I was ecstatic to see a movie which finally shows the truth about insurance companies and the state of healthcare in America. It was also interesting to see how some of them came to be that way. It turns out Kaiser was dissolute from the beginning. In a transcript between Nixon and Ehrlichmann, Ehrlichmann describes the proposed HMO's plan: "...The less care they give them[the patients], the more money they[the HMOs] make."

Another interesting note I read recently: In one part of the film, an 18-month-old girl is driven to the hospital due to a 106.6 degree fever. She is not treated there because the hospital cannot get permission from Kaiser, the girl's insurance. By the time an ambulance takes her to Kaiser to get the antibiotics she needs, she is dead. Kaiser is apparently trying to blow this one off as medical malpractice. When the doctor involved defended himself, he tried to claim that he thought it was asthma, even though phonecalls indicated he was asking to treat the girl with antibiotics for sepsis, a deadly bacterial infection. Kaiser is trying to use the excuse given in court by this doctor (who lost the court case, by the way), and excuse the fact that their corporate greed led to this girl's death.

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