SiCKO

J and I were able to watch a preview of the latest Michael Moore movie, SiCKO.

I liked it and I also feel that MM went so overboard that he diluted his message. Specifically when he took 9/11 emergency workers over to Cuba for medical care. Did it have to be a communist country? I wish he had gone over to a democratic country.

Here's my soap box. J & I pay an average of 12% of our annual salary for insurance premiums. That does not include any co-pays or deductibles. Looking back at last year, we actually hit over 16% of our salary went to cover medical costs - AND WE'RE HEALTHY!!! We've just had a bad run between two hospital stays and a broken elbow over the past year and a half.

We're getting ready to change over to really crappy catastrophic insurance with a Health Savings Account (HSA). This will bring our insurance premiums down to 5.4% of our annual salary, but we'll have a $5,000 deductible on each one of us - even with that, we're still going to be money ahead. I just worry that we're not going to go in for some of the preventative stuff that we have been doing.

While watching the movie, it was just heart breaking seeing how our system bankrupts families.

I support free market. I really do. The most interesting thing I see done in the UK is that they're coinage to their doctors is based on performance - they get extra money when they get a patient to quit smoking, lose weight, etc. While it's not a traditional free market, it is market based.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE FOR ALL????

I've often said that health insurance will kill small business in America. I also feel that it is going to ultimately put the average American worker on unequal footing with other nations who DO provide Universal Health care.

I have heard the arguments that the Canadian and UK systems give inferior service and that not all options are available to you. But why don't we allow supplemental insurance programs where if the government won't perform a procedure, you still have control and can get it done.

Grrr.

We've got to do something about this. My insurance rates have tripled since I've been self employed for the past 8 years. My rates increase 12% every year - no kidding - and my insurance agents tell me that it doesn't look like the trend will stop.

My fear, however, is that SiCKO's message will be diluted because of the connection to communism - which is exactly what scares conservatives away from Universal Health care.

What a wasted opportunity.