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I can't speak for England's system, other than my observation that in Europe it is considered one of the worst, not the best. At one point, the English public system was sending some of their patients to France for treatment as England didn't have the necessary beds or facilities. But I am most definitely not disagreeing with Moore, just wondering why he choose an inferior European system to use for comparison.
I have health insurance in Italy, which like most countries in Europe has universal health insurance. I have this by virtue of having residency in Italy. When I lived in the Perugia region, I paid $400 a year for this insurance; when I lived in the Terni region, I paid $0. Some regions charge more, but $400 is about the top price.
When my husband and I left the U.S. in 2001, we were paying $12,000 a year for insurance; it when up another $2,000 a year (with no claims) in 2002, and then the insurance company dropped us saying it couldn't insure us if we were living in Europe but refused to return the previous year's premium although it insisted we had not been covered.
My husband did not have insurance when we lived in Italy--he did not have residency at the time--and had some bleeding from the colon and was very scared. He went for a colonoscopy and after it was finished (painless in all ways as he was fine), he asked for the bill. The doctor said joking, "No cost. It was a pleasure looking at your colon." And then seriously, "Why should you pay? None of our citizens do." I might add that it took him two days to get an appointment. It took me considerably longer here.
Also, when I returned to New York, it took me six months to get an appointment for a mammogram--and I called every facility in New York. I wonder if my cancer had been found six months earlier if it would have still been non-invasive (it was 5mm IDC but mainly DCIS when it was found). Of course, I have only myself to blame, as I could have had my mammogram done in Italy in the small village in which I lived, as the mammogram truck came around twice a year. I had left my previous films in New York so thought it better to wait until I returned home.
I have many friends, American and English, who live in Italy and have had serious surgeries and diseases attended to at no cost (including breast cancer) and with excellent results, and they don't sit around worrying about how they'll pay. I should also add that Herceptin for all Stage 1 breast cancers was approved in Italy before it was approved in the United States, and it's given at no cost to the patient.
Yesterday on this board there were some postings about a scientific article that appeared recently in the New England Journal of Medicine. Some women were annoyed at the author of the article for publishing his conclusions, based on their perception that women with Stage 1 cancers would now have a difficult time getting herceptin approved by their insurance companies (and it may be true). Isn't it great that Italian women don't have to worry about scientists publishing their findings on the off chance that an insurance company might misinterpret the findings and refuse treatment! And isn't it great for science!
When I returned to the U.S. I had just turned 65 and was eligible for Medicare. My cancer was found after I was enrolled in Medicare, and I've had excellent treatment as a result, and in of all places an east coast cancer clinic. Thanks NYU for your excellent care. If my cancer had been found a few months earlier, I would have been forced to return to Italy for treatment--after paying very hefty (and I do mean hefty) taxes in the U.S. for some 48 years.
I agree with the general tenor of Moore's film. But I also agree with an earlier comment that he tends to make his films to inflame passions, and logic (and truth) often goes by the boards. But honestly, how else in this country do you get anyone's attention? Logic and reason do not prevail, I regret to say. Discussion is usually through ad hominem attacks, so why should we be surprised when Michael Moore follows suit.
We need serious reform of our medical system, so that all our citizens have an equal shot at good health and good treatment when they need it. Let's hope we get universal health insurance soon, and we can all get off this cancer ride, or at the very least that none of us have to use our life's savings to stay on the roller coaster.
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