Sicko (Special Edition)
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Movie Reviews of Sicko (Special Edition)
Movie Review: the horrifying truth about American health care
Summary: 5 Stars
Sicko is perhaps best described as an exposé by Michael Moore on the disgusting failings of the American health care industry to pay for necessary medical procedures even though their customers have paid their premiums and "played by the rules." We see heartrending stories of Americans treated cruelly, to say the least, by their health insurance carriers. Just as many other reviewers note, there are pathetic, sad stories of grown parents having to move in with their children because they went bankrupt paying for three heart attacks; and there's the story of a 79 year old man who has to work at a Pathmark supermarket doing heavy lifting so that he and his aged wife can have the medicines they need every day.
The horror stories continue, mostly with the fat cats of the health care companies getting seven figure annual salaries based on how much health care they deny to their "customers." We learn from professionals and analysts that the less care any health insurance company gives the more money they make--and their executives get rich on this terrible truth.
There is one scene in which a doctor tells a Congressional hearing that she is still haunted by a decision she made to deny a man a life-necessary operation. As a result of her decision she was promoted to a six figure a year job. Moore also notes that Hillary Clinton did try to get universal health care but her idea died before it could become a reality.
Moore travels to other countries to see what they do there about insuring people's health. We learn that in Canada, England, Norway, and France, socialized medicine is quite acceptable because the citizens of these countries truly believe that they should have health care for all. Naturally, this is done through much higher taxes; but at least they never worry about a hospital stay, getting tough pre-approvals for life saving procedures and more.
You'll easily remember the Michael Moore "stunt;" he takes rescue workers from September 11th and sails to Cuba with them so that they can get free health care at Guantanamo Bay. Fortunately for the workers they do get treated on the island although they don't get their treatment on the military base.
Unfortunately, I must say that I think Moore painted the picture of these other countries a bit too rosy. I have friends in Holland who certainly don't live as well as the foreigners interviewed in their homes by Michael Moore. In addition, how fast you get health care in other countries often depends on how sick you are--you may have to wait ten months for a hip replacement if doctors there decide that you can wait.
Overall, however, Michael Moore makes his case a very solid one; and I certainly agree with him on this issue. We should have at least an optional universal health care program so that people who don't want to participate don't feel forced into it.
The DVD has a plethora of extras that really add a lot to the experience of watching the movie. There are great interview segments with Tony Benn, a former member of Britain's Parliament; and we see Moore having an "extra" premiere of his film in a Los Angeles ghetto with audience members who probably can't even afford to see the movie in a movie theater. There is more footage still of Michael Moore and legislators in Washington fighting for universal health care.
Sicko is a fine film by Michael Moore that cries out for universal health care. Moore wants a better standard of living in America; and he hopes Americans develop more concern for other Americans--something that is very often lacking in the United States. I highly recommend this film.
Movie Review: Moved to tears...
Summary: 5 Stars
I am not the kind of film buff who cries at movies. My wife complains that I am too intellectual, detached from my feelings. Yet, I was moved to tears watching this film, not an oscar-winning melodrama, but a documentary. I am not a sickly or dying individual, but I was able to relate. I am 38 years old, married and our daughter had just turned a year old. So of course I thought about our situation. What if our daughter caught a high fever?! What if my wife developed breast cancer, which runs high in her family? I watched the stories of those who actually died because they were denied payment ("we don't deny services, only payment"), or the stories of those who lost their homes from medical bills, deductibles and copays.
I interrupted my viewing of this movie to call my health insurance company to find out if a Sleep Apnea study my doctor ordered was covered by my insurance. They said that I needed precertification first, and even if they did, I would have to pay a $250 deductible. I had to cancel the study. I haven't had a good night's sleep in years and now it seems this will continue. I work in social services with people whose lives were totally changed due to unexpected illness or accidents. I can't describe to you how it feels to see a 60 year old man cry because his Medicare won't pay for the proper medication and I can't do anything but ask him to turn to God.
But what moved me to tears was the story of the woman who lost her home and had to move into her daughter's computer room due to illness and medical bills. Michael Moore brought her to Cuba where they have universal healthcare, and the look on her face when they told her all of the care she was receiving was free... If we had a system like theirs, she may have never lost her home. I was really able to see why other countries have a higher quality of life than us, because there is a much stronger sense of community and caring between its citizens. Here, you're seen as a lazy vagrant if you ask for help from others.
I just read all of the one star reviews for this movie, 8 so far. Two of them were not even criticisms of the movie. The others railed against Moore's research of universal healthcare in other countries saying how bad it is in Canada and Britain (long lines, lack of quality healthcare,etc.) but that is just the way it is over here, but we have to pay for it! NONE of the 1-star reviews attempts to disprove the medical atrocities that happened to the Americans in this movie, because they are all true.
One of the 1-star reviews, by SN in East Oakland, proves my point about our lack of community are caring in our country with regard to ensuring the health of it's citizens. He writes of universal healthcare: "What gives you the right to force others to provide for you without compensation?" The doctors interviewed in the movie did not have guns pointed at their heads, they were providing medical care free to the people because they wanted to and feel that's the way it should be: if you have a medical problem, you deserve the best medical care possible without being frightened of the cost. Any country who says that it's citizens are human beings who deserve dignity should provide this basic service, just like the police force and firefighters, two other life-saving free social services.
I've heard people complaining about the healthcare industry in the US, but I never internalized how horrific the conditions are. And if you think I am being dramatic, tell that to the people in the movie whose loved ones died because they were denied coverage for life saving medical services. This movie was a revelation for me.
Movie Review: ~ So TRUE that it's scary! ~ Must watch! ~
Summary: 5 Stars
God bless Michael Moore!
This daring documentary exposes the sad facts of life behind all the systemic lies that the System heaps on everyone everyday! Cuba may be a Commie country, but when it comes to health care, it's funny to see how they truly have extraordinary common sense to take compassion on real people - unlike the American corporate elite! You can't help but pity the 9/11 firefighters and all the other unfortunate Americans who have all been let down by the very country they grew up in, by being passive victims of greedy corporations that try to dictate legislation on health care and insurance reform. Michael Moore's documentary shows a stark contrast between the greedy and dirty tactics of corporate America vs the sensible health care systems in Britain, France, Canada and Cuba.
I live in a System where people are not treated like human beings but as units of government-supported profit machines. I personally know of cases where people are left to DIE just because the bureaucratic government policies and evil insurance companies! Even if you're "insured", it doesn't mean you're off the score board of those evil companies, so don't be so quick to dismiss this educational documentary.
Singapore follows the same model as America and scores of citizens are under-insured or uninsured. But, Singapore is a queer story, best reserved for Part II of Sicko (Singapore edition).
When will governments and the passive citizenry realize that people's lives are not the playthings of MNCs, insurance companies and governments to make more money than they already have? Unfortunately, in these sick and twisted days, the elite ruling classes of evil scumbags would rather maximize their profits at the expense of YOUR life. If you support such a system, then perhaps it is time to admit that you too are truly sick!
If you support a system where CEOs and the ruling classes that oppose universal health care are able to "legally earn" millions of dollars out of sick and dying patients, and turn people away from health care just because the latter can't pay a bill, then you might as well have Jesus hasten the Apocalypse right away. These rich, evil CEOs and ruling classes that oppose universal care might as well not be born or if they're lucky - to have millstones tied round their necks and be drowned in the ocean! Maybe that could restore the balance of the planet's ecosystem!
President Obama's current health care reform is a great step forward for America. It is puzzling to the rest of the world as why the President's plan towards health care reform is being so ridiculously opposed. Would you rather see the government spend money to save YOUR life and those of future generations in health care, rather than bailing out all those greedy companies in financial sector? Opponents of health care reform are willing to tolerate the government giving financial sector companies billions of dollars - only to see them make their already rich CEOs even richer with bonuses in the time of a global recession?
In matters of health care and saving lives, there should be NO question about implementing a universal health care plan for all - not just for the ruling classes! Time to question where your tax dollars go into! Building war machines and Sarah Palin's wardrobe aren't going to pay for YOUR hospital bills!
Recommended reading:
Profit Over People: Neoliberalism & Global Order
Movie Review: 50,000,000 and counting uninsured! Robbed of an Oscar!
Summary: 5 Stars
When I saw Sicko at the movie theatre in 2007, I was paying $580.00 a month for Cobra healthcare and not collecting unemployment because I had to leave my job in order to complete my student teaching. $580.00 a month would cover one person, myself.
Fortunately, I could afford it but I know that many people can't. To be unemployed and paying cobra is a joke because most companies know that nobody can afford the premium monthly cost.
Now, I pay less than $200.00 a month for cobra benefits but no co-pay. Well, what happened when I went to my primary care doctor for a check-up. I got billed and had to pay $81.00 out of a $130.00 bill. Instead of paying a smaller co-pay, the health insurance company is taking the bills and decided what counts and when it counts. Whatever the reason, the health insurance companies in this country have been taking us even the insured for a ride.
Never mind that one of the major problems in keeping in our country is the high cost of health benefits. Major corporations go to countries where health care is state-provided and the salaries are lower. The health care industry is a joke now.
I live in New Jersey where 18 hospitals have closed and our population has only increased over time to record amounts. Even the former first lady, Dina Matos McGreevey, lost her job at a hospital when it closed down last year.
I waited for 7 hours at a well-known and respected hospital for 3 stitches in my finger in the emergency room because they had only 1 doctor on staff at the time.
The health care industry is doing something criminally wrong when patients and human beings are dying every day because they can't get health care.
The health industry worries about the growing obesity epidemic in our schools where the physical education programs have been cut and children today don't play outside.
This documentary should have easily won the Oscar but the director's past behavior probably kept it from getting nominated. I don't blame President Bush or anybody else for this system that is in dire consequences. The companies and all of the politicians should have known about their unpredictable, dispicable behavior.
There was a time when insurance companies did their jobs. Now they are failing us at an alarming rate. We have no choice but to ask our government to help save us and assist us in getting health care. Health care is a civil right isn't it? I think so.
I have dual citizenship with my parents' native country just in case I need health care that I can't get here and that's why I did it.
I worry about going to the dentist for a cleaning or check-up just in case of the bill at the end.
When I was last at my primary doctor's office, I asked for prescription for Allegra for the allergy season. My health insurance declined the prescription and suggested that I take Claritin since it's over the counter. Who's making these decisions anyway?
When you watch this documentary, you will find yourself understanding the guy who works at a supermarket to pay for his prescriptions. The middle aged couple who moved in with their daughter because of the health care cost after a serious illness.
The state of health care in this country isn't bipartisan issue or biased on Moore's politics. Yes, there are problems in other countries where health care is socialized but far less than we expect them too.
Now, it's a matter of life and death regarding health insurance.
Movie Review: Thank you, Micheal
Summary: 5 Stars
I like Moore's films, but usually don't give him 5 stars. I met with a group--two of the members of which are physicians and health activists--to discuss the film after seeing it on this opening night. We agreed that Moore is not a documentarian, and I don't believe he claims he is--but a polemicist.
Were there "weaknesses" in the film? Doubtless! Indeed, one I brought up was that physicians themselves may be behind part of the health care crisis in the US. Both physicians asserted that a substantial portion of the medical profession is against the private, for profit nature of health care today and many would stand by much of what Moore points out, and some that he implies, i.e., the incredible INEFFICIENCY of the US medical system!
I was happy with the several layers of the film. For instance, he also brought out the propoganda against the French (remember that? They didn't agree with us in our invasion of Iraq so now we eat "Freedom fries?") and that nonstop barrage of propoganda we've heard from all quarters against "socialized" medicine. In the scene in which Moore points out that an actor had recited some of the diatribes against state-run medical systems, I guessed correctly that that "actor" was Ronald Reagan, as always spouting what someone else told him to say.
Perhaps part of Moore's genius is his application of old movie clips to the point he's trying to make. In this one, he included some clips from some anti-Commie propoganda films from the 1950s. But he also included some clips from some Soviet propoganda films, you know, about how all working people work so well together for the State, but applied them to those of the elements of our society that ARE socialized, e.g., the fire dept. and schools.
There was a particularly biting audio clip of Nixon and John Ehrlichman talking back when Nixon was in the White House about how to guarantee that a profit making company lead the way to HMOs. (That company, incidentally, was, later in the film, responsible for the death of an 18 month old whose illness they would not treat in a non-covered hospital!)
Am I arguing that the countries which public health systems are infallible? Certainly not. Am I arguing that Cuba is heaven in disguise? No! But nor am I claiming, for example, that Fidel Castro is Lucifer, the propoganda to which Moore refers in the film.
Perhaps the most important lines in the film is the focus on "we" rather than "me." And, after the film, one of the physicians pointed out that government provides 64 percent of medical care in this country now (the VA) while "private" companies pay for 19 percent and 15 percent you and me. So even the figures we assume are way out of whack.
Oh, and I almost forgot, that the film is NOT about those who don't have health insurance, as many of them as there are. Rather, it's about the many who DO have it, but they aren't covered because, God forbid, the companies would have to threaten their profits by providing treatment.
Frankly, this is a "preaching to the choir" film. Your conservative uncle who thinks Moore is anti-American, if he's forced to watch it, will pay attention to nothing. But Moore is a cheerleader. And, despite his weakness--again, he's a polemicist--he brings up some perfectly legitimate points. But if you're even related to the choir, see this gem. It'll give you lots to think about.