Joe Kennedy

Joe Kennedy is routinely named the region's best writer by readers of The Roanoker magazine.

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I went to see "Sicko" the other night.

It made me sick -- sick of and angry at our health care system, and the politicians and special-interest groups who crafted it.

Yes, director Michael Moore sometimes oversimplified matters. Yes, he took an outraged slant, though with more softness than in some of his previous films.

But if you've ever seen a doctor get frustrated after an insurance company has turned down a request for a test or a treatment, then you realize that many physicians hate at least some of our current policies as much as we, their patients, do.

We all know that medical costs are out of control. We know that hardworking people can, with a little hard luck, lose everything they've attained when an injury or illness strikes them down.

We've read story after story about the political influence that drug companies buy, and about politicians who accept money, vote a certain way and assure themselves of more campaign contributions -- and maybe even a splendid job at a splendid salary with companies that benefited from their votes.

Watching the Canadians, the English and the French laud their national health systems, with their free care, and their countries' we-not-me mentality, made me yearn for a time that used to exist in America, before greed took over.

It was astonishing to hear Moore's relatives in Canada say they would not cross the border to Detroit without first purchasing insurance for protection should they somehow find themselves in the grasp of the American medical industry.

It was distressing to hear a former member of the British Parliament describe how national health care took root in England and became so popular that even conservative Margaret Thatcher did not attempt to dismantle it.

Some Americans still may despise the French for their refusal to support the American invasion of Iraq, despite the mess it has turned into.

They will despise the French even more if they listen to Americans living in France praise the nation for its generous employee benefits and humane view of those who suffer.

As one sage noted, in his country, the government fears the people. In the United States, we fear the government.

Throughout the film, the small audience watched and listened intently and muttered in agreement or gasped in shock at the things that Moore depicted.

On a few occasions, people applauded. They also applauded at the end -- though they themselves deserved a hand for sitting through a trip into a topic that is fascinating and disgusting in equal measure.

In a long segment at the end of the movie, Moore transports volunteers who suffered injuries or illnesses at the World Trade Center on 9/11 to Cuba.

They had received unsatisfactory care here.

In Cuba, they received free care and cheap prescriptions. An inhaler for one of the Americans with breathing problems sold for the equivalent of 5 cents in Cuba, compared with $120 in the United States.

Sure, the segment seemed a little contrived, but "Sicko" undeniably makes you think not only about our system, but also about our souls. We deserve better than what we're getting for our money. We deserve politicians with scruples. We deserve solutions to problems with schools, poverty and crime.

We need to stop wringing our hands over health care costs.

Forget Hillary Clinton, forget Michael Moore.

Forget Canada, France and England.

We need to ask ourselves, how well are we handling the hard problems that undermine our society?

And how does our answer make us feel?