Hook a Canuck and Get Free Healthcare

I just saw Sicko, and I wanted to testify to my own experience that there is better healthcare in other countries who believe in socialized medicine. As Michael Moore tracked us down the list of WHO rankings, I noticed that the #36 spot, just above the U.S.A. was occupied by Costa Rica. Having actually been treated in hospitals in Costa Rica as well as the U.S.A., I would say that this feels accurate. Costa Ricans do get better (and guaranteed) healthcare than the average person in the U.S.A.

So I also ask, what is so wrong with the term "socialized"? Sometimes, it's a good thing to have if it works better than what we've got.

As tear-jerking and over the top as Sicko could be at points, it is a good reminder of the devastation that a for-profit health care system leaves behind. The logic of the free-hand globalized capitalist marketplace is not, in fact, always the best logic for everything. Those of us who have health insurance in the U.S.A. can generally testify to the hassles of dealing with our insurance companies just to get the basic coverage supposedly guaranteed to us by our insurance policies.

The next president will probably not revamp the system the way we need (which is to remove the "over 65" from Medicare and convince companies, business executives, and the middle class that they will all actually save money by supporting a socialized health care system with taxes). So I can see why, even jokingly, there would be some appeal in marrying a Canadian for a good health care system as proposed in the video above from a website advertised at the end of Sicko.