It is deeply ironic that Donald Trump is talking of seeking to open our NHS health service to American health companies
The United States has the lowest life expectancy at birth and the highest death rate for avoidable or treatable . conditions among all the higher-income countries.
Furthermore, the US also has the highest maternal and infant mortality of all such countries. 80% of maternal deaths in the US are reckoned to be preventable.
The US Harvard Business Review stated, “The US has the worst-performing health system among all high-income countries, lagging behind France, Germany, the UNITED KINGDOM and Australia.”
The United States National Academy of Science found the USA has a higher rate of chronic illness and a lower overall life expectancy than other high-income nations.
The US Opioid crisis is driven by the poor desperately seeking to treat health problems with over-the-counter painkillers. The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] described the overdoses from painkillers as an “epidemic.” This has now been exacerbated by the meteoric rise of the opioid fentanyl. The USA has the highest rate of overdose deaths in the world by a substantial margin.
Surely President Trump really needs to focus his attention on healthcare in the United States. Seven million American women live in counties with no hospital or birth centre offering obstetric care.
American health care companies cannot afford to come to the UK. All their efforts must be focused on the needs of their own fellow Americans!. .Surely their mission is not just to make money!
Do we want or need healthcare companies from America that have a proven record of failure in their own country?
The US Health System Exposed
Sicko is a documentary by American filmmaker Michael Moore that critically examines the United States healthcare system. Rather than focusing on the uninsured, the film highlights the struggles of everyday Americans who have health insurance but still face significant financial and medical hardships due to systemic inefficiencies, corporate greed, and restrictive policies.
Moore contrasts the American system with those of other nations, including Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and Cuba, where universal healthcare provides citizens with free or affordable medical care. Through interviews with patients, doctors, and healthcare professionals, he showcases how these countries prioritise patient welfare over profit.
The film also delves into the influence of pharmaceutical companies and health insurance providers in shaping American healthcare policy. One of its most striking segments features Moore taking a group of 9/11 first responders, who have been denied adequate care in the U.S., to Cuba, where they receive free treatment.
Sicko is both a critique and a call for reform, urging the U.S. to adopt a more compassionate and equitable healthcare system. It combines Moore’s signature style of investigative journalism, dark humour, and emotional storytelling to expose the flaws in for-profit healthcare.
