Sicko is a film by American director Michael Moore, released in the United States and Canada on June 29th, 2007.[1] It investigates the United States health care system with a focus on the behavior of large health insurance companies, and contrasts the U.S. system with those of countries with universal health care coverage, commonly referred to as Socialized medicine.
On April 19, 2007, Moore announced on his website that Sicko had been selected for the 2007 Cannes Film Festival where it had its world premiere on May 19, 2007; he also announced the North American release date. Moore's film had an early premiere the week before its North American release in Washington D.C.. However, this was canceled in fear that his film would be confiscated before the scheduled premiere date[citation needed].
Sicko deals with the problems of the American for-profit health insurance and pharmaceutical industries. Its main message is that publicly-funded health care is a better model than the present US health-care system because the present system is designed to maximize profit by minimizing the care delivered to patients.
At one point in the film Moore says: "And the United States slipped to 37 in health care around the world, just slightly ahead of Slovenia."[2]
The movie begins with the retelling of the stories of people who were denied health care, either because they did not have health insurance or because the insurance companies denied their request for coverage for a particular ailment, due to specious reasons. (On February 3, 2006, Moore requested, via his blog, that people send "Health Care Horror Stories" in an effort to share his view on the health care industry.[3])
The examples shown include:
Doug Noe's insurance provider, Cigna Healthcare, approved a cochlear ear implant for only the left ear of Noe's toddler daughter, Annette, who was born with an acute hearing disability. Cigna argued that a two-ear operation was "experimental." (After Noe alerted Cigna that Moore was making a movie about the US Healthcare system, and that Noe's case would be featured in it, Noe was contacted by Cigna, and they agreed to approve the second implant.)[4] This occurred before Moore had actually heard of Noe's case, so Noe acted independently of Moore.
A woman gets stuck with the ambulance bill after a car accident because she didn't clear the charge with her insurer before requesting the ambulance; the accident had immediately rendered her unconscious and unable to request approval.[5]
Also shown is the widow of Tracy Pierce, who died from kidney cancer after his insurer denied numerous treatments recommended by his doctor, including a possibly life-saving bone-marrow transplant.[5]
Homeless patients, still in hospital gowns and some with IV tubes in their arms, were abandoned at homeless shelters by Los Angeles hospitals after they had received some medical treatment. (In May 2007, Kaiser Permanente, a large nonprofit health insurer, settled criminal and civil lawsuits by agreeing to establish new rules for discharging homeless patients. They paid $55,000 in fines, covered the city attorney’s investigative costs; and agreed to spend $500,000 on the homeless for follow-up care and other services.)[6] Mike Huffman is seen in the film describing the dumping of a woman at the Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles' Skid Row.
One woman's insurance provider denied coverage after an operation, because she didn't mention a minor previous yeast infection on her application; they retroactively cancelled her coverage on that basis. [5]
Rick accidentally sawed off the tops of his middle and ring fingers on one hand while working at home. He had no insurance and limited funds at his disposal, so he was asked by the hospital to choose whether to have the hospital reattach the end of his middle finger for $60,000 or the end of his ring finger for $12,000. (He chose the ring finger.)[5]
Some repentent former employees of insurance companies are also interviewed, and describe dubious practices of their former employers, such as considering the best doctor in their employ to be the one who could deny the most treatments.
One scene shows a clip of Congressional testimony given in 1996. Dr. Linda Peeno, a former medical reviewer for the health insurer Humana, said her job was to save money for the company. "I denied a man a necessary operation", she testified, referring to a decision she made in 1987. (Her testimony "has been widely recounted over the years," according to a news article in The New York Times. A spokesman for Humana said the case Peeno referred to had involved whether a man had coverage that would pay for a heart transplant, and Peeno correctly found the insurance didn't cover the procedure.[7])
The film also interviews Lee Einer, whose job at a major insurance carrier (not identified in the film) was to examine insurance applications retroactively. Einer was to peruse large claims in order to find evidence that the applicants had hidden previous conditions. Einer says it was irrelevant whether or not the applicant intended to mislead, the companies just wanted excuses to avoid paying the claims. Even if they had a previous condition that had never before been treated, many states have a "prudent person" rule that states that if it is a condition that a prudent person would have sought help for, then it counts as a pre-existing condition. [5]
The movie also describes the connection between lobby groups such as PhRMA, the largest and most powerful lobbyist block in Washington D.C., and political groups. Moore says that Hillary Clinton, who once championed the Clinton health care plan, is the Senate's second-highest recipient of campaign donations from the health care industry. Moore said that Clinton friend Harvey Weinstein, whose company provided financing for the film, asked him to remove the scene but Moore refused.[8] Moore said that he had donated to Clinton's first Senate campaign but has since become disillusioned with her.[9]
The American system is then compared to those of Canada, the United Kingdom and France, which have universal health care for their citizens. This segment includes interviews with former Member of ParliamentTony Benn, members of the local middle class and Americans residing in those countries. Moore tries to locate a place where British patients must pay something in a hospital (he eventually finds a counter labeled "Cashier", only to learn that patients actually receive money there to reimburse their trip to the hospital).
Moore also rides along with a 24-hour French house-call service in which a doctor with a company called "SOS Médecins" visits patients at their homes. The doctor rides around Paris at night, taking dispatch calls like a taxi driver.[5]
Moore further learns that French government helpers will literally do laundry for new mothers, as part of their job of providing neonatal support.
Some volunteer rescue workers who helped during the World Trade Centerattacks of 2001, and who subsequently developed a series of medical conditions (some physical and some psychological, including PTSD), are then interviewed. The government will not pay for care for their ailments. Since the US government must provide, under the terms of the Hague Convention and Geneva Conventions, full medical care for the alleged enemy combatants detained at the U.S. Guantanamo Bay detainment camp, Moore takes three speed boats of 9/11 rescue workers; one of the people seen earlier in the movie; and any others who need medical care that they cannot get in the U.S.; and sails from Miami for Cuba. The group arrives at the entrance channel to Gitmo, on a different boat. Moore asks for access with a megaphone, pleading for treatment for 9/11 heroes that equals the treatment the "bad buys" are getting, but no response is given and Moore finally gives up when a siren is blown from the base.
The group then moves on to Havana, where they can receive free medical treatment they would otherwise not be able to afford.[10] The volunteers are hospitalized there and receive treatment, having only to provide their names and birth date. Moore declares he asked the doctors to provide them only the same level of care they would give to Cuban citizens. He also interviews the daughter of Che Guevara, who is a pediatrician (Ernesto Guevara was a physician himself).
Although trip participants signed confidentiality agreements prohibiting them from talking about the trip, some did say that the trip was a success, with The New York Post quoting John Feal, head of the Fealgood Foundation that raises money for 9/11 first responders, that “From what I hear through the grapevine those people who went [to Cuba with Moore] are utterly happy."[11] In the film's finale, Moore provides as an example of "taking care of each other, no matter the differences". He states that the host of a website devoted to criticizing him was going to have to shut down because the owner could not afford to pay for his wife's medical treatment. He requested donations to help with the costs, and Moore anonymously donated a check for $12,000 to the man for the wife's treatment. Moore says that he does not want the health system to stop the first amendment. The audience is shown a thank you letter posted by the host, calling Moore his "Guardian Angel" while further insulting Moore.
Sicko at the Cannes Film Festival receiving a standing ovation
The movie has received positive reviews: following early viewings at the Cannes Film Festival, Variety described Sicko "an affecting and entertaining dissection of the American health care industry",[12] concluding it should play well internationally. Moore has nonetheless been quoted as saying, "I know the storm awaits me back in the United States."[13]
In his New York Times review, critic A.O. Scott said the movie is "the funniest and the most tightly edited" of any Moore film to date.[14]
Roger Friedman, who reviewed the film for Fox News, wrote, "Filmmaker Michael Moore's brilliant and uplifting new documentary, "Sicko," deals with the failings of the U.S. healthcare system, both real and perceived. But this time around, the controversial documentarian seems to be letting the subject matter do the talking, and in the process shows a new maturity."[15]
British film magazine Empire commented that "Sicko is the film that truly reveals Moore as an auteur."[16]
On May 19, 2007 more than 2,000 people applauded loudly after the film's first Cannes screening at the packed Grand Theatre Lumiere, the main festival auditorium.[17]
The North American premiere of Sicko was held in London, Ontario at the Silver City movie theatre at Masonville Place on June 8, 2007, with Moore himself in attendance. Sicko features patients from the London, Ontario area.
As of June 30, 2007Sicko has received a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes earning the film a "fresh" designation. The consensus statement on Sicko is that it is "A devastating, convincing, and very entertaining documentary."[18]
Sicko made $4.5 million on its opening weekend.[19] In only 441 theaters, it took in an average of $10,204 per theater, the second highest average gross of the weekend.
The movie has come under attack from a variety of sources. CNN described the movie as having few numeric inaccuracies but often lacking context.[20] The film has been heavily criticized for taking the Cuban description of their health-care system for granted.[21][22][23]
In a May 2, 2007 letter, the Office of Foreign Assets Control informed Moore that he was the subject of a civil investigation stemming from the filmmaker's March trip to Cuba. In the letter to Moore, a Treasury official noted that the department had no record of Moore obtaining a license that authorized him to "engage in travel-related transactions involving Cuba," alleging that Moore violated the United States embargo against Cuba.[24][25] A duplicate master copy of the film is being held in Canada in case American authorities attempt to seize the film as part of the criminal investigation against Moore that arose from taking American 9/11 rescue workers to Cuba for medical treatment.[26]
Although the film was released on June 29, 2007, a copy was leaked onto the Internet in early to mid June 2007.[27] Moore, who previously stated his support for internet downloading, denies leaking the video himself and an investigation has been held as to the source of the internet leak.[28]
^[2]Moynihan, Michael C., "Michael Moore's Shticko: His health carejeremiad won't win any converts", article at ReasonOnline Web site of Reason magazine (it is unclear from the Web site whether the article is in the magazine), June 22, 2007, accessed same day
^[6]Smith, Kyle (movie reviewer for The New York Post), "Kyle Smith on Michael Moore's 'Sicko'" entry at (unnamed) movie blog at the New York Post Web site, dated June 18, 2007, accessed June 19, 2007
^[8]Allis, Sam, "Under the knife / Michael Moore says he's a changed man in 'Sicko,' his new documentary about the state of health care in the United States", article in The Boston Globe, dated June 24, 2007, accessed June 26, 2007
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Sicko (2007) 
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