Sometimes you don’t realize the extent of a situation until someone packages and presents it to you. That’s what happened to Puma and I on Friday when we saw the movie Sicko. Sure, its a Michael Moore flick — and there are times it is very one sided — I just happened to agree with much of the side he was stating. If you haven’t seen the documentary, it is about the US health care industry — where it lacks and how it compares to other nations. Here are the points that really have me thinking:

1) People who have lost their health insurance or their health insurance opted against covering their situation were highlighted.

- If you’re a healthy person in the United States, health insurance may not be the first thing on your mind. However, a horrible illness or problem can strike any of us or our family at any point in time. I’m always worried that something might happen to me — and my insurance might not want to pay for the medicine, doctors, or approach (surgery or techniques) that would be the best for me. It is scary that if the insurance refuses to pay, I might not be able to afford any of this on my own. And, what would this do to my family?

- Personally, I think that everyone should have access to the same quality of health care. While I know that the wealthy will always be able to afford something above and beyond, why don’t we want to help those in need? Shouldn’t medical care be a right?

2) The film suggested that the American government with its industry backing ensures that there won’t be an uprising because people need to work. People are scared of losing their jobs that cover health insurance and help them save/pay for day care, college, retirement, mortgages, etc.

- I often wonder if people outside of the US are significantly better off than we are. I’m still paying my student loans — and my daughter may have to pay upwards of $200,000 for her post-secondary education. Then, I need to save a huge chunk of my salary because I don’t have a pension. Health insurance outside of work is horribly expensive — over $800 per month — and one of us needs to work for that. Then, again child care is $1,500+ per month and the government’s measly $5,000 flex-spending for child care (+$5,000 for health) is barely a drop in the bucket compared to what we shell out for day care, activities, and things like braces. Demographics are not taken into consideration when figuring out any of this either — because I earn more in NYC, I also pay more.

- Why have things gotten to this point in the United States? When did the huge divide between us and other countries begin? Do the French, Brits, and Canadians care more about their citizens than the Americans do? I’m an average American — and know that the welfare in the US needs to be cleaned up — but what is being done for average working Americans?

I suppose there is more — but I need to attend to things around the house so that I can do a little work from home tonight. After all, I need my job…