On the Cuba Connection of SiCKO

This one I just can’t pass up.  Let me start out by saying that I am no friend of the current U.S. medical and insurance system. It is better than many, but a far cry from anything I would call “just” or even “well constructed”. Now that we got that out of the way, let me address one aspect of Mr. Moor’s recently released documentary “SiCKO”, or rather some of the specific Cuba noise surrounding its release.  From the plethora of articles available, most of which focus on his traveling to Cuba without a license, I see that Moor has chosen Cuba as a comparison to hold up against the US health system.  To quote a Reuter’s article:

Balaguer [Cuba’s Health Minister] said Moore's portrayal was accurate and denied that Havana collaborated with him to tout the Cuban health system. "Our country ... is always open to those cases that, from a humane point of view, may need the services of our public health care," he said.

Or another IPS Article by Patricia Grogg:

Most Cubans receive free care and housing and enjoy heavy subsidies on basic food, transportation and utilities.

The problem is that Moore (and most of the journalists who are writing on the topic) encountered only one part of Cuba’s dualistic health care system, and the media in general hasn’t bothered (wanted?) to check their facts. Yes, a Cuban is able to walk into a clinic and be seen by a doctor, or more recently nurse practitioners since so many doctors have been shipped overseas to key countries like Venezuela, something the Reuters article touched on but didn’t get the whole picture:

Besides providing universal coverage for its own citizens, Cuba has sent doctors to more than 70 other countries. Most recently, it has sent as many as 15,000 doctors to work in the slums of Venezuela, its main political ally, in exchange for oil supplies. 

Essentially, a Cuban can see a doctor, but if actual care is required, such as x-rays (as in the case of my wife on one of our ministry trips), or simple blood tests (as in the case of a pastor who recently came to the US for testing he was denied in Cuba), or heaven forbid the actual need for medication, these clinics are less than helpful. So, in a sense there is universal free medical available to all who want what amounts to a cursory consultation. In the case of my wife’s visit we did get to see an actual doctor, but were told that we needed to go out and purchase x-ray film on the black market before he could do the necessary x-rays.

Then there’s the second part of the Cuban Health Care schizophrenia, the clean, professional and presentable sister to the messy one I just mentioned that’s kept hidden from foreign eyes like Moor’s. This is where you can find the touted, top ranked doctors and high end machinery –all available to those who can pay the price for treatment, or provide promotion of Cuba’s medical system to the world. As for the Cubans, their $15/month average salary relegates them to the “free clinics”, where they unfortunately get what they pay for.

I do echo Moore’s question as reported by the Miahael Giltz article:

"Why would we let 50 million Americans not have health insurance, 9 million of them children?" Moore asked. "We're the United States! We can do better!"

However, if Mr. Moore had done a little more homework on the reality of Cuba’s healthcare system, or simply walked into any of the public clinics throughout the island, I think he would have looked elsewhere for his examples, not to mention avoiding the problems he is now facing for traveling to Cuba without a license. What a waste of a trip.