All About Movies

No matter what people may think of Michael Moore, they will be hard-pressed to counter his film "Sicko" with one of a contrarian view. I suppose "Sickohype" or Sickohypo" or "Let'em all Die" just doesn't have the same resonance as "Fahrenhype" did to challenge his previous film.

Perhaps as landmark as Jacob Riis's "How the Other Half Lives," "Sicko" brings the devastating cost and state of health care in this country to light beginning with people who have lived the American dream and expected to live their retirement independently and in comfort. Early on, Moore shows a working couple forced to sell their home to meet medical obligations not covered, and now depend on the charity of their children. Moore carefully singles out several cases of the twenty-five thousand emails he received that reveal the appalling state of health care in a country that nurtures that dream. (None of the stories or emails are about couples in separate bathtubs looking out over a vineyard).

First are the insurance companies that are out to make a profit. (Nothing's wrong with that). However, the profit is at the expense of the medical coverage and preventative care they can deny. If they cannot deny it outright or claim such care is experimental, they will pour through a patient's medical history to see if any condition occurred that was not mentioned or remembered in the application process. This will give the company the means to deny all claims retroactively. Incidentally, doctors receive bonuses for the most claims they can deny!

The next spotlight is on the pharmaceutical companies which are so expensive that many people must continue working well beyond their retirement years, years they should be enjoying, years when there is the greatest need for medication. In particular, Moore singles out the very new and complicated prescription plan, which is more expensive for seniors than ever before, but benefits the pharmaceuticals. (Thank you, Mr. Bush).

Besides our illustrious president benefitting from the contributions of pharmaceuticals, Moore identifies a host of other republicans who have had their hands in drug company pockets--including the lady who was going to provide universal health care in the first place--Hillary Clinton whose plan the drug companies spent $100,000,000 to defeat. Fourteen staffers who worked on the Seniors' Prescription bill, moved on to lucrative lobby positions with the same companies, and Billy Tauzin was hired as CEO for Pharma at $2,000,000 a year. In any other milieu, that is called bribery, corruption, and conflict of interest. In Congress, it's called the cost of doing business.

But what gives Americans a strong sense of pride is our belief that our medical system and healthcare, while flawed, is the finest in the world. Moore is quick to write "denied" all over that fantasy. We see in Canada, Great Britain, and France, how people receive first rate health care, from first rate physicians without having to sell their homes, decide which finger they can afford to save, and have a higher life expectancy than Americans. (Doctors in Britain are actually paid more for getting people into better health habits and regimens).

Misnamed socialized medicine by its detractors, socialized insurance works in these countries efficiently without people crowding in waiting rooms, being taxed to death (as the health companies would have us believe), or dying because they cannot afford the medication, or because the insurance company denied their claim. Moore implies that paying higher taxes makes more sense than losing your homes or retirement to catastrophic illness in what is now the leading cause of bankruptcy in the country.

Moore's direction is flawless. His graphics and humor are engaging; dry and deprecating. This is a film that may make you well-up with tears that a society could take such good care of its companies and business, and dump its destitute on the street. Moore succeeds in making you feel empathy for those who are poorly treated or not at all. He is able to make you think: "Can that happen to me?" or "If it can work there, why can't it work here?"

The special edition also offers more in-depth discussion of health care that could not be put in the original film. This includes conversations with people on the street, HR 636 brought before the house, Norway which has the highest standard of health care in the world. (Yes, it is free). Sadly it also shows some of the people from the film whose family members died for lack of treatment, or because they were turned away.

The final irony of the film is one of the more poignant. The man who runs the most virulent anti-Michael Moore website announced that he would have to shut down because he couldn't afford the hospital care his wife so desperately needed.

Guess what Moore did.