{"id":36454,"date":"2025-07-30T23:56:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T15:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/?p=36454"},"modified":"2025-07-31T09:02:30","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T01:02:30","slug":"sicko-for-us-medicare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/07\/30\/sicko-for-us-medicare\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Sicko&#8221;, for anyone want to know US medicare system"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #ffffff;color:#ffffff\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #ffffff;color:#ffffff\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/07\/30\/sicko-for-us-medicare\/#Introduction\" >Introduction<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/07\/30\/sicko-for-us-medicare\/#Title\" >Title<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/07\/30\/sicko-for-us-medicare\/#The_films_director\" >The film&#8217;s director<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/07\/30\/sicko-for-us-medicare\/#What_does_it_talk_about\" >What does it talk about?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/07\/30\/sicko-for-us-medicare\/#Purpose\" >Purpose<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/07\/30\/sicko-for-us-medicare\/#Developed_Countries\" >Developed Countries<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/07\/30\/sicko-for-us-medicare\/#Taiwan\" >Taiwan<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/07\/30\/sicko-for-us-medicare\/#Cuba\" >Cuba<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/07\/30\/sicko-for-us-medicare\/#Related_articles\" >Related articles<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Introduction\"><\/span>Introduction<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Title\"><\/span>Title<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0386032\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sicko<\/a>&#8221; is a 2007 American documentary that discusses health insurance in the United States. This documentary is a good introduction to U.S. health care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_films_director\"><\/span>The film&#8217;s director<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The film&#8217;s director, Michael Moore, is an important figure in the American documentary industry and has made many famous and important documentaries that have sparked controversy. The director uses this film to expose the medical insurance system that the United States is proud of, focusing on many unknown inside stories of American medical insurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_does_it_talk_about\"><\/span>What does it talk about?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Purpose\"><\/span>Purpose<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This film discusses that the United States is the only developed country in the world that does not have a unified, publicly-run health insurance system. Since the United States is a capitalist country, everything is privatized and every American needs to buy their own medical insurance. But the problem is that Americans with low incomes can only hope that they don&#8217;t get sick; because once an accident happens, the high medical costs are a huge expense without the coverage of health insurance companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Developed_Countries\"><\/span>Developed Countries<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In the G7, Western Europe and Northern Europe, medical care is part of social welfare. Citizens have to pay heavy taxes, but can enjoy completely free medical insurance. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.consilium.europa.eu\/en\/policies\/eu-health-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">All EU member states regard medical care as a basic human right and welfare, and can apply the same cross-border storage and reimbursement of medical expenses to achieve the principle of fair use of medical resources; but whether it is completely free depends on each case.<\/a> The film uses Canada, France and the United Kingdom as examples, and actually visits several real cases to illustrate the stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Taiwan\"><\/span>Taiwan<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This situation often leaves middle and lower class Americans unable to afford medical care, leaving them with only two options: allow the disease to worsen or go bankrupt. There is no third option. This phenomenon is exactly the same as what happened in Taiwan when there was no universal health insurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Cuba\"><\/span>Cuba<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>It is not only progressive countries that have universal health care. The director also gave an example in the film. Cuba, which is the country most hated by the US government, has a low national income, but all Cubans can enjoy free health care when they are sick. The director uses this to satirize the American social system, as well as the ignorance and arrogance of Americans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"90\" height=\"135\" src=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/sicko-Custom.jpg\" alt=\"Sicko\" class=\"wp-image-36455\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Related_articles\"><\/span>Related articles<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/07\/30\/sicko-for-us-medicare\/\">&#8220;Sicko&#8221;, for anyone want to know US medicare system<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/10\/17\/unitedhealthcare\/\">UnitedHealthcare, the world&#8217;s largest health insurer, role model of Dow Jones<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Disclaimer<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>The content of this site is the author\u2019s personal opinions and is for reference only. I am not responsible for the correctness, opinions, and immediacy of the content and information of the article. Readers must make their own judgments.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>I shall not be liable for any damages or other legal liabilities for the direct or indirect losses caused by the readers&#8217; direct or indirect reliance on and reference to the information on this site, or all the responsibilities arising therefrom, as a result of any investment behavior.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Sicko&#8221; is a 2007 American documentary that discusses health insurance in the United States. This documentary is a good introduction to U.S. health care.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36455,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1054,1494],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-medicare","category-documentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36454"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37462,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36454\/revisions\/37462"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}