Sicko Page #6

that we could not afford

to be without insurance.

- (Moore) Even for a day?

- Even for a day.

(Moore) To prove their point even further.

They sent me over to a local golf course

to talk to Larry Godfrey. Who had a golfing

accident while on vacation in Florida.

I could hear a noise and feel a pain,

and the tendon snapped off this bone here

that holds the bicep in place.

So this bicep muscle was released,

like on an elastic,

and it ended up here on my chest.

- The muscle ended up in your chest?

- Right. Ended up here.

(Moore) Like all good golfers.

Larry finished his round

before seeking medical attention.

That's when he got the bad news.

I wasn't too worried as I had

out-of-country insurance,

but when he told me

it was 23 or 24,000, then I... .

- (Moore) 24,000?

- Dollars, yes.

So if you'd stayed in the United States,

this would have cost you $ 24,000?

Instead, you went back to Canada,

and Canada paid your total expenses?

- Everything.

- Paid for the operation. It cost you?

- Nothing.

- Zero.

Zero. Zero.

I'm wondering why you expect your fellow

Canadians, who don't have your problem,

why should they, through their tax dollars,

have to pay for a problem you have?

Because we would

do the same for them.

It's just the way it's always been

and it's the way we hope it'll always be.

Right, but if you

just had to pay for your problem,

and don't pay for everybody else's

problem, just take care of yourself?

Well, there are a lot of people who aren't

in a position to be able to do that.

And somebody has to look after them.

Are you a member of the Socialist Party?

- No. No.

- Green Party?

No. Well, actually, I'm a member

of the Conservative Party.

Is that bad?

- Well, it's just a little confusing.

- Well...

It shouldn't be. I think that...

Where medical matters are concerned,

it wouldn't matter in Canada

what party you were affiliated with, if any.

But, to us,

as we look across the river here,

you know, why don't you think

we don't believe that?

What's wrong on this issue with us?

I guess the powers that be

don't share our beliefs

that healthcare ought to be universal.

I mean, Canadians didn't until we met up

with a guy named Tommy Douglas,

who pretty much

changed everyone's mind.

- One guy?

- One guy, yeah. One guy did it, he...

- Can he come over and visit us?

- He's dead, unfortunately.

In fact, he was...

He's just most recently been revered as

Canada's singular most important person.

- We think so much of...

- You mean in your history?

In our whole history.

- More than your first prime minister?

- Absolutely, yeah.

Even more than Wayne Gretzky.

- No way!

- Absolutely. Yeah.

- More than Cline Dion?

- Great singer. More than Cline, yeah.

- More than Rocky and Bullwinkle?

- Maybe.

As the blade went through,

it caught the glove I was wearing

and it sliced through the entire group

of fingers, completely taking them off.

And I realized

that I needed help immediately.

(man) Obviously, putting on

amputated fingers or arms or limbs

is one of the more dramatic things

we can do.

If you're looking at five fingers,

you're looking at a 24-hour operation.

There actually was four surgeons,

as well as all the nurses

and two different anesthetists

to carry out an operation of that magnitude.

When Brad came in, we didn't have to

worry about whether he could afford it.

He needed help and we could concentrate

on the best way to bring him through it.

(Moore) I met this American, he'd cut off

the ends of two of his fingers with a saw.

So when he arrived at the hospital, they

told him one finger's gonna cost $60,000,

and the other one was gonna be $12,000.

He had to choose

which finger he could afford.

Down. Bend the long finger down.

(surgeon) We've never told someone

that they couldn't put a finger back on

because the system wouldn't allow it.

I'm very glad I work within a system that

allows me the freedom to look after people,

and not have to

make choices like that.

(Moore) It seems nothing we were told

about the Canadian system was true.

Maybe I was just

in the wrong part of town.

So I went across the city

to a crowded hospital waiting room.

How long did you have to wait here

to get help?

- 20 minutes.

- 45 minutes.

- I got helped right away.

- You can see how crowded this is.

They really do an amazing job.

(Moore) Did you have to get permission

to come to this hospital?

- No.

- No.

We can go anywhere we want.

(Moore) You don't have to get it

preapproved by your insurance company?

- Oh, heavens, no.

- (Moore) Can you choose your doctor?

- Oh, yes.

- (Moore) What's your deductible?

- Nothing.

- I don't think we have any.

I don't know.

I don't think there's any, as far as I know.

- (Moore) So what did this cost?

- Nothing.

We know in America

people pay for their healthcare,

but I guess we don't understand that,

'cause we don't have to deal with that.

And we're dealing with

Parkinson's, stroke, heart attack.

We're very, very lucky.

Really we are.

I mean, we complain.

People complain about everything, right?

- (Moore) Right, you're Canadian.

- But on the whole, it's a fabulous system

for making sure that the least of us

and the best of us are taken care of.

(Moore) It turns out that Canadians

live three years longer than we do.

That's not hard to believe

when you meet fellow Americans like Erik.

# Oh, England, here we go

(Moore) Erik Turnbow of Olympia.

Washington. Saved up his whole life

so that he could visit the famed

Abbey Road crosswalk in London.

But it wasn't enough for Erik to just

walk across the road like The Beatles did.

He had to do it his own special way.

(man #7) Here's Erik, about to walk

on his hands across Abbey Road.

Ready?

- Ugh!

- (crack)

(man #7) Try it again.

- Are you in pain?

- Yeah.

(Moore) The British hospital

didn't charge Erik anything for his stay.

And only about ten bucks

for all the way-cool drugs they gave him.

- (man #7) You're all slung up.

- I'm gonna be OK.

(Moore) I decided to go to Great Britain to

find out how a hospital stay could be free.

And drugs could cost only ten dollars.

If I come in here and I have a prescription

and it requires 30 pills, how much is that?

It's L6.65.

That's the standard charge.

(Moore) L6.65?

So that's what? Ten dollars or so?

- Yes.

- What if I needed 60 pills, how much is it?

- Same charge.

- 120 pills?

- L6.65 still.

- It doesn't matter how many pills?

- No.

- What if it's an HIV drug or a cancer drug?

Still L6.65.

If they are under 16 or over 60,

they're automatically exempt.

(Moore) So only a working adult

who earns enough money pays the L6.65?

Everybody else gets medication free?

- No money being exchanged here?

- No, nothing.

- There's no money being exchanged?

- I'm over 60. We don't pay.

What's the purpose

of the cash register?

I'm just wondering where's the bread

and the milk and the candy in here?

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