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‘Sicko’ Inspires Healthy Debate About An Ailing System

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Is Michael Moore a genius, a troublemaker, a whistleblower, a crazed man, a brilliant filmmaker or all of the above? The opinions about Moore may vary but the premise of “Sicko” is considered universally legit: The American health care system is critically ill.

Although there are 50 million Americans without health insurance, Moore’s film focuses primarily on the millions of people who dutifully pay their insurance premium each and every month, and when it comes time to draw upon the reserve, find themselves ensnarled in red tape. Moore takes aim at the insurance companies, health maintenance organizations and legislators who he believes are often “bought off” by big pharmaceutical companies and HMOs. He calls private medical insurance a “disaster” and contends that a state-run system, such as exists nearly everywhere else in the industrialized world, would be better. Profit, he argues, should never enter into the equation where a person’s health is concerned.

As part of his research Moore reviewed thousands of health care nightmare stories, some of which he includes in the film. He offers several heart-wrenching examples of people who were jilted (sometimes fatally) by their health insurance companies.

For example:

• A woman watches her husband slowly waste away with kidney cancer in a hospital bed because the couple’s insurance company refused to pay for experimental treatments that might have saved his life.
• A woman is denied emergency care because her car accident had not been “pre-certified” by her insurance company.
• A man loses two fingers in a chainsaw accident but can only afford to have one of them reattached.

Moore contends that the job of the insurance companies is to deny claims, whether they admit it or not. In “Sicko” he interviews former insurance company employees who describe quotas for claims denials and bonuses for anything above quota. He talks to a doctor whose signature is stamped on a series of denials to a woman suffering from a brain tumor. It turns out the signatures are stamped without the doctor ever reading the claims.

To illustrate the point that health care delivery is different in other civilized nations, Moore visits England, Canada and France, all of whom have government-run health care systems. He presents an idyllic vision of the quality of that care. (He even treks to Cuba at one point in the film to seek help for uninsured 9/11 workers.)

The film has come under fire from medical professionals and public officials who question the validity of his statistical information. Dr. Sonjay Gupta of CNN put it this way: “Michael has a lot of different numbers. He’s sort of cherry picking with different reports.” At the same time, Dr. Gupta believes that overall it is a good movie. “I think it strikes at the irrefutable fact that our health system is badly broken.”

The leaders of both political parties will readily admit that our health care system is critically ill. The argument that this movie inspires will be primarily about the nature of the cure, and that is where Moore’s film is most useful. He has a unique ability to preach without sounding “preachy.”

So what can you do to avoid health care delivery nightmares? Eat your vegetables. Get plenty of rest and exercise and say your prayers. Do anything you can to avoid getting sick. With or without insurance, you can’t afford it.