Saturday, July 14, 2007

Michael Moore presents the facts in Sicko

There are nearly 50 million Americans without health insurance.

  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention actually reported that 54.5 million people were uninsured for at least part of the year. Health Insurance Coverage: Early Release of Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, 2006. Centers for Disease Control. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/earlyrelease/insur200706.pdf
  • The amount of uninsured is rising every year, as premiums continue to skyrocket and wages stagnate. From 2004 to 2005 the number of uninsured rose 1.3 million, and rose up nearly 6 million from 2001-2005. Leighton Ku, "Census Revises Estimates Of The Number Of Uninsured People," Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, April 5, 2007 http://www.cbpp.org/4-5-07health.htm. With 44.8 uninsured in 2005, in 2007 the number will be much higher. Professors Todd Gilmer and Richard Kronick, in "It's The Premiums, Stupid: Projections Of The Uninsured Through 2013," Health Affairs, 10.1377/hlthaff.w5.143, "project that the number of non-elderly uninsured Americans will grow from forty-five million in 2003 to fifty-six million by 2013." According to these authors, by now the number of non-elderly uninsured by this date clearly would be nearly 50 million.

SiCKO: 18,000 Americans will die this year simply because they're uninsured.

  • According to the Institute of Medicine, "lack of health insurance causes roughly 18,000 unnecessary deaths every year in the United States. Although America leads the world in spending on health care, it is the only wealthy, industrialized nation that does not ensure that all citizens have coverage." Insuring America's Health: Principles and Recommendations, Institute of Medicine, January 2004.
    http://www.iom.edu/?id=19175

Friday, July 13, 2007

Don't follow your pharmacists lead. Drink Water Instead.

Pushing Sugar? On June 22, 2007, a major drug store chain held 10 of the “best deals ever reported” for soft drinks. And here's what a thousand cases of soft drinks on the store floor looks like. Download PDF

Fortunately (ya, sure) you can go to this pharmacy chain's web site and find out how the pharmacists can help you achieve a healthy lifestyle Read this:

How bad is the abusive consumption of soft drinks? Here’s a major report on this liquid candy. Download PDF

What do our health care economists think about this? Read this: Fat Zombies, Pleistocene Tastes, Autophilia and the “Obesity Epidemic”

Sunday, July 8, 2007

Canadian Healthcare: not Michael Moore's perspective

Filmmaker Stuart Browning provides a cautionary lesson about a politicized health care system where politicians and bureaucrats determine medical priorities. To watch the video click here.

Canadian Healthcare: not Michael Moore's perspective

Filmmaker Stuart Browning provides a cautionary lesson about a politicized health care system where politicians and bureaucrats determine medical priorities. To watch the video click here.

A rebuttle to "Sicko" featuring Lindsay McCreath and his wife.

Film maker Stuart Browning highlights the plight of Lindsay McCreith, an Ontario man with a cancerous brain tumor who crossed the border to the U.S. to get the medical care that is rationed in his home country. Its called: Lindsay McCreath offers a short course in brain surgery -- American style. click here.