t r u t h o u t | Film Review
Friday 22 June 2007
"The release of Michael Moore's "SiCKO" is one of the most important developments in the national debate on our healthcare crisis since the Clintons attempted to pass universal healthcare legislation in 1994."
- Representative John Conyers (D-Michigan)
With one week till its national debut, documentary filmmaker Michael Moore has been on the move with his new film "SiCKO."
Moore began in New York on Sunday with a screening to honor 9/11 first responders. On Wednesday, he showed his film to Congress and testified about healthcare, and later that day he had a showing for pharmaceutical and insurance lobbyists. Thursday, Moore went to New Hampshire to give a private screening to members of the California Nurses Association, and later he arrived in Chicago to rally around healthcare change in Millenium Park.
The movie's national release date is Friday, June 29, but Moore's web site advertises tickets to a sneak preview this Saturday, June 23, in select cities.
"SiCKO" focuses on the more than 250 million people who have insurance, but highlights those who are betrayed by it in their time of need. Moore's film shows the American healthcare system's dangerous focus on profits, exemplified in the stories of average Americans such as Donna, 52, and Larry Smith, 62, who were forced to file bankruptcy as a result of her cancer and his heart problems. They had health insurance, but it hardly paid for everything.
Moore shows the American healthcare system thru the lens of insurance company whistleblower Dr. Linda Peeno, who testified before Congress that she "denied a man a necessary operation and thus caused his death." She went on to say that her actions were rewarded: "This secured my reputation and it ensured my continued advancement in the healthcare field."
And, finally, Moore puts the American healthcare system into perspective by traveling to hospitals in Canada, Britain, Cuba and France - countries which have government-run programs. Scenes showed the expressions of doctors and patients who laughed or looked quizzical when Moore asked about the cost of visits to the doctor.
Moore's film contains humorous moments, such as his search in a London hospital for a billing department, only to find that the only place that deals with money is actually dispensing it to those patients who qualify for travel expenses. But the humor hardly covers up the starkness.
The horror of Moore's expose is not that health insurance companies are posting too much of a profit; it's that they are doing so at the expense of American lives.
Healthcare is a life and death issue, says Moore, and it should not be based on profit.
"We wouldn't expect the fire department to post a profit. We expect a free service for everyone, because it's a life and death issue," says Moore, citing a utility that serves everyone and is supported by public taxation.
One voice missing from the film was that of health insurance and pharmaceutical company's CEOs.
Moore Says that he didn't give the pharmaceutical companies any time in the film because, "they are on the evening news every night with about 1,000 ads." "SiCKO" exists as the balance to this inundation, says Moore.
Universal Issue
Many critics are saying that Moore has achieved with "SiCKO" what he has not in past films: appeal to audience members across the political spectrum.
Fox News critic Roger Friedman says that the film is a "brilliant and uplifting new documentary." Friedman goes on to say, "This time around, the controversial documentarian seems to be letting the subject matter do the talking, and in the process shows a new maturity."
Moore's film takes equal shots at politicians who have accepted money from healthcare lobbyists. He says that there are four healthcare lobbyists for every member of Congress.
Most notably, he includes a segment on Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who began a campaign for universal healthcare when she was first lady, which did not succeed. Currently, however, she is the second-highest recipient of campaign donations from the healthcare industry.
Harvey Weinstein, whose company financed the film, "begged" Moore to remove the footage that exposed Clinton's donations. But Moore says he had to "do the right thing" by including it.
Currently, Moore is holding politicians, especially presidential hopefuls, accountable in creating a healthcare plan - a move that is considered likely to shape the 2008 elections.
Moore says, in regards to Democratic presidential hopefuls, that both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton do not give specific enough healthcare plans. John Edwards gives a specific healthcare plan, but Moore takes fault with it because private companies are not eliminated from the system.
Scrubs for SiCKO
Moore's film release is accompanied by a coalition of doctors and nurses who plan to co-host premieires of "SiCKO" across the nation. Their campaign is titled, "Scrubs for SiCKO." They began gaining attention early this week as they began their bus tour with the goal of recruiting enough registered nurses and doctors to attend every theater in the nation.
The nurses and doctors will be at the screenings to pass out literature on current healthcare campaigns, and will be urging the audience to help pass single-payer/Medicare-for-all-type legislation such as HR 676 and similar bills in several state legislatures.
"A Prescription for Change"
After a two hour-film on the topic, Moore's healthcare proposal is a mere three sentences.
In what he terms his "Prescription for Change," his solution reads: First, "Every American must have full, uninterrupted healthcare coverage for life." Second, "Private, for-profit health insurance companies must be abolished." Last, "Profits of pharmaceutical companies must be strictly regulated like [those of ] a public utility."
-------
No comments:
Post a Comment