Sicko (Special Edition)
by Michael Moore
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Actor: George W. Bush, Michael Moore, Reggie Cervantes, Tony Benn, Tucker AlbrizziDirector: Michael Moore
Brand: Genius
Writer: Michael Moore
Producer: Amelia Green-Dove
Producer: Amy McCampbell
Producer: Aneetha Rajan
Producer: Anne Moore
Producer: Basel Hamdan
Producer: Bob Weinstein
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language); Russian (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 123 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-11-06
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Model: 80750
Studio: Weinstein Company
Product features:
- Following on the heels of his Palm d'Or winning Fahrenheit 9/11 and his Oscar winning film Bowling for Columbine, acclaimed filmmaker Michael Moore's new documentary sets out to investigate the American healthcare system. Sticking to his tried-and-true one-man approach, Moore sheds light on the complicated medical affairs of individuals and local communities. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:
DVD Reviews of Sicko (Special Edition)
DVD Review: Universal Single Payer Health Care System is the Only Solution
Summary: 5 Stars
There are two major issues in health care reform, the ethical and financial:
1-Ethical: Is health care a human right?
2-Economic: Can health care be delivered in a cost effective manner?
Michael Moore (along with the overwhelming evidence from all the major studies by the US government, academicians', Non-Governmental Organizations and various oversight commissions) shows that the US system fails on both accounts. While pundits will almost always assert that US health care is the "best in the world" I challenge them to show me one major statistic where this is true. It just can't be done because the data are in, and we are far from the best in any major health care category. Is this US bashing-No these are just the facts. And if we begin to look at them we may be able to do something about them. (Please review health data from the US Congressional Budget Office, the US General Accountability Office, US Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality, the Commonwealth Fund, the United Nation-World Health Organization, New England Journal of Medicine, Health Affairs, Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development-None exactly radical organizations, to confirm my statements). But it is just too easy to assume we are the best, after all only one who is un-American could doubt that we are the best. And we should just attack them and dismiss the actual facts in the matter. So for those who would bash this review I anticipate very little in the way of factual information and a great number of Ad-hominem attacks. Independent & critical thinkers please look out for this fallacious method of argument.
Ethics of distributive justice teach us about many different ways to distribute scarce resources (My thinking on this topic is heavily influenced by Deborah Stone the author of chapter 4 in the excellent book "Healthy, Wealthy & Fair-Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-517066-00). To see a hit movie or popular Broadway show we line up and use the principle of first come first served. For admission to college we do not take people first come first serve, but use a merit system based on grades and SAT scores (at least in principle). For first-class seating in a plane we use cost to select who can afford to pay for the extra leg room and other amenities. So we use different ethical principles to divide societies riches depending on which domain we are discussing. So what principle should guide the distribution of health care? Most people would agree that health care should be distributed based on need. If you don't need an antibiotic then you should not get it and if you do need one you should get it. This simple assertion has significant implications for how to implement a health care system, one being that health care should be considered a human right. Funny how some free marketeers want to consider it a fundamental right for people to own private property but consider it a privilage to be assured access to health care.
Health care is fundamentally different from most other commodities in society. Not everyone needs or can afford a plasma TV (own private property), however everyone needs to be healthy in order to be a productive member of society. So this is a fundamental requirement to achieve any other essential goal in life; for if you are significantly ill you can not work, learn, volunteer, play or just contemplate the world. This is why all other countries (not just the industrialize world) consider health care a human right (along with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which the US is a signatory). If you are sick and can not afford care (unless we are willing to just let people die) then society will in some manner pay for those in desperate need. As it stands we do this now, but in a most demeaning and cost inefficient way.
For-profit companies in the medical industry like to scare people by telling them that:
1- The government is inefficient (this is an ideological assumption which is just NOT true-see documents below).
2- That the government is big, bad, and controlling every aspect of your life (also not true-at least the government can change with elections-When was the last time YOU helped remove a corporate CEO from his position). In all countries in which people have universal health care citizens are free to pick there own health care provider-so why does this even come up as an issue.
Moore brilliantly juxtaposes the actions of corporations which truly have no accountability to the insured but do have a legal obligation to shareholders to maximize profits, to that of health care systems based on providing care to those in need. Real scientific (Peer-reviewed) studies show consistently that the US system is both the most expensive and one of the least efficient health care systems in the world. Many, many studies show this. The Commonwealth fund recently used 37 indicators (all compared to achievable indicators-based on current best practices) and only rated our system 66% out of 100%. (For details see: http://www.commonwealthfund.org/usr_doc/Commission_whynotthebest_951.pdf#nameddest=table)
The New England Journal of Medicine in an article "The Quality of Health Care Delivered to Adults in the US" June 26, 2003, documented that Adults only received 55% of recommended care. The World Health Organization in a systematic review of health care systems around the world ranked the US 37th. In any major indicator-Life Expectancy, Healthy Years of Life, Infant Mortality, number of doctors visits (lower in US than most other countries); the US is no where near the top of the list.
In terms of government run health care: there is no inherent reason why patients should not have a choice of provider-so this scare tactic is a non sequitur. In terms of efficiency, free market advocates lose again because in all health systems with a profit motive, less of the health care dollar is spent on providing actual care and more is spent on profits and administration than in government run systems. This means that the government run systems are more efficient. Look at data on Medicaid and Medicare where administrative cost run in the 2-3% range compared to the private sector where it is not uncommon for administration to be 8-10 times greater in the range of 20-30%. Not only are the administrative costs greater in a for-profit system (See-New England Journal of Medicine article "Costs of Health Care Administration in the US & Canada-August 21, 2003 and also New England Journal of Medicine "Cost of Care and Administration at For-Profit and Other Hospitals in the US") but the QUALITY of care in for profit vs. public hospitals demonstrate that for-profits consistently provide lower quality care (See Jounal of the American Medical Association July 14,1999-"Quality of Care in Investor-Owned vs. Not-for-Profit HMO's" where for ALL 14 quality indicators examined the for-profits did a substantially worse job at providing quality care). In another review in the Social Science Quarterly (Volume 84 Issue 2 Page 219, June 2003) in an article entitled "Two Decades of Research Comparing For-Profit and Nonprofit Health Provider Performance in the US" the conclusion drawn was "Overall, the nonprofits were judged superior 59 percent of the time, for-profits superior only 12% of the time, and for the rest (29 percent), no difference was found or the results were mixed". By putting money which would otherwise go to administrative overhead or profits back into DIRECT patient care we get much greater efficiency. So it is NOT that the government is inefficient it is that the government is TOO efficient and THIS TAKES AWAY PROFITS from the private sector. This is why corporations run scare campaigns to confuse people about the real issues.
Another point is that efficiency should not be the measure of all things economic. The economy should be focused on people and their needs. It might be more economically efficient to kick grandma out of the second floor apartment and get a paying tenant but is it the right thing to do?
So do single payer systems have problems? Of course. The biggest one is waiting times. However, we must remember that since in almost all cases citizens of these countries live longer and on average have MORE healthy years of life this is clearly a secondary issue. All countries have a system where those in emergent need get seen in a timely manner (otherwise they would not fair so well on the health data previously cited). Not often mentioned is that a list becomes a relatively equitable way to ration care by allocating resources first come first serve as long as emergency needs do not take precedence. In the US we do NOT make lists; the insurance company will just deny your claim for 5 months before (maybe) granting your request. So you were NOT on a waiting list for 5 months BUT IN FACT WAITED-but those other countries put you on a list-terrible! We should also recall that these countries spend about HALF as much per person to provide superior care. If they were to spend just a bit more as many are now starting to do (in Canada for instance they are beginning to use physician assistants to reduce waiting times- bias alert-I am a physician assistant educator) the problem of waiting could be rectified. Often free market opponents of single payer, resist paying into the system in an amount that would eliminate the waiting so they can have an issue to complain about. The whole argument is a bit absurd. Would you rather starve to death (and be free of government "interference' in your life) or wait on a line and get free food. Only those who have enough to eat would argue that the wait is not worth it. And now that more and more people are finding out that they to are vulnerable the move is on for a universal single payer health care system in the US.
This outcome (single payer) is not likely to be achieved even though it is the one favored by the majority of people (look at any public opinion poll for the past 40 years and a MAJORITY not a just a plurality will be found to support a government run health care system-usually even if it cost more in taxes-which due to greater efficiencies may not even be necessary). For details about several recent polls see (http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2005/09/universal_healthcare.html). But the political process and allegiance of politicians to corporate (not special) interests make this "politically unfeasible" despite the fact that most Americans desire it. But that is a different problem for a different diatribe.
Bobby Keith, MPA, PA-C
Clinical Director
Mercy College Graduate Program in
Physician Assistant Studies
Description of Sicko (Special Edition)
For many Americanslaughter isn't the best medicine - it's the only medicine.ProductInformationIn Sicko filmmaker Michael Moore returns with a hilariously scathingindictment of America's failing health system. Combiningpowerful personal testimonies with shocking statistics Moore pulls thecurtain back on the greedy HMOs drug companies and congressmen whokeep us ill. Traveling to Canada England France and Cuba-where free universal health care is the norm - he forces withquestion: Why can't this happen in the U.S.? Timely andtouching the Special Edition of the film includes bonus materialwritten and directed by Michael Moore.Product Features Includes over 80 minutes of all-new material by MichaelMoore Sicko Goes to Washington This Country Beats France Uniquely American What if You Worked for G.E. in France? Sister Mary Fidel Who Would Jesus Deny? More With Mike and Tony Benn A Different Kind of Hollywood Premiere "Alone Without You" Music Video Performed by TheNightwatchman Interview Gallery Theatrical TrailerSpecifications Format: Color DVD-VideoWidescreen Language: English Subtitles: English Spanish Number of Discs: 1 Rating: PG-13 Run Time: 123 minutes Directed By: Michael MooreSiCKO is more like a controlled howl of protest than a documentary. Toning down the rhetoric of past efforts--no CEOs, congressmen, or celebrities were accosted in the making of this film--Michael Moore's latest provocation is just as heartfelt, if not more heartbreaking. As he clarifies from the outset, his subject isn't the 45 million Americans without insurance, but those whose coverage has failed to meet their needs. He starts by speaking with patients who've been denied life-saving procedures, like chemotherapy, for the most spurious of reasons. Then he travels to Canada, England, and France to see if socialized medicine is as inefficient as U.S. politicians like to claim--especially those who receive funding from pharmaceutical companies. Moore finds quality care available to all, regardless as to income. He concludes with a stunt that made headlines when he assembles a group of 9/11 rescue workers suffering from a variety of afflictions. When Moore is informed that detainees at Guantánamo Bay--technically American soil--qualify for universal coverage, he and his companions travel to Cuba to get in on that action. It's a typically grandstanding move on Moore's part. And it proves remarkably effective when these altruistic individuals, who've either been denied treatment or forced to pay outrageous costs for their medication, experience a dramatically different system. Nine years in the making, SiCKO makes a persuasive case that it's time for America to catch up with the rest of the world. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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