American 'SiCKOS'
If you have a health care horror story that is completely SiCKO, contact your local media and let them know just how sick our health care system is.
With the awareness 'SiCKO' has raised, they're more likely than ever to cover your story. Here are some examples:
Health Care Gypsies; Rare form of cancer keeps Dona and Jack Mitchell on the run
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The Mitchells’ insurance company is probably as bad as the ones Moore attacks, she said. The Georgia company denied paying for a large part of a treatment doctors think could save Jack’s life, she said. The treatment was denied because it was a clinical trial and considered an experimental procedure, she said.
It’s particularly frustrating, she said, because the couple has worked all of their lives, been relatively healthy and has always paid for insurance. But now, they are faced with paying off Jack’s medical bills for the rest of their lives, she said.
Dona has also cashed out most of their retirement money so they can move from place to place, fighting Jack’s disease.
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Bowling for SiCKO; 12-year-old shot in head, family forced to barbeque
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Alderman Ashanti Hamilton sponsored a barbeque fundraiser for Rahjeen Saturday. Her mother Renay is thankful for people coming forward to assist with mounting medical bills.
“A lot of things need to be taken care of that we don’t have the means for right now,” said Renay. “That’s why we are asking for help.”
Strangers like Homer Blow, WNOV radio program director, stopped by Rahjeen’s house to offer a donation.
“To be able to meet her and almost come to tears accepting the donation really touched my heart,” said Blow.
Former Milwaukee Brewer first baseman Larry Hisle met Rahjeen in her hospital room.
“To see her today walk and talk and laugh, it’s truly one of the biggest joys in my life,” Hisle said during the fundraiser in the Mitchell family backyard.
Rahjeen’s father said the family has health insurance, but he doesn’t know how much of the bill the insurance will cover. He said the family has trouble paying for commutes to and from Rahjeen’s medical appointments.
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War Correspondent Gets His Health Care on eBay; "Moore has the courage to call it what it is."
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I think that attitude about money and health care that I found at Salem, Oregon's hospital, is exactly what Moore is talking about in Sicko. We have dropped to a point where healthcare is only a business in this country; the heart was removed from it long ago.
That is not to say that there aren’t dedicated professionals because there are, but far more seem to be in it for the pay and the golfing.
I went to the war carrying about 120 pounds of gear. The kidney belt worked remarkably well, and I was able to always tighten it just a little more when necessary to put my hernia back inside the old lower stomach wall.
So at the end of my story about hernias and war, a $15 kidney belt from Ebay was the saving grace. I had far better things to say about that Internet commerce group at the time than my local hospital, that’s for sure.
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Journalist Denied Coverage, Does His "Patriotic Duty" on July 4th
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I have a heart condition. Last week, on the Fourth of July, I went to my box to retrieve the previous day's mail. In it was a letter from my health insurance provider. It began:
“Dear Mr. Gddon:”
That was only the beginning of the insult. Paragraph two: “We have completed our review of your application (for Long Term Disability coverage) and have concluded that we are presently unable to approve your request for coverage.” The letter then cited health conditions “taken into consideration,” including two that I have never suffered from.
Deflated and angry, but it being Independence Day and bound to do my patriotic duty, I proceeded to the nearest movie theater and bought a ticket to see “Sicko.”
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