Poverty in the US vs Poverty in other countries

One main aspect of poverty in America we have looked at is the health care system in America and how it contrasts with other countries, more specifically looking at Canada, France, and England. The health care system has its benefits in Canada and France that contrast with the American health care system.


Michael Moore's SiCKO is a movie about those in Ameirca who have health insurance. It basically talks about how the insurance companies try to get as much money out of citizens as they can. And they compare this to other countries. In America, doctors are paid more if they deny care to patients from the insurance company to cover because they are saving the insurance company's money. While in England, the doctors get paid the more they convince their patients to stop smoking, the more they actually help their patients. It is also shows in statistics that people in England will live longer and are healthier than Americans due to the health care difference in both countries. They say the poorest person in England will live longer than the richest person in America.

SiCKO shows a case where a man needed surgery in order to save his life, all he had to do was get the surgery approved by the hospital. But because the insurance companies need to deny services to save their money, the doctor had to deny this service which caused his death. Another case where an American woman had to pretend she was related to a canadian man so she would be able to get free health care in Canada.

The movie also compares how America is a really stressful country where there's barely a break, school for the first 20some years of our life, get a job with might not cover all your needs causing more stress, and because you are stressed you need to buy antidepressants and then you're thousands of dolllars in debt. In France, after a man was treated, the doctor asked him if he was ready for another job and he was able to take three months off from work while still getting money (and remember he doesnt have to pay for his visit to the hospital or the ride he took to get there) and relax before he starts working again.

I spoke to my father about his experience with health care in America. His experiences were not as upsetting as the ones shown in the movie but there were cases where he did have to pay heavy medical bills because the insuance company did not cover it. But after he has my brothers and I, we joined child health plus which is a care center managed by Fidelis and since then it has covered the three trips to the emergency room and any other times we needed to go to the hospital for anything. In my family we never had to pay for anything major because the insurance did not cover it. In general my father said he had a pretty good experience with medical care here in America, his only complaint was that they make you wait a long time to get whatever you need, Similar to Canada where people were complaining about the how long they have to wait to get their care. (cbc.ca)

From what I see is that our family, because nothing major has happened to us that we would depend on the insurance company to cover any expences, its okay if we pay for a few things here and there and its really all that we know, it was such a surprise to myself and the rest of the class to see how in other countries they can just walk in and out of the hospital with no worries about the medical bill and how the expenses are being paid for. And it's such a surprise to me how the insurance companites can put a price on your own health and that price and make you or break you in a very litteral sense.

When sharing our personal experiences with the class, one of the students (Lauren 4/20) explained how one of her family memebers was denied care and was upset about it but did not want to show it as did another student, Binta. We noticed that we did not express our anger freely because we simply concluded that there was nothing we could do about it. This came up in SiCKO where a French man explained the the French government is afriad of the people because they have the power to protest and get free medical care. But in the United States people are afraid of the government because in the case of medical care they control the treatments you get and the care you get, and just your well being overall. Because they have this control we just accept that there's nothing we can do about it.