America: Home of the Free and Land of the Sick
Over the weekend I had the privilege of watching one of Michael Moore’s latest documentaries–Sicko. And, like Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11, Sicko exposed how media control, fear and corporate greed has ruined life for the little guy. But in this case the focus was on your health insurance– an issue that causes many Americans such as myself to see red.
In the documentary Moore exposed a very shocking yet sad truth. If you are a prisoner or a terrorist, you are entitled to 100% free healthcare. However, if you’re an average Joe working a 9-to-5 job, you’re not guaranteed coverage at all. If your employer doesn’t provide health insurance, then you’ll have to pay for your healthcare costs on your own.
And sometimes, even IF your employer insures you, you could still owe thousands of dollars in medical bills. This is exactly what happened to my family. After a series of devastating events, we owed over $20,000 in hospital bills. This is despite the fact that our carrier, United Healthcare, covered 80% of our expenses. We’re still struggling to pay all that.
Ultimately, the only Americans worthy of free healthcare who actually get it are those in the military. But in order to take advantage of it, they have to be deployed. Otherwise, they have to pay money for military health insurance, (which is known as Tricare). And even then it’s not cheap, as my husband has to pay $180 every month for his Tricare benefits.
Of course, I will say that now we have no worries over health insurance. If we get sick, our Hospital will take care of all our health needs, without sending home a crazy medical bill. Yet, I realize that most Americans are not in this situation. If they’re not completely uninsured, they’re stuck with plans that won’t protect them if they do get sick. As a result Americans are running around unhealthy, both physically and mentally. And unless the government has enough sense to enact universal healthcare, I don’t see the phenomenon ever getting better.