Health Care and Michael Moore: Who’s the real “SICKO?”

Our health care system may be "SiCKO," as Michael Moore contends in his latest movie, but what's really sicko is people, like Mr. Moore, who eat whatever they can shove in their mouths and then expect the government to bail them out. Jeff Popick offers the true solution to health care.

Michael Moore's movie, "Sicko," is his attempt at placing blame for the American health care crisis on the shoulders of the pharmaceutical companies and the government. Clearly, governmental agencies that are supposedly looking out for the welfare of the citizens are far from innocent, and pharmaceutical companies are anything but good Samaritans, but Michael couldn't be more wrong on this one and need not look too much further than his own mirror to see the real problem. His denial is problem #2.

The fact is, Michael Moore is just another cog in the big, dysfunctional machine that Americans currently call "health care." It is actually "disease care," and therein lies problem #3. Are you beginning to see a pattern here?

Michael Moore, even just at a cursory glance, is flamboyantly committing at least two of the "seven deadly sins" – gluttony and sloth. And he wants health? Michael Moore wants to engage in a problematic way of life and then make those problems that he's created someone else's problem. That's problem # 4. Where does personal responsibility fit in to Michael Moore's paradigm? Perhaps, it's just one of those annoying little details he's overlooked. Where does self-control fit in to his lifestyle? Another annoying, trivial detail, I suppose.

For those who care to deal in reality, until people take responsibility for their own lives and their own health, there will not be health. Nor can the government fix the problem. It is patently impossible to live a disease-producing lifestyle and then expect someone, or something, else to be able to fix it. The health care system is not about health at all, rather it is all about financing disease. And people such as Michael Moore create disease. What we have in this country is disease care, and I suggest Michael Moore be its poster child.

The truth is, our diet is directly responsible for well over 80 percent of the diseases from which we suffer. Heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, gout, cancer, high cholesterol, acid reflux, constipation, obesity, to name a few, are directly attributable to what we put in our mouths, and it is quite obvious that Michael Moore puts a whole lot into his mouth.

The governmental issue of health care exists simply and totally because of people like Michael Moore, and the "war" being waged against disease is folly. If people began eating the right foods, we wouldn't need to wage a war, we would quite literally eradicate the need for the war. So, what's the real solution?

People who follow the healthiest diet in the world, a vegan diet, don't suffer from many cancers, heart disease, hypertension, obesity, etc., etc., etc. So why don't doctors tell their patients about the enormous benefits of a vegan diet? Not only would diseases vanish, but so, too, would the doctors' incomes. Also, perhaps, many patients simply wouldn't follow the advice, so the doctors simply don't bother. And disease marches on.

And so do most environmental problems, which also stem from a meat and dairy-based diet. To be clear, a meat and dairy-based diet is problematic to our health, our environment, our society and even our spirituality, wheras a vegan diet cures all problems. I suppose Michael Moore would scoff at such a suggestion, and then blame the United States government for the cost of the heart bypass operation (for starters) he's going to need.

Any man who truly wishes to improve his life must stop blaming everyone else for the problems he creates. Otherwise, and by any real definition, he is a Sicko. Michael, put down the burger and listen up.

Article Tags: Health Care, Michael Moore

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Popick, also known as "The Vegan Sage," is a keen visionary and a leading expert on the diverse effects our diet has on our health, environment & even our spirituality. Jeff has worn many hats over the years, from Hollywood stunt man, to radio host ("Vegetarian Lifestyles," KIEV 870AM) to millionaire businessman to passionate author & speaker. His latest book is,The Real Forbidden Fruit: How Meat Destroys Paradise and How Veganism Can Get It Back

Urgent Medical and Health Care Services

.When you need Instant Medical Care where are professionally trained to provide urgent health care and primary care services to patients without any medical coverage.

There are many health care services and a appropriate choice of health care services needs to be provided under a right medical health care system. United States does not have the best medical health care services in the world but it can be said that it has the best emergency care system around the globe. The fact behind this is that America is having highest level of scarcity and income inequality among all the rich and developed nations and it affects the reach of the people to the proper health care services. 

Medical health care systems are designed to complete the needs of the health care of some targeted nation or population. Health care planning and its proper system implementation are much more necessary for any country or government. According to the World health report 2000 “Improving performance are good health, responsiveness to the expectations of the population, and fair financial contribution.” Ducker (2004) proposed a two dimensional approach to evaluation of health care systems: “quality, efficiency and acceptability on one dimension and equity on another.” 

To have a best health care facilities UNICEF advises that there must be three primary steps which can then systematically improve the health care services and to complete a health care system. 

1. Standards 

2. Assessment and authorization 

3. Support Materials 

Seven years ago World Health Organization made the first major effort to rank the health systems of 191 nations. The following parameters were taken in deliberation for the best health care services; 

· Insurance Coverage 

· Access 

· Fairness 

· Health Lives 

· Quality 

· Life and Death 

· Patient Satisfaction 

· Use of IT 

· Top of the Line Care 

Health is a state of well being, physically, emotionally, generally and psychologically. Health care services are fundamental part of any community, therefore financial constancy and proper coverage of medical through insurance or some other way is very much essential for a human to live and stay normal. There is a proper process oriented structure is required, implemented by the government to provide the health care services to each and every of their citizen. The health care industry is liable to provide the proper health care services to the people with their arm namely health care providers. These health care services are paid and could be paid by the patient, by insurance plan, or by the government. Charities and volunteers also play their role to provide the health care services to those who are incapable to afford. There could be various ways to provide health care services to the patient, normally can be categorized into two main; 

· Face to Face: 

This is the most common way, where the provider, interacts with the patient physically and after having the checkup and understanding of the issues, diagnoses the problem or suggests some tests or medication. 

· Non –Face To Face: 

Telecommunication is the latest emerging facility, which is now in use to provide health care services as well. The practitioner can interact with the patient using, phone, email, text message, or video conferencing and then can provide further suggestions to him / her. 

Medical health care services are also provided at schools where the children could be taken care of. UNESCO has published a set of tools to provide the direction to school health care services providers. Following are the basic parameters which must be catered; 

· HIV/AIDS 

· Food and nutrition 

· Helming these and hygiene 

· Malaria 

· Violence 

· Drugs, tobacco and alcohol 

In any medical health care services providing system there could be the following three types of health care services. 

1. Primary Health Care Services: 

Whenever someone needs a health care service in usual and routine life he/she contacts a primary health care service provider professional, who could be a family doctor, nurse, nurse practitioner, physiotherapist, pharmacist, etc. Primary health care services often contain prevention and treatment of common diseases and injuries. 

2. Secondary Health Care Services: 

Whenever someone needs a special care he/she is referred to a specialized care unit, like hospital, or nursing home to provide secondary level of health care facilities. 

3. Additional / Supplementary Health Care Services: 

The services which are usually provided to the senior citizens, children or to whom which do not have their proper medical coverage or paying capabilities and the expanses are covered through government funds or through some volunteer or charity organization.

Our Doctors are professionally trained to provide urgent health care and primary care services to patients without any medical coverage or insurance by accepting cash and all major credit cards. Instant Medical Care is a full service emergency care walk in clinics committed to providing excellence in urgent health care.

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Health Care For All Americans NOW

Why Do We Need A Single Payer health Care Delivery System? This Article Explains Why.

Much press is given aging Baby Boomers who send their children to college and in many cases, take care of their aging parents at the same time.

In my own case, my mother died after a stroke after a two month decline in 1987. I just graduated from my Nurse Practitioner program and came home on Father's Day.

This was the same day my mother had her stroke.

My father's gradual decline spanned over thirteen years. He had Alzheimer's Disease and was in and out of consciousness for most of that time. I dealt with Nursing Home administrators, and had to move him from one nursing home to another when he "ran out of money."

These kinds of experiences where you feel powerless to help the one person whom you love deeply from earliest memory, can teach lessons of surrender and a giving up of all past memory for a simple acceptance of that which is seen and unseen in this very moment.

My dad died seven years ago. I am reconciled with everything that ever happened between us, and all members of my family.

Enter Marybeth Kuznik, Executive Director of Vote Pa. She is dedicated to bringing voting (machine) reform to the state of Pennsylvania. She was one of the people who went to Ohio for the final vote count in Ohio in the 2004 election.

She verified what I have known since that time: G.W. Bush stole that election.

Marybeth and I met at the State Democratic Committee Meeting where our group, Progressives For Pennsylvania, held our health care reform conference in order to educate the State Democratic Party about HB 1660 and SB 300: The best state single payer plan in the country, at this time.

The conference was a success! People are excited by the Bill. As Michael Moore said in a recent conference call I was privileged to attend, the people are ready for it. Getting it through the legislative process is the challenge.

We were collecting health care delivery nightmare stories, and Marybeth gave us the most wrenching story I have ever heard, one that will soon be on You Tube and on our website, Progressives 4 Pennsylvania, as well as our P4P blog.

Merle Kuznik, Marybeth's 89 year old mother, broke her right hip after suffering a major stroke on her left side. The nursing home she was in, Wood Haven Care Center in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, insisted that Merle Kuznik apply for Medicaid to pay for expenses not paid by Medicare.

When the paperwork was not completed in a timely fashion, local Constables showed up to her nursing home room, with guns visible but in their holsters, and told her she would have to go to jail for 3 days, if she did not pay.

Marybeth, the savvy person that she is, went to KDKA TV and told the story.

Our bill, HB 1660 and SB 300 pays for long term care.

If our bill was in place NOW, Marybeth and Merle wouldn't be going through this degrading experience.

The question is, how many other of our elderly are experiencing similar experiences that are the worst kind of abuses in what we know is NOT a civil society until we get a single payer system instituted in our country?

How many suffer silently because, like Merle Kuznic, they cannot speak, or move because they are paralyzed? or worse, because they are mentally incapacitated?

This story underscores the reason why I fight tirelessly for a single payer health care delivery system.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 Kate Loving Shenk is a writer, healer, musician and the creator of the e-book called "Transform Your Nursing Career and Discover Your Calling and Destiny." Click here to find out how to order the e-book:http://www.nursingcareertransformation.com Check Out Kate's Blog:http://www.nursehealers.typepad.com

Health Care – Who Really Cares

What's the real difference between the health care industry and the sickness industry? Is it really in the interest of our current system to improve health?

Copyright (c) 2007 The Brain Code LLC

Health care is a hot political topic – but most of the attention focuses on how Americans will get their health care costs covered. While this is important, a much bigger issue often flies under the radar. The question that most people don't ask should be ‘Is our health care system really designed to improve your health?'

What's the Business Model in Health Care?

Let's look at a typical business model (Yes, health care is a business). Companies are in business to make a profit in exchange for products or services that improve people's lives. Whether it's a lawn mower company making it easier for you to care for your yard or an airline company getting you where you need to go. The basic premise is the same. They help you in exchange for payment. If they don't provide a quality product or service they quickly run out of people to sell to.

There are only three ways that a business can increase it's profits. 1. Get more customers or clients. 2. Increase how many times existing customers or clients buy products or services. 3. Increase the profit margin on each transaction. That's it. All business growth fits into one of those 3 areas.

Now let's look at those in the context of the health care business. Presumably, health care is supposed to improve your health, which makes you less likely to need health care in the future. So how do health care businesses grow?

Health care companies cannot really use strategy #1. In order to get more customers there would have to be more sick people in need of health care services. That would mean that companies could not promote prevention because that would reduce the number of sick people.

They can't really use strategy #2. In order to increase the number of times sick people need to buy there products or services they would have to keep from truly getting better.

They can't really use strategy #3 either. In order to increase their profit margin on existing products or services they would have to charge the insurance companies more, who would have to pass those costs onto the consumer, who are already over-stressed with regard to medical costs.

So how do health care companies grow without using the strategies of business growth? Surely, they don't deliberately shun prevention strategies, keep people from fully recovering, or over-charge for their services?

Who really supports the Health Care Industry?

A couple of recent articles in the New England Journal of Medicine had some interesting perspectives on the relationship between the government, health care providers and pharmaceutical companies.

The first report detailed a survey of over 3,000 doctors that explored their relationship with drug companies. The study found that 94% of doctors have some relationship with drug suppliers. About 4 out of 5 physicians admitted receiving free food for themselves and their office and free drug samples to try out on patients. Drug companies paid for business trips for more than 1 out of 3 doctors and about 1 out of 4 in the study were actually on drug company payrolls for consulting, lecturing or enrolling patients into clinical trials.

Now getting some free coffee and bagels might not be that big of a deal. Most people would not feel incredibly loyalty to a company for that favor. Besides, getting some free samples might actually save the patient money (assuming they needed the drugs in the first place). But getting business trips covered and receiving paychecks for ‘services'. . . that's a different level of conflict. This does not automatically translate to unethical behavior. Some physicians may truly stick to their morals, but how many will not?

The second study from the New England Journal evaluated the relationship of the Food and Drug Administration with the pharmaceutical industry. Back in the early 90's the FDA was completely supported by congress – but the agency wasn't big enough to do their job. So the 1st Bush administration encouraged relationships with the private sector, which translated to support from the pharmaceutical industry.

Today more the 50% of the FDA's budget comes from drug companies. This means that FDA doctors, who evaluate new drugs, are paid by the very companies that produce the drugs they are evaluating. Is there a possible conflict of interest there?

In 1992 the $126 million FDA budget came solely from congress. In the first year of drug company support industry kicked in about $8 million or about 6% of the total budget for that year. By 2004 drug companies were paying $232 million, greater than 50% of the total budget. The upside is that some useful drugs, like AIDS and cancer medications, are able to get through the bureaucracy faster and get out to the public. The down-side is that so are drugs like Vioxx, blamed for the death or disability of hundreds of thousands of people.

Current legislation is under review to change these laws. But don't assume that the change will be for the better.

Is there a better Way?

The question really becomes, ‘How do health care companies grow and help people improve their lives at the same time?' The answer is very simple. Focus more on prevention strategies.

The US government estimates we could save over $71 billion and prevent 14% of all premature deaths through lifestyle strategies. Focus on these strategies is a truly sustainable business model.

Living a prevention lifestyle is a life-long process, and therefore means repeat customers. It's like taking a shower. You don't take one shower and expect to be clean for the rest of your life.

This is where nutrition companies, exercise gyms and health education companies focus their efforts. They are truly helping people improve their lives and are growing a successful business. This is the true ‘Health Care' industry. What most people think of as health care is really the ‘Sickness Industry'. One has healthy people as customers, the other caters to sick people.

This is a business model that is good for individuals and good for the economy. But the only way this will take hold is when people start to vote with their dollars. Vote for health food instead of junk food, vote for treadmills instead of big-screen TVs, vote for tennis shoes instead of gas to drive 1 mile to the store. This is the only way that we will really secure a future of life-long health for our kids and our grandkids

Article Tags: Health Care, Most People, Business Model, Care Companies, Would Have, Drug Companies

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Train your Brain for total Brain Fitness. The Brain Code is the key to unlock your maximum potential. Dr. Simon Evans puts together the right ingredients in right amount to create the recipe for success. Visit us at http://www.thebraincode.com