Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Respone in Disaster
In my opinion, China did relatively fairly well responding to the recent earthquake. Many other countries do not have the proper system implemented to be able to respond rapidly and effectively in response to a disaster. Regardless the disaster was devastating, China was able to move in a timely manner and assist victims. However, the true judgement of their response should be assessed in the months and years following the disaster. Did they continue to aid this victims after the initial emergency response? And, how well did they provide sustainable support to them victims both in terms of physical and mental rehabilitation? This is something I would want to wait and watch for in the future.
The Big Picture
While I have always been a fan of Michael Moore ever since “Roger and Me” and certainly “Bowling for Columbine”, I will be the first to admit that he lacks objectivity and slants quite far to the left. He is constantly accused of being a sensationalist, a “crazy liberal”, and even “socialist” (surprise!). However, despite his bias, his facts are still quite accurate, but simply portrayed in a way meant to radicalize his sympathetic audience. As we discussed in class, we have become so inured to being lied to and cheated that people rarely get outraged at injustice anymore. I imagine this frustrates Moore greater than anything else and that his sensationalism is simply designed to shock people out of apathy, to elicit some passion.
A few months ago Moore appeared on CNN’s Situation Room to discuss “Sicko” with medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. The discussion was widely viewed as an effort for Dr. Gupta to discredit Moore’s film as factually inaccurate. Gupta was technically correct about certain inconsistencies, such as Cuba actually ranking below the U.S. in healthcare and the waiting time in Canada actually being longer than in the U.S., despite their portrayal in the movie. However, this just goes to show that the focus of this “reality check” is missing the point. Cuba’s healthcare system may rank 39th to the U.S.’s 37th, but they also only spend approximately $250 per person whereas the U.S. is projected at $6,000 to $7,500 per person. It is also true that Canada’s wait times are longer, yet shouldn’t the focus be on the fact that four out of five of the universal care systems presented are better than the U.S. rather than the one that is worse? Relating this to the portrayal of France, it is true that Moore skews their system by juxtaposing the best parts of their system against the worst of ours, but that doesn’t mean that his facts are inaccurate. In fact, CNN, the same network that allowed Dr. Gupta to factually misrepresent and marginalize Moore’s movie, later described the film as “numbers mostly accurate, more context needed” and admitted that “most pundits or health-care experts we spoke to spent more time on errors of omission rather than disputing the actual claims in the film.”
So while Moore does present other systems far more perfect than they are, that still doesn’t change the fact that the U.S. healthcare system is abysmal and needs significant reform. It doesn’t change the fact that, while not perfect, many of the other healthcare systems in the world have a lot of great ideas to offer. Moore’s films inspire passion and discussion and force people of all ideologies to think and in the end isn’t that preferable to acceptance and complacency?
A few months ago Moore appeared on CNN’s Situation Room to discuss “Sicko” with medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. The discussion was widely viewed as an effort for Dr. Gupta to discredit Moore’s film as factually inaccurate. Gupta was technically correct about certain inconsistencies, such as Cuba actually ranking below the U.S. in healthcare and the waiting time in Canada actually being longer than in the U.S., despite their portrayal in the movie. However, this just goes to show that the focus of this “reality check” is missing the point. Cuba’s healthcare system may rank 39th to the U.S.’s 37th, but they also only spend approximately $250 per person whereas the U.S. is projected at $6,000 to $7,500 per person. It is also true that Canada’s wait times are longer, yet shouldn’t the focus be on the fact that four out of five of the universal care systems presented are better than the U.S. rather than the one that is worse? Relating this to the portrayal of France, it is true that Moore skews their system by juxtaposing the best parts of their system against the worst of ours, but that doesn’t mean that his facts are inaccurate. In fact, CNN, the same network that allowed Dr. Gupta to factually misrepresent and marginalize Moore’s movie, later described the film as “numbers mostly accurate, more context needed” and admitted that “most pundits or health-care experts we spoke to spent more time on errors of omission rather than disputing the actual claims in the film.”
So while Moore does present other systems far more perfect than they are, that still doesn’t change the fact that the U.S. healthcare system is abysmal and needs significant reform. It doesn’t change the fact that, while not perfect, many of the other healthcare systems in the world have a lot of great ideas to offer. Moore’s films inspire passion and discussion and force people of all ideologies to think and in the end isn’t that preferable to acceptance and complacency?
Do we need health system reforms? Oui, oui mon ami!
We watched Michael Moore's documentary Sicko in class a couple weeks ago and if you can recall, it highlighted France as one of the most effective providers of universal health care. How accurate do you think Michael Moore's portrayal of France's health care system was? Second, the French system is a complex mix of private and public financing, do you think it can offer valuable lessons for reformers in the US?
While Michael Moore's depiction of all other health systems as health utopias was overly simplified and exaggerated, there are some truths to the film that we can, indeed, use for future reform efforts. For example, France has their way with their government. All citizens are more than willing to put the French government in its place by staging massive protests and exclaiming their discontent. In addition, French citizens, as compared to Americans, possess more obligation to help others in society. This is illustrated by the proportion of taxes that contribute to the overall GDP, which is 45%, almost 10% higher than the OECD average of 36.9%. Thus, when thinking about health system reforms here in the US, we can definitely look to other countries, such as France, to improve our system. But, unfortunately, if our nation continues to allow the current administration and members of congress, state and local leaders to push their agendas rather than our own, we will continue on this same vicious cycle of enormous health costs of decreasing value. Without more unified efforts, we can never be stronger than any of the various lobbying powerhouses, and sadly individualism and profit-centered practices will plague our citizens for many years to come...
Song to get you in the mood: "(You gotta) Fight for your right" by the Beastie Boys
While Michael Moore's depiction of all other health systems as health utopias was overly simplified and exaggerated, there are some truths to the film that we can, indeed, use for future reform efforts. For example, France has their way with their government. All citizens are more than willing to put the French government in its place by staging massive protests and exclaiming their discontent. In addition, French citizens, as compared to Americans, possess more obligation to help others in society. This is illustrated by the proportion of taxes that contribute to the overall GDP, which is 45%, almost 10% higher than the OECD average of 36.9%. Thus, when thinking about health system reforms here in the US, we can definitely look to other countries, such as France, to improve our system. But, unfortunately, if our nation continues to allow the current administration and members of congress, state and local leaders to push their agendas rather than our own, we will continue on this same vicious cycle of enormous health costs of decreasing value. Without more unified efforts, we can never be stronger than any of the various lobbying powerhouses, and sadly individualism and profit-centered practices will plague our citizens for many years to come...
Song to get you in the mood: "(You gotta) Fight for your right" by the Beastie Boys
France
I think that there is a lot that we can learn from each other. Do I feel that France has found all of the answers no, can they give us great ideas, of course. The movie of course makes every Health System not in the US seem in way better shape. There of course has to be some pros and cons to every system. But for that country the system seems to work more toward the people's advantage. I look forward to seeing the presentation and getting a more well rounded explanation of the system. Of course at first we all jumped on the plane to France, Great Britain, and Canada. Lets see how we feel after today's presentations.
Freedom Fries
First and foremost we have to take into account that Michael Moore, an unquestionably talented director, is a man with an agenda. He is known to report only facts that fit and disregard or distort the facts that don’t. Therefore, I have done my own research on France’s health care system. While it is quite effective, it is primarily so because of a fundamental difference in mentalities between France and the United States. The term workaholic is a fairly unknown concept in France where it seems that their motivation is more to live a relaxed and enjoyable life rather than an intense ambitious one. This intensity makes the United States great and does not seem to be a big priority for the French. The French work week until recently was 30 hours a week and because the productivity of the country was not optimal it was raised to what Americans have: 40 hours a week. In the United States many if not most people work far longer hours than 40 and need to be told to slow down. This is why paying for a recovering cancer patient to go to a resort in the south of France for a week may not fly with the American tax payer. In America that person would most likely want to get back to work as soon as possible. This attitude is reflected in the French health care system: the French prefer to be taxed and not to worry about things that they transfer the responsibility for to the government. Indeed, the French system is funded through massive taxation [13.55% payroll taxes, additional 5.25% income tax and additional taxes on alcohol and cigarettes] of the sort that would not be acceptable in the U.S. These points were not shown by Michael Moore, who knows how to stir up emotion and although he makes a lot of valid points and probably is correct in a general sense, he exaggerates and distorts facts to suit his left wing ideology. Because of that one must always take Moore’s films with a grain of salt.
On your second point, there are indeed things we can learn from such a system. We can learn that there are fundamental rights that people have for affordable health care and we should be able to provide all citizens with basic health care. We should also learn that health care should not provide excessive services [such as someone to do your laundry] at the expense of the tax payer. It is also important to note that in the U.S. considerably higher percentage of funds spent on health care are going for administration, as compared to France [10.8% as opposed to 23% in the U.S]. Just increasing efficiency of health care providing in the U.S. can go a long way toward being able to finance a universal health care.
I think that the bottom line of any such debate is that the U.S. is the only developed country without universal health care – a situation that I find totally unacceptable. We should learn from any and all other countries, even from the French, modify their systems as needed, and assure that each American is assured of having affordable and effective health care.
On your second point, there are indeed things we can learn from such a system. We can learn that there are fundamental rights that people have for affordable health care and we should be able to provide all citizens with basic health care. We should also learn that health care should not provide excessive services [such as someone to do your laundry] at the expense of the tax payer. It is also important to note that in the U.S. considerably higher percentage of funds spent on health care are going for administration, as compared to France [10.8% as opposed to 23% in the U.S]. Just increasing efficiency of health care providing in the U.S. can go a long way toward being able to finance a universal health care.
I think that the bottom line of any such debate is that the U.S. is the only developed country without universal health care – a situation that I find totally unacceptable. We should learn from any and all other countries, even from the French, modify their systems as needed, and assure that each American is assured of having affordable and effective health care.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
France
We all know that Micheal Moore is extremely talented in skewing stories in a way to make one side look the best and the other side look the worst, which is exactly what he did in Sicko. Throughout the movie, the US was portrayed as the "enemy" while other countries were portrayed as the "good guys." We all agree that the US health care system needs major reformation, however, there are some good things about it that Moore did not express. France was shown as one of the best health care systems. Moore expressed and highlighted the pros about the system and did not mention the cons. Can the US learn anything from the French system? Of course, it can learn from many different health care systems. However, it is the cultural phenomena that the US has been founded on that we have trouble changing--this notion of an "individualistic society" puts us at a disadvantage because it is this notion that is keeping us from implementing an universal health care system. France, in addition to many other countries,are okay with paying into a system that provides health care for all. One of the main things that the US can take away from this system is the sense of "community" among citizens, in order to insure that all citizens get basic health care!
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