Sicko is a documentary film by Michael Moore. The film investigates the American health care system in 2007, focusing on its health insurance and pharmaceutical industry. The film compares the for-profit, non-universal U.S. system with the non-profit universal health care systems of Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Cuba.

According to the movie Sicko, almost fifty million Americans are uninsured and those who are covered with insurance are often victims of insurance company fraud and red tape. Interviews are conducted with people who thought they had adequate coverage but were denied care, as well as former employees of insurance companies who describe cost-cutting initiatives that encourage bonuses for insurance company physicians to deny medical treatments for policy holders.

In this documentary, the director / writer Michael Moore exposes the dysfunctional North American health care system, oriented to huge profits and not for their mission of saving lives. Further, Moore shows the corruption in the political system, with members of government and congress “bought” by the corporations and the situation of the average American citizens.
Sicko

68 COMMENTS

  1. I have never been to america but I have heard many things and this documentary just backs them up. The scary thing is that even hell on earth (guantanamo bay) has more concern for the criminlas than your countries leaders have for there own citizens that voted for them! And the lady in the film carol, who is thrown in a cab and dumped on the streets made me cry..I just want to say thank you mr.moore for making me even more grateful to live in canada

  2. I’d rather pay a bit more tax and have peace of mind for myself and also for the poor sods who cannot afford insane insurance premiums and who have to die with the Salvation Army because they were not insured, only because the “liberal” directors, shareholders and politicians wanna fill their fat pockets. ——————
    Here in the Netherlands we indeed pay some more income tax than in the US. And our sales tax is 19%. But everyone only has to pay some 130 US dollars each per month for COMPLETE(!!!) health care. This is obligatory for everyone but the government pays it for you if you have too low an income. —————
    With this EVERYONE is assured of the VERY BEST healthcare which is the SAME for all, and everyone has FREE CHOICE of the very best doctors, specialists, dentists and hospitals.
    For this peace of mind I happily pay a little more tax! Your brave Mr.Obama is trying hard and had a small success so now everyone seems to be insured as I read in th epapers; but he still has a long way to go.
    I wish the good american people the best of luck ! AND GOOD HEALTH!

  3. Hey NiceEuropeanGuy,
    You paint a nice picture about the healthcare here in Holland, but you should straighten your facts out before stating things on the I-net. Healthcare in Holland isnot that bad, but the governement has deminished the money healthcare get every year for the last years. The privatisation of it, the power the insurance companies got, this all made it a lot worse. Unlimited care? Not true. We all have base insurance wich doesnot cover everything. Going to the dentist? Not every treatment is insured. Need fysiotherapy? After 8 treatments you have to pay for it yourself. The best unlimited (and excellent!) healthcare without any limitations for previous illnesses? Not true, since the privatisation of healthcare insurance companies are more powerful than ever. They can refuse you, they can subject you to medical tests and raise your monthly payings when you belong to a risk group, and they will. Governement taking care of people that cannot pay? No, first you have to deal with bailiffs that raise your bill with 60%. Then, when you realy are in no position to pay, the gov’t gives you a fine, upon your monthly bill comes about 50 dollar as punnishment. Not that you pay your debt with this, no, it is just a fine and your debt stays. They seize a part of your income, wether it is from benefit or not and make sure they get their money. The price of healthcare goes up every year, while the care in nursinghomes and hospitals is getting worse and more expensive. Some nursinghomes put their elderly ppl in bed at 18.00 hours every day, just because they have not enough workers, for the payment is realy bad. And also in hospitals ppl are sent home realy early in the proces. I know, for I was a healthcare worker for 15 year.
    And chosing wich doctor, dentist or hospital you want to go to??? No, only if they have a contract with your insurance company, if not, you have to ask permission up front.

    Same answer I want to give to Dutchy. How can you say the governement pays your bill if you cannot do so yourself? This is such utter nonsense and untrue. I am realy surprised you can say such a thing. The same healthcare for everybody???? No, upon your base insurance, you can have an extra insurance, that pays for extending treatments by the dentist for instance, or childcare. People with a large income can easily pay the ammount of 75 dollar extra each month. Ppl that live from benefit, cannot afford this, even if they wanted too, so there it is , the difference in care for “haves” and “have not’s” Not everyone is insured in Holland. I just saw on the news a couple of days ago, that research from the Bureau for Statistics, wich is a governemental office, has shown that still 241.000 ppl in Holland have no insurance. So yes, we have an insurance system that works for most of our inhabitants, still there are almost a quarter of a million people not insured.

    Ofcourse we still have a good system, better than in America and lots of other countries, we don’t shove ppl out of the hospital when they cannot afford to pay the bil, but stating “halleluja” about our system is a little pathetic and gives the wrong idea. There is a lot that could be improved.

  4. sicko is factual and offers people a chance around the world to see what health care system is like in america as well as opens the eyes of the americans to see what is actually happening. yes there are some places where michael more may have changed the details but its still all relevant and true. his approach in showing reality comes in comedy as well as informative. justin you posted a comment and you say your a liberal. change your thoughts bro, you may be one of the few people in the world who disagrees and only lives his life according to how much money your getting. your oblivious to everythinbg else and your only gonna realise that there’s others around you when your in trouble yourself. sicko was a great documentary as well as bowling for columbine. it has helped many realise that everything you see on the cover may not be whats in the inside.

  5. Sicko is a fact..I lived in the US and UK and France and Sweden ..Moore film is a reality.
    The problem with the Americans is that they dont have a fcuking idea about the other world outside the US nd they swallow everything that their masters orders them to swallow..That s the main reason why they suffered the 9/11. The most dangerous disease Americans are afflicted with is the sheer IGNORANCE..
    The lack of moderation and blind ignorance will bring this country down one day.( In 2008 it was very close)
    It is true that 50 million Americans in this country can’t get not even the basic medical care when they become sick..The doctors tell them simply this
    ‘if you dont have money to pay ,go home and die there’
    Good job Michael Moore.you are a great man . America needs people like you who tells the truth.

  6. I do agree cuba does have a better health care system then us. As matter of fact, many other countries have better health care. Yes, they do pay for it, but at least when they go to the doctor, there is NO issue about worrying about will the crocked and rich insurance company pay for it? Or will it find a lame excuse not to pay? And what about the new price on progesterone? It went from $10 for a shot to stop preterm labor to $10,000!!!!! The drug companies and the insurance companies are rip off artists in America. An inhaler in cuba (the same one!!!) is 5 cents, guess our price that we pay here… $120!!!

    Seriously, higher taxes and guaranteed health care or high prices for insurance and they deny care for lame excuses. By the way the taxes are not 30 or 40% either.

  7. ok first if american health care is so bad why do so many people from europe travel to the US for operations? I personally know of 4 people that have, guess your government run health care is not all you make it out to be. whenever the government gets involved it always goes to the crapper real fast. as for mikey moore he edits and fabricates stories to make HIS socialist/liberal point come across!!!! he is an entertainer not a documentary producer. he is also a hypocrite supporting the occupy movement when he is suing somebody for money he feel he is owed, you don’t see him or van jones or obama or polesi down there in the streets, do you? now if america really is to have affordable health care which SHOULD be private what we need to do is pass laws protecting our doctors and hospitals from frivolous lawsuits as well as property owners drivers business owners … all these lazy low life pieces of scum that want to take the rest of their lives off cause they cant walk down a set of stairs.or go sking and crash and expect the mountain to pay the 200k cause they shouldn’t have been on skis in the first place. or sue a home owner cause he had a party and a guest had too much to drink and got into a car accident, every body needs to make their own good decisions why should the home owner have to “police” his friends they are adults they screw up its their fault!!!!! or because a doctor was unable to repair all the damage done by a burst fake tittie it was a elective surgery in the first place!!!!! that is why insurance is SO HIGH along with all other insurance… our entitlement society wants everything but no one wants to work for it!!!! OBAMA MUST GO!!!!!

  8. k first if american health care is so bad why do so many people from europe travel to the US for operations? I personally know of 4 people that have, guess your government run health care is not all you make it out to be. whenever the government gets involved it always goes to the crapper real fast. as for mikey moore he edits and fabricates stories to make HIS socialist/liberal point come across!!!! he is an entertainer not a documentary producer. he is also a hypocrite supporting the occupy movement when he is suing somebody for money he feel he is owed, you don’t see him or van jones or obama or polesi down there in the streets, do you? now if america really is to have affordable health care which SHOULD be private what we need to do is pass laws protecting our doctors and hospitals from frivolous lawsuits as well as property owners drivers business owners …

  9. michael moore is a typical sick liberal who will eventually make a documentary about what a wonderful person stalin was, and what a utopia the ussr was.

  10. Michael Moore is just like each one of you are,human….. And being human means that every one has their own opinion. And honestly does any of these post really matter(especially this one just my human response). Its not like politicians will read any of this and will suddenly change their minds. I have lived in america my whole life and I am not rich more low middle class and have been able to afford health care and never been denied treatment. My grandpa 81 years of age had cancer three times and have had it treated every time up to the day he died. He was on medicare so he didn’t have to pay for it. And people from Canada were saying that they care for each other and said that
    “people,in canada we care ,we care if people have no money to eat or live ,we care for people who do not have the money to got to a hospital that is why we pay high taxes , but we got the hole thing ….. maybe americans got to start doing the same if they care about their future…”(canadian).The way medicare works is ,”Medicare is funded by the Social Security Administration. Which means it’s funded by taxpayers: We all pay 1.45% of our earnings into Federal Insurance Contributions Act, which go toward Medicare. Employers pay another 1.45%, bringing the total to 2.9%. (If you’re self-employed, you must cough up the entire 2.9%.) The Medicare deduction on your paycheck might say FICA-HI. The HI refers to Health Insurance, and it’s your premium cost for all Medicare coverage”(CNNMoney).Thus saying we Americans do care at least the tax payers. Sorry for contributing just “human”.

  11. alright. so. first off, justin.. who the fuck are you? stop talking bare shit you fucking pussy i’ll rape your mother and make you watch me finish.

    talk shit again. i fucking dare you

  12. @cheap call phone the reason people travel to America to have operations is because: Yes you do have great doctors that will do wonders to help you if YOU.HAVE.MONEY…people sometimes don’t want to wait months for an operation so they go where money talks, like the U.S. I would rather wait and pay a little extra in order to get a FREE life saving operation in order to eliminate any stress worrying about how the hell i’m gonna afford it. I have no idea why in the hell Canada even entertains the idea of privatized health care since it OBVIOUSLY doesn’t work (just take a look next door fellow Canadians!). Americans are just being bitter because they can’t handle the fact that they are not, shocking, as perfect as they believe. They are just embarrassed that their flaws have been put on display. All I can say is I’ll be happy that the next time I have to go to the hospital to get looked at the only thing I’ll be worrying about is if I’ll get home in time to cook dinner instead of worrying if I have to sell a liver to pay for my hospital visit.

  13. Canadian Health Care is very corrupt. Serious abuses are hidden and covered up so that the public does not complain.
    In an emergency situation you can be refused medical help.
    Ever wonder if medically ill people are being put in psych hospitals to cover up medical negligence. If this happened in the USA you can be sure they would sue but in Canada they just cover up these abuses and conceal any damage or injuries. The tax payers are funding to help pay for a doctors legal defense via the CMPA who are said to have a billion dollars they can use at any time to defend doctors in Canada with use of the tax payers money. Patients have little chance of suing and may have to fun their own lawsuit. How would this be fair to the injured patient. Look and see when the last time a doctor in Canada was charged with anything. Unlike the USA. Doctors in Canada are the most protected in the world in my opinion. If you have been the victim of negligence you can be blacklisted from any care,test or treatment. Nothing you can do about it.

  14. Thank you Michael Moore!
    It is known for a long time that these countries have a better system and are more pro people than pro money.
    If Americans would leave their backyard once in a while, they would realize how much we are limping behind the rest of most of the world, including our severely lacking vaccines.

    Your documentary ‘Sicko’ needs to be shown on every major channel (there will always be narrow-minded people).
    My rating: 10 out of 10.

  15. of which all Colombians we use however many times we are not aware of our rights and duties are fulfilled by that so many injustices which is why many of the person sometimes come with demands to waves of health entities since last mind these have not given sufficient attention to their users.
    The general system of social security in health is an indispensable right that has all the individuals as it is the protection of the health of you and your family like that any situation affecting their condition of life and economic health; this system is shaping by different public or private insurance this in order to provide welfare to workers and their families.

  16. I am sorry to say but American medicine is far from being good.I had very bad experience :they nearly killed me for $100000,my husband had a good chance to loose his foot(diabetic foot),but we have an opportunity to get treatment in Russia:we pay $2000 for tichets,spend another $2000 for renting an appartment,food,transportation(taxi),medication and so on(fixing teeth,oftalmologist consultation).But actually it’s mot only about money…The quality of the treatment is much more better.Last year we went to Germany for the same reason but we liked Russia better.They do not smile as much as American doctors but they act fast.They diagnose much better and accurate.And one more thing-it is clean in Russian hospitals !I mean CLEAN,realy clean!Sterile!

  17. Michael Moore you make me sick! It is a shame you weren’t in the crosshairs for the scope, you are a un-American traitor, Chris Kyle is not a coward, he saved more soldiers lives than you have common sense. I think your a fraud.

Comments are closed.