Boston, MA

Well, I didn’t mean for it to happen this way, but so far my posts this week are centering around the issue of health care and health insurance. Massachusetts, as of July 1st, is now the first state to require health insurance for all residents. The deadline came and went, however residents still have until the end of the year to show proof of insurance, so only a small percentage of the 500,000 uninsured have complied. Time will tell how successful this landmark feat is and the rest of the nation is watching closely and making mental notes.

On top of all this, I went to watch Michael Moore’s Sicko last night and it sure made me feel that all right. I’ve always felt comfortable knowing I lived in a city that was known for its high-class health care, cutting edge research and home of some of the best university teaching hospitals in the country. Imagine my disappointment that none of that matters. According to the movie, there were plenty of people who had access to quality medical care, but they were consistent DENIED by their insurance companies these “medically unnecessary” procedures. Since when is getting a bone marrow transplant to treat your kidney cancer “unnecessary?” Especially when your younger brother is a perfect donor match? It just broke my heart that this was the extremely poor state of our country. What was priceless during the movie was when Michael Moore went abroad to France and London and when he explored their hospitals and health care settings, he asked “So, where do you go to pay for your hospital visit?” EVERYONE consistently laughed at him. “No one pays for medical care here” was the answer he always got. You could tell by the look on his face, he was ready to move to France! We in the audience were also laughing, but at ourselves. That is, until the poor elderly woman was literally dumped in front of the free clinic in California when the hospital she was previously being treated at decided she couldn’t get a free treatment anymore since she had no insurance. So, still in a hospital gown and with the hospital name scratched out on her dirty medical tag bracelets, they put her in a cab and she was all but pushed out onto the curb. Yes…then we stopped laughing.

Boston, Massachusetts, free health care, universal health care, health insurance, Sicko, Michael Moore