Michael Moore’s must-see documentary, Sicko
And then came the expose of a PR campaign by the private health care industry to discredit Moore’s documentary…
I was reading the latest edition of The Edge – I am interested to see how the business folks think and what motivates them – when I came across a report that private hospitals are full because of the H1N1 alert.
You would think that this would keep these private hospitals busy. But folks in the private hospital industry are actually worried – not because of the H1N1 outbreak – but because these flu patients do not bring high enough revenue yield! “Flu patients could occupy the beds for up to five to six days and yet make less money [for the hospitals] than those that come in for higher-yield procedures such as minor surgeries but who would only occupy the beds for about three days,” an industry observer told The Edge.
But for hospitals that are running below capacity, the pandemic could spell good news for their business, The Edge report reassures the business community. The report was titled ‘Hospitals full, but where’s the money?” These private hospitals are raking in millions of profits – and yet it is never enough.
Nice to know the priorities of some of these private hospitals. They are more interested in “higher-yield” (i.e. more profitable) patients than in your suspected H1N1 fears. Oh, what a nuisance!
Now ‘the in thing’ is “health tourism”, which will further drain human resources from the public health care system.
We know that privatisation of health care began with a vengeance under Mahathir and continues to this day. That was a blow to our underfunded public health care system, which was neglected as specialists, doctors and experienced nurses left for greener pastures. The BN has much to account for in the way it managed – or rather mismanaged – the public health care system.
Of course, the rich and the upper-middle class who can afford medical insurance have no problems with private health care as they can afford it. But as Moore’s movie shows, even those with medical insurance can sometimes be denied claims because of “pre-existing conditions”, not to mention a long list of excluded diseases.
We know how the BN has mismanaged the health care system. But what is the stand of Pakatan on liberalisation of health care? We are so focussed on BN vs Pakatan, we often don’t ask these questions. Can we hope for universal health care as seen in those systems highlighted in Moore’s documentary? It is not impossible if we have the political will. After all, a civilised society is one in which no one should be denied quality health care because of a lack of means. In a civil society operating a universal health care system, the better off would be ready to chip in to help those who are more vulnerable and sickly through a system of cross subsidies. It is only in a callous society that folks tend to think of “me first” and to hell with everyone else.
Or is Pakatan more interested in “business as usual” as evident in the way it is promoting “health tourism” in the states it controls? Is there any difference between the BN and the PR in this respect? Do they not see how “health tourism” could eventually hurt the health care interests of the lower-income group by further entrenching the two-tier health care system – one system of the rich and an inferior system for the poor?
Watch Michael Moore’s documentary. It’s worth the two hours.
And if you have experienced any problems with private hospitals and medical insurance, just drop me a line in the comments below.
Anil,
Don’t say that people always focus on KBP issue. Frankly speaking, it’s overated. There are plenty issues required urgent attention.
Health issue is very touchy one. Nationalisation of Health Care would lead to big hole on the Treasury purse. As evident in UK. It’s running out of control. Cost & infrastructure wise. Whether you like it or not, these folks in the private sector would still be earning tons of money even if you try to do a JBJ on the health care system
Anil,
There is no direct solution to the problem. Or let me put it this way. What would be the best objectives? Affordable healthcare without hurting Treasury purse. Wait a minute……Don’t ever think I am so economist in the outlook. You are accountant by practice. Me Engineer. Me look at resolving things more effective way
That involves tough choice. People say Healthcare in Singapore is very very expensive than Malaysia….But the quality, service level and so on & so for…..Hmmm…….there is always a price to pay……Hence, my favourite Bill Clinton’s mantra
IT’S ECONOMY, STUPID!
Guys,
Don’t understand…..Go figure yourself
Sidetrack a bit! Don’t sell me the idea that some KBP folks are that naive & kenna cheated.
Anil,
You wanna be neutral. Be absolutely neutral. What happen to the present Makkal Sakti’s folks, you figure yourself
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Sebenarnya dalam isu pembukaan dan penswastaan, beberapa industri mesti dikecualikan atau setidak-tidak pihak kerajaan mesti terlibat sebagai salah satu pengusaha.
Sebagai contoh, jika pembukaan industri kesihatan dilakukan, pihak kerajaan juga perlu terlibat dalam bentuk hospital kerajaan tetapi membenarkan hospital swasta beroperasi.
Secara ideal, industri pendidikan dari pra-sekolah hingga ijazah pertama perlu diberi percuma.
Keperluan asas seperti air, bekalan elektrik, telefon, dan akses internet juga perlu diberi percuma dengan bersyarat.
Syarat ini memastikan tiada pembaziran dan hanya cukup mengikut keperluan asas. Sebagai contoh:
kesihatan = wujudkan dana bagi penyakit kronik. Rawatan percuma sebanyak, sebagai contoh RM300 setahun
air = cukup bagi minum, masak, mandi, basuh
elektrik = cukup untuk lampu dan kipas. Sila tanggung sendiri jika hendak pakai penyaman udara, oven, vacuum
makanan = beras percuma sebanyak, sebagai contoh 1kg x 12 bulan seorang
internet = 2 jam satu hari
telefon = 10 minit satu hari
pendidikan = biasiswa percuma bagi, sebagai contoh 1 juta pelajar terbaik di Malaysia. Maka perlu buat ranking pelajar di seluruh Malaysia. Baju, peralatan pembelajaran, makanan dan minuman di sekolah diberi percuma oleh kerajaan.
Jika mana-mana kerajaan berjaya melakukan perkara-perkara di atas, sekurang-kurangnya rakyat secara am dapat hidup dengan selesa dan kurang tekanan.
Sekian.
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In the hungry ghost month, to have the hospital’s beds fully occupied is a blessing for the hospital. Normally within the hungry ghost month, the Chinese will shy away from hospital’s bed afraid to witness the invisible one. But due to the media hype and hysteria over H1N1, one might be admitted to the hospital and waited to be (wrongly diagnosed) by our doctors who simply treat anyone with fever as influenza-like illness.
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Thanks for sharing this movie.
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Hi Anil,
I’m sure everyone in Malaysia knows at least one person who passed on because of insufficient/inappropriate care in our healtcare system (public/private), someone who has suffered because he/she could not afford adequate care, someone who was left to wait/die in the corridors of a public (or even “private”) hospital. I know at least 1 in each of the above scenarios.
Additionally, I was with my mum when she was sick with cancer and know that even in Penang and even if you have the money, there is insufficient infrastructure and expertise to be sick. We HAD TO go to KL or Singapore for the necessary tests and afterwards sourcing appropriate treatment in Penang was difficult. It occurred to me that it would be impossible for someone poor to have access to all these and essentially he/she would be waiting to die.
Detailed info on all above scenarios too long to elaborate. However, would like to share my thoughts re key areas to revolutionising our healthcare system:
1. We need the expertise and experts who are free to act on their own good judgment and not tied by redtape and racial/corrupt politics – They must have an environment they enjoy working in. Our so called ‘quality health care’ is only “good” compared to worse off nations. The best equipment are useless if the people we need to run them would rather work overseas.
a) Change systems that are discouraging doctors trained overseas from coming back – I have spoken to too many doctors who say “But I WANT to go back to Malaysia. My family is there, but it is too difficult to go back…”
b) Change systems where even doctors trained locally or supported by local funds want to go overseas as soon as they can…
2. Educate the public. They contribute A LOT of unnecessary pressure to the health care system. Too many people see (private) doctors unnecessarily, resulting in
a) overworked but understimulated doctors that begin to see patients as only items going through their assembly line… even the most passionate doctors can break down and start seeing their job as just a money-making venture
b) encouraging drug resistance and overuse of medication… this could be a factor in our nation’s susceptibility towards H1N1..
* Because of #2, whatever expansion of public healthcare support must come together with strict and well-design guidelines so that the government doesn’t end up wasting taxpayers money on hypochondriacs. However, such a system may be viewed by some as being discriminatory against the rich and still doesn’t alleviate private practitioners if the rich continue seeing doctors unnecessarily using private insurance. Until people learn to differentiate between unnecessary and necessary use of healthcare, it may be financially impossible for the government to expand healthcare support so as to reduce the “commercial feel” of healthcare.
The core problems with our nation affects this debate as well – Brain drain due to racial politics and lack of meritocracy; immature society due to failing education system and censorship of information; generally selfish society due to hardening/conditioning from a “if I don’t feed my family or watch my back, no one will” system.
On a final note, I haven’t watched ‘Sicko’, but I have read, heard and watched enough of what I consider to be reliable info on Michael Moore to conclude that he isn’t an angel either. He is (allegedly) unethical and there are clear evidence of him misquoting, misrepresenting and twisting information to sensationalise his stories. His work are good conversation topics, but he must not be portrayed as a reliable source of info…
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Oh btw, people focus on lack of doctors and infrastructure, but another problem needs to be addressed urgently – NURSES. They are too badly supported and we are too reliant on “imports”.
The nursing profession is like teaching. It’s a thankless and under-appreciated/under-rewarded job, so no one wants to do it and all we have left are…..
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It’s 3.30am and I’ve finally watched Sicko. Thanks, Anil, for prompting me to watch it since the link’s already in front of me. Might pay for it tomorrow tho.
When he was visiting UK & France, I was thinking to myself – I wonder if he’ll visit Cuba. That would be funny! AND he does even better! He ends the film with a visit to Cuba!! (I won’t say much more coz don’t want too much of a spoiler). Haha! Couldn’t make a better ending!!
I’ve watched films on Cuba’s foreign medical aid and also attended forum on how society can adopt permaculture presented by invited speakers from Cuba. I must say I was very impressed. The US embargo made their lives terrible, but they pulled together and pulled through. From what I can tell, Cuba is amazing & Cubans are much cool! Go socialism! Boo capitalism! Not sure about Castro, but glad the world experienced Che Guevara and that his legacy lives on
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Appended are 3 documents that is really an eye opener. Like Wong Ka wai I had great trust and confidence in development, modern technology and science. I was very forward looking and always looking forward to new discoveries. Then one day I had a chronic condition of a trigger fingger. Modern medicine was unable to relieve or cure it. I went on a tour of india and by chance we visited an ayurvedic clinic and I decided to consult the doctor on my condition. Within 3 days I was cured. The remedies consisted of mostly what we used in our cooking. I spoke to a few more ayurvedic doctors and learned quite a bit about the philosophy etc. While travelling I even wrote a program to determine a person’s body constituent(air, fire and water) and tested in on a few people and it was quite accurate. Our body constituent determines the kind of diseases that we are prone to. My view of modern medicine was forever changed. I started researching the various healing modalities and the more I search the scarier I became when it came to modern medicine. Modern medicine is great for sustaining life and in emergency situation but in almost every other situation it is an utter failure. Look at the gary null’s paper as well as the video. I think the video by the same name is also downloadable. Sicko also refered to this paper.
We always thought that science and technology and development will bring us to a higher state of utopia and more and more researches are now emerging that it will destroy the earth faster. Science and technology had created more problems than it had solved. Every solution it provided became a source of more problems mainly because the underlying reductionistic paradigm is flawed and incomplete and therefore susceptible to catastrophic failure. Is this what “looking forward” Wong ka Wai is advocating ?
I am now of the opinion that in order for health care to really provide genuine health care for the community it has to be liberalised and by this I do not mean just allowing private institutions to grab a piece of the lucrative sick market but to allow for alternative medicine to thrive and not suppressed it just because allopathic doctors said that it doesn’t conform to the “gold” standard. We know by countless research today that this “gold” standard had long lost its lustre. Only the ignorant continue to parade it like fools gold.
One good model to follow is that practised in india. In india allopathic medicine, homoeopathy and ayurveda are all government approved and allowed. A government report found, to her surprise, that in remote villages homoeopathic medicine helped and cured more people – even by laymen – than allopathic medicine.
These traditional medicine are highly affordable if the physicians do not try to scam you. The medicine are dirt cheap – literally.
What can we look forward to if allopathic medicine is allowed to thrive while artificially suppressing alternative medicine ? Let’s look to US, europe and australia. In these 3 countries where allopathic medicine was practised exclusively allopathic medicine is the NUMBER ONE KILLER. No it is not cancer nor heart attack but modern medicine.
Why is it in the US that close to 50 % of the respondent said that they seek alternative medicine. In france, from a friend I met in thailand, said that alternative medicine there is close to 60%. In UK a research by Nature found that close to 50% of the ALLOPATHIC medical doctors routinely prescribed homoeopathic medicine.
So do we look forward or do we look backwards to wholistic medicine that really cures and not suppress symptoms ?
—— DO LOOK THIS UP — IT IS AN EYE-OPENER—-
“Restoring Health Care as a Ministry” by Mark and Patti Virkler and Dr. Reuben T. DeHaan
DEATH BY MEDICINE October 2003
Gary Null PhD, Carolyn Dean MD ND,
Martin Feldman MD, Debora Rasio MD,
Dorothy Smith PhD.
http://www.herbdatanz.com/death_by_meds.htm
The Pharmaceutical Drug Racket – part one
http://www.pnc.com.au/~cafmr/online/medical/drug1a.html
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I thought a complete list of relevant issues on allopathic medicine could be found at :
http://www.pnc.com.au/~cafmr/online/research/index.html
It is basically an organisation that is against fraudulent research in medicine.
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Kepada Mist,
sudahlah dengan teori songsang. Jika sesiapa sakit pergilah dapatkan rawatan dan bukan melalui bomoh.
Perubatan Barat dan juga TCM diiktiraf di Malaysia.
Saya ini kaum Cina tahulah kebolehan herba dalam perubatan.
Saja nak tentang saya kerana komen saya terhadap Kg Buah Pala. Kesian.
Sila senyum selalu.
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Dear Anil
In my opinion, health tourism will also increase demand for high end medical services (it does not matter what nationality the patient holds). This will raise prices in the short run.
As for your comment (“Of course, the rich and the upper-middle class who can afford medical insurance have no problems with private health care as they can afford it”), this is not necessarily the case.
A private, fee-for-service system run by profit-maximizers and (marketing/PR guys) can actually be a threat to the health of the upper middle class and the wealthy i.e. provision of medically unnecessary services, prescribing problematic branded drugs because they can charge more for this etc.
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@Wong Ka Wa,
I do not oppose you because of kbp. I oppose your stand and chest thumping that reason and logic is supreme. Lack of reason and logic is NOT IRRATIONALITY. One day when you understood what this meant you will discern the value of intuition and inspiration over “mindless” objectivity (objectivism according to ayn rand) that seldom ever shed any light on the problem at hand.
You will have to travel the path.
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@Wong Ka Wa,
Btw, ayurveda and homoeopathy is NOT BOMOH. Get your facts right :0
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While we are on this topic, it’s also good to investigate into how the big pharmas are playing an important role in greasing the hands of these doctors and healthcare authorities.
What we have now is ‘Wealthcare’ – where it’s no longer about curing diseases or saving lives.
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