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Usually ships in 1 business days | | | SiCKO 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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| | Product Details | | Actors: | Michael Moore | | Director: | Michael Moore | | Format: | Closed-captioned, Color, Widescreen, NTSC | | Language: | English, French, Russian, Spanish | | Subtitle: | English, Spanish | | Number of Discs: | 1 | | Studio: | Weinstein Company | | Run Time: | 123 minutes | | DVD Release Date: | November 06, 2007 | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 284 reviews |
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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 6 stars! Aug 21, 2008
I was almost too lazy to watch this film, how pathetic I am.
M. Moore hit another HUGE homerun, this film hits you in the gut
from start to finish, weaves a devastating story, and is the first
and last thing you need to know about U.S. health care: IT SUCKS !!
We're a bunch of suckers in the USA. I shed a tear when the U.S.
rescue workers were embraced by their Cuban firefighting brothers.
Thank god someone can recognize a hero, apparently the U.S. government
cannot! Next time you see a bright, shining skyscraper with a medical insurance, hmo, or drug company logo on the top, just remember all the dead and chronically ill people that were swindled, left to die or suffer untreated for the rest of their lives just so some top executives and CEOs can be filthy rich and the richest 1% can see their multi-million and billion dollar stock holdings appreciate. We are all suckers in the U.S. As the brillant british gentleman said, "If you can pay to kill people, certainly you can pay to save people". That's all you need to remember.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
You will get this film when it happens to you!!!! Aug 20, 2008
I've yet to see this film but being a Moore fan i know i will appreciate his point of view. I have worked in the medical feld for eight year and know about insurance companies and their little games. I also was recently attacked by a pitbull and of course no owner was around. So you can guess who got stuck with the medical bills. I was bit in the arm and my dog was also bit. I refused the ambulance because i knew they would bill me $500 to take me to the hospital and i said no way!!!. I didnt have insurance and still dont. I did apply for something called Charity Care and they did absorb most of my bills. But there is still a $210 bill from the doctor and at least $200 left over. Do i appreciate this? yes but do i feel i'am responsible NO. I think its unfair that i was a victim and i have no one to sue for it and they have the nerve to bill me. Not only that i had to receive painful Rabies shots(about 10 of them) and i had to take my dog to the vet. Now i'am very careful in taking care of myself and not getting sick because i know that i can't afford it. This is a shame and this country should be ashamed of it as well.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Shocking And Enlightening. Aug 19, 2008
When thinking about it most people outside the U.S. would be shocked and appalled at the blatant uncaring nature of the American Health Service. I can't honestly imagine being denied Health Care because of money troubles. I suppose that I should consider myself lucky that I live in the UK, a country that puts a persons health before a profit.
Many people claim Moore to be a propagandist who's just utilising this subject matter in order to make a quick dollar. That may be true, but there's no denying that he brings to light some of the real injustices of the world. Fahrenheit 9/11 was Moore's biggest success and became the most successful documentary of all time. That was for a reason. It showed the blatant government corruption and stupidity when relating to the 9/11 attacks and the war on terror. Sicko is along the same lines, yet it focuses on government corruption, stupidity and greed when relating to the health of the American people.
Sicko is a two hour piece that manages to hold my attention throughout, even for a documentary. It gives a good blend of true life emotional stories and satirical interviewing when Moore, playing the stupid American, interviews Doctors in countries that have free health care. One of the more shocking segments is showing that Hillary Rodham Clinton used to fight for free universal Health care. It shows how she was bought out by the American Medical Association, simply showing that even those who pretend to care have a price.
We are given an insight into the insurance companies who claim they exist through simply caring for the people. That's not the case though, as we were given a list of pre-existing medical conditions which could exempt an American citizen from getting insured. It showed how actual Doctors who got into profession to help people, were denying insurance claims simply to make the companies more money. At times this would even cost a patient their life.
During the documentary we are also shown how Americans were convinced universal Health care was a bad idea, by labelling it Socialist Medical Care. This idea convinced people that if they didn't have the type of system that have today, then it would take away their freedom to choose which doctor they could be treated by or which Hospital they could be treated in. In this a video is played which shows how this system first began through the power of Richard Nixon. This system was brought about through the idea that giving people less care would increase profits. The land of the free and home of the brave indeed.
A truly shocking and at times upsetting documentary that everyone needs to see. The sad thing is that Moore's documentary wont change a thing with the Medical system.
0 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 Ten Stars!!!! Aug 19, 2008
This is a wonderful, riveting, fast-paced film driven relentlessly forward by Moore's compelling monotone. The film is presented as a series of interviews which will leave you at the edge of your seat and biting your nails. It's one of those unique films that is both a documenary and a cliff hanger. We never quite know whether Michael is going to have a gallbladder attack and have to rush to Cuba for GREAT medical treatmentin a twenty person ward.
I cried all the way through the film. It is disgustingly true, as Moore presents at the beginning of the film, that the present U.S. insurance programs, both private and public, are an abomination. It is altogether possible to be financially broken when hit by a serious disease. Equally bad is that insurance companies oftentimes deny insurance to people with preexisting causes i.e. the people who need it the most.
At this point Moore fudges a little which is OK because he's telling the truth. He's kind of like a modern day Winston Churchill who said, "The truth is so precious it must be protected by a bodyguard of lies." Moore feels the same way. Like many of us liberals, he has to lie a lot to protect a kernel of truth! He interviews multiple people, foreigners and American ex-pats, about the wonderful and free medical systems of Canada, England, France and, get this, Cuba. There isn't one person interviewed who presents a contrary view. Foreign nationalized medicine is terrific and the U.S. medical system sucks. Right on, Michael. The reason that no one disagrees that their systems suck, is that everyone thinks their systems are terrific. There is no dissent, for example, in the People's Democracy of Cuba,
Well, the U.S. medical system does, in many cases, suck but Michael Moore, although a champion for the poor [I like that, Moore and poor rhyme, no doubt a casde of cosmic symbolism], ain't absolutely, 100% perfect. 99% is more like it [hey, more rhymes with Moore, too. Unbelievable]. I suspect that a really honest examination of the systems in these various other countries will reveal something other than the medical nirvana that Mike paints them to be. These systems are acceptable for minor illnesses but, should you be struck down by something really serious, you'll be looking for a ticket home to the U.S. as quickly as possible.
Moore strongly suggests that a U.S. nationalized medical system will be far better than the present one. First, it will be free...less BS and paperwork. It seems that Mike, although an absolutely honest and terrific fellow, knows little of government bureaucracy. The more government the more oversight, administrators, bureaucrats and paperwork. It's inevitable. It's the way governments always works. On the positive side, however, medicine will be 'free'. Really? All the expertise, specialized equipment, modern therapies and highly researched medicine are free? Plus the bureaucracy to administer the whole thing? Free? It's like magic, which will appeal to Michael.
It's never free and taxpayer, in general, it will pay plenty. The only way to reduce the cost...even a little...is to decrease services drastically. The patient will pay with delays and reduced level of care but, hey, if it's free it's gotta be great.
What's the solution? Moore thinks socialism would be perfect but I'm not quite so certain. Medical costs have gone out the roof because of the development of increasingly sophisticated and expensive medical technology. Shall we throw these technologies out in the interest of 'free' nationalized medicine? Another reason that medical care is increasingly expensive IS because of third party payers like insurance companies and government. The physician and doctor are financially disconnected from the patient which removes one form of governor on medical costs.
Ron Braithwaite author of novels--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"--on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Nauseating Reveal. Houston, We Do Have a Problem Aug 16, 2008
Whoa. I work in health care and I am very aware of some of the screwed-up issues out there. I see physicians' hands tied by insurance companies, I see physicians' costs for liability insurance climbing and payment for health care declining. Even with that insider knowledge, Sicko curled my toes. I'm sure there are two sides of the story. But I don't see the other side in my day job and Sicko opens the flood gates on horror stories. I cried and I grew enraged at the stories that were shared in this documentary. I do not agree with the cover endorsement that mentions laughter, don't think this is rollicking comedy. Sure, there is a hint of humor, but the situations shared are tragedies.
Methodically Moore reveals the process of health insurance from application to final payment or non-payment of claims. If you hate the big business mind set and profit hunger of insurance companies and are currently insured in case you have an increase in blood pressure, you'll want to watch this film. He then investigates why we are in the situation we are, and how other countries handle health care. If you are a documentary fan, this is quite a film.
Moore has strong opinions. I've only seen Bowling for Columbine and Sicko but in Moore's world Canada seems to hold the answers to America's problems. The American political system/government is painted as corrupt, even a segment on Hilary Clinton that begins with her as the misunderstood warrior for health care reform ends with her political campaign being financed in part by health care dollars. Moore travels the world and digs deep into the issues that are part of the problem.
Sicko tells a horrific story. But it's a story that is one that needs to be looked into and not ignored.
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