Movie Summary
John Q is a story about a factory worker whose son suddenly falls ill while playing cricket and is in dire need of a heart transplant to save his life. Sadly, John Q, the son’s father learns that his medical cover cannot cater for the expensive cost of the operation. Moreover, government aid is unavailable to supplement his meagre savings. Consequently, John Q, in his quest to save his child’s life, takes hostage of a hospital’s ER at gunpoint to demand for the operation to be conducted on his son.
When John took over the Emergency Room, his demand was that his son be put on the list of heart transplant recipients immediately. This was because he was unable to raise the needed cash to facilitate the expensive operation.
John had insurance cover. However, having been dropped from full time to part time employment, his new insurance plan did not cover expensive surgeries. This left him and his family to attempt to raise nearly 30% of the needed full amount to get his son’s name on the recipient’s list.
This movie is about managed care. This is because insurance played a critical role in determining John’s fate in securing an operation for his son. Moreover, it appears vital transplants are procedurally managed with patients having to queue for their turns on the list.
Initially, John tried to follow up with his insurance to get his son treated. However, having learnt that his insurance did not cover expensive surgeries, he needed to raise the needed deposit amount of $75,000. With the determination to see his son survive, John decided to take matters in his own hands, taking the ER hostage.
The most important event that set the stage for John’s predicament was the change in his insurance policy, owing from demotion from full time employment to part time basis. His new policy did not cover expensive surgeries, such as heart transplants. If his insurance had covered the procedure, the problem would likely have not occurred.
