On Friday’s Anderson Cooper 360, CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta examined the accuracy of the claims presented in Michael Moore’s film Sicko. Gupta found that while there are complaints about America’s health care system, “you won’t find medical utopia elsewhere.” Although Gupta did not show much skepticism in reporting that life expectancies in Cuba are about equal to those in America despite being outspent by American 26 to 1 in health care, the CNN correspondent did report that in countries with tax-funded universal health care, that “even higher taxes don’t give all the coverage everyone wants.”
Gupta discussed the waiting lines that exist in some industrialized nations, and found that “Americans have shorter wait times than everyone but Germans when seeking non-emergency elective procedures,” although he also found that “only Canada was worse than the United States when it comes to waiting for a doctor’s appointment for a medical problem.” After informing viewers of the higher taxes paid in other countries, he also relayed that “even higher taxes don’t give all the coverage everyone wants” as health analyst Paul Keckley informed viewers that “15 to 20 percent of the population will purchase services outside the system run by the government.” (Transcript follows)
Regarding Cuba, Gupta cited statistics which claim that while America spends substantially more per person on health care each year than Cuba, that America does not have a “far better outcome,” contending that life expectancy is about equal in both countries. Gupta: “The United States spends $6,096 a year per person, versus $229 a year in Cuba. And astronomically more money doesn’t mean far better outcomes. In fact, Americans live just a little bit longer than Cubans, on average.”
After Gupta’s report, host Anderson Cooper interviewed Karen Ignagni of America’s Health Insurance Plans to hear criticism of Moore’s film from the insurance industry point-of-view. During the interview, Cooper was inquisitive about the importance of profit-making for insurance companies, as three out of four questions he asked dealt with profits.
Cooper: “You know, let’s be honest. Insurance companies are for-profit businesses, and the way they maximize profits is by minimizing payments. Isn’t that correct?”
And later, Cooper continued: “Insurance companies have people whose job is to retroactively look at big claims that have been paid out for any evidence that there might be some preexisting condition so they can, you know, deny the claim. Again, the bottom line is profit for these companies.”
And his final question: “There are all these commercials from insurers about how, you know, they want to help people, and clearly, I’m sure there are good people who do want to help people. But again, the bottom line is profit and maximizing profit.”
^Via Newsbusters
