Sicko Page #10

from one apartment to another?

You get one day.

- You get a day to move and they pay you?

- These are the laws here.

When my daughter was three months old,

they sent somebody to you

to give you tips on what to do

with your child, every single day, for free.

And they'll come to your house

and do your laundry!

- They will! Sure!

- No!

Stop! Stop!

- When you have a baby.

- When you have a baby.

What are you doing?

You from the government?

- Can she do anything else?

- If I want, yes.

She's, of course,

taking care of the children.

And I think if I ask her

to prepare a meal for tonight,

she can do it.

No problem.

She's coming twice a week.

Four hours a day.

So I can do everything I want,

for me, for the house,

for my husband, during four hours.

It's very precious for me.

You don't have any associations?

Nothing to help like that?

No. Nobody from the government

comes to your home in America

and does your laundry for you,

if you're a new mother.

- It's difficult.

- Yeah.

(woman #12) Something that I experience

a lot of with my own family is guilt.

Guilt for being here almost,

and seeing the advantages and

the benefits I have at such a young age.

Things that my parents worked their whole

life for and haven't come close to touching.

It's really hard

to know that you're here

in a very privileged position,

you know, not living the highlife,

but in comparison, definitely.

And that seems completely unfair.

One of the things

that keeps everything running here

is that the government

is afraid of the people.

They're afraid of protests,

they're afraid of reactions from the people.

In the States, people are afraid of the

government. They're afraid of acting up.

They're afraid of protesting,

afraid of getting out.

In France, that's what people do.

(Moore) Free college education.

Free medical care.

Government-issued nannies.

I began to wonder

how do they pay for all this?

And then I realized

they're drowning in taxes!

I wanted to see what effect

this would have on a nice French family.

So I went to find out.

- Hello. Welcome.

- Hello. Thank you.

It's very nice.

- It's the news.

- Yes.

What is your combined income for

the two of you together for, say one month?

All right. You're an engineer

and she's an assistant? Not bad.

(Moore) How much is your mortgage?

- (Moore) How many cars do you own?

- Two.

(Moore) Do you owe money

from medical bills?

Is there any other debt? Loans, anything?

- Only the apartment.

- (Moore) What are your other expenses?

The fish.

Fish. Vegetables.

Vegetables are a big

monthly expense for you.

- Yes. And fruit. Yogurt.

- Yogurt.

What are your other big expenses?

Very important.

- (Moore) Kenya?

- We liked.

- (Moore) Are you happy?

- Yes.

(# "Je t'aime moi non plus"

by Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin)

(Moore) After seeing all this.

I began to wonder.

Was there a reason

our government and our media

wants us to hate the French?

Are they worried

we might like the French?

Or like their ways of doing things?

It was enough to make me

put away my freedom fries.

Meanwhile. Back at home.

Hospitals had found a new way

to deal with patients

who didn't have health insurance

and couldn't pay their bill.

I was standing against the wall and I saw

a cab do a U-turn and pull up to the curb.

I watched to see what was happening

'cause I had a feeling what would occur,

'cause it's not a new thing.

They pulled up right here

by this yellow fire hydrant

and dropped Carol off

and immediately pulled away.

And as soon as they pulled away, she

walked out into the street about up to here.

She then walked all the way down to the

driveway down here, completely confused,

has no shoes on whatsoever

and just a hospital gown.

And those gowns are thin.

That's when one of our staff members went

and asked Carol if she needed assistance

and found out that she was disoriented

and didn't know where she was.

Kaiser Permanente in Bellflower hospital

had put her in a cab

and directed them

to bring her to this drop-off point.

But the names of the hospitals had been

taken off both bracelets before she arrived.

I have seen others that have come through

our doors who have IVs still in their arms.

(Moore) They told me that.

At their shelter alone.

Over 50 patients

had been dumped there by hospitals.

The options are few. We either open

the front door and let them out,

which is not the humane thing to do,

or we try to find someplace for them to go.

And right now,

skid row is the best bed in town.

(Moore) The night

before we were there.

The county hospital run by

the University of Southern California.

One of the richest private schools

in the country.

Dumped another patient off on the curb.

A woman unable to pay her hospital bill.

- Do you know how you got here?

- In the cab.

- In the cab?

- From General Hospital.

They gave him the voucher.

He dropped me off there,

he actually forced me out of the car.

Ma'am, are you in pain right now?

Are you in pain?

- Yes.

- Is there anything we can do?

She, at this time, has broken ribs,

broken collarbone,

and stitches that are not completely healed

across the top of her head

and on the side of her head.

Now let me ask you, ma'am.

Before they dropped you off,

did they ask you

if you knew where you were going?

No.

They didn't ask you any questions

about your orientation,

or whether or not

you knew what was going on?

No, they just told me

to take care of myself.

(Moore) May I take a minute to ask

a question that's been on my mind?

Who are we?

Is this what we've become?

A nation that dumps its own citizens like

so much garbage on the side of the curb.

Because they can't pay

their hospital bill?

I always thought. And believe to this day.

That we're a good and generous people.

This is what we do

if somebody's in trouble.

Anybody gets sick,

we all get together and help.

(Moore) People with a good heart...

(man #12) You feel like you're sacrificing,

but you get a blessing from doing this.

(Moore)... and a good soul.

We've got a lot of support and we're gonna

all keep working until we locate this child.

(Moore) Neighbors quick to lend a helping

hand to anyone in their hour of need.

I deliver meals to them,

but my life has been so blessed

that this is just the least that I can do.

(Moore) They say that you

can judge a society

by how it treats those

who are the worst off.

But is the opposite true? That you can

judge a society by how it treats its best?

Its heroes?

(man #13) The firefighters and police,

rescue and recovery workers

have responded with true heroism.

It was their initial heroism

that thwarted the objectives of the terrorists.

Without regard, in many instances,

to their own safety and security.

- They truly are heroes.

- (man #14) We owe them everything!

Here they are, the men and women who

have been on the front lines for New York,

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