Controversial filmmaker Michael Moore has made "a great film—funny, sad, thought-provoking, and action-inspiring."

David T. Williams

Michael Moore "made his bones" as a moviemaker who is not intimidated by power, privilege, or position. He is unafraid of sticking his camera lens and microphone into controversial subjects and into the faces of those who think he is just a pest. In so doing, Moore has created thought-provoking films that make a lot of people uncomfortable.

Moore has polished his cinemagraphic skills since the unforgettable stalking of General Motors Chairman and CEO Roger Smith in 1989. He also has become better at the art of interviewing people and recording emotions as well as words. And it is the emotional aspect of Sicko that gives it its power. It is impossible to watch without coming away shaking your head in shock, anger, or disbelief.

A "conservative acquaintance" saw Michael Moore's latest political docudrama and said, "This guy is a shill for those who want socialized medicine in America." Another friend said, "I have had nightmares ever since seeing it." A third, "The film made me angry. We live in the greatest country in the world with the best health care system anywhere, and 9/11 victims have to go to Cuba to see a doctor!"

No matter who you talk to—if they have seen Sicko, they have a strong reaction. There are no "marquee actors" in this riveting 2-hour film. Instead, everyday people tell their personal stories to make the point that the health care system in America is broken beyond repair.

This isn't news, but Michael Moore's powerful film does an excellent job of underscoring how broken it is, examining why, and comparing it with health care systems elsewhere: Canada, England, France, and (gasp) even communist Cuba!

He demonstrates in vivid, everyday, real-life stories that almost 50 million Americans have no health insurance, and that even those who do are only one major illness away from bankruptcy. Most viewers will be surprised to learn that the roots of managed care go back to a conversation between President Richard Nixon and one of his close advisors about Kaiser Permanente founder Edgar Kaiser. Nixon made a national address setting a goal to enroll every American in an HMO. Kaiser's approach was to limit the number of providers in this system and then increase profits by denying services prescribed by a physician. Sound familiar?

In Sicko, Moore compares the American health care system to others around the world and makes you realize how shallow this "health care system" really is. It's one of those movies that makes you think hard about how cruel some of the policies employed by Medicare, Medicaid, and health insurance companies are—and how necessary patient care is secondary to profit.

Readers of this publication will be disappointed that there is no mention of home-based health care. However, Moore's examination of the health care system uncovers some systemic issues that have a familiar ring. For example, using a film clip from a Congressional hearing, Moore explores the idea that claims examiners have more incentive to deny services than to authorize what the doctor ordered.

Right-wingers will excoriate Moore for the segment where he takes a group of sick 9/11 rescue workers to Cuba to receive the care they cannot get in the United States. They will say it was an elaborately staged propaganda coup. Propaganda or not, it is clear that the care that the 9/11 rescue workers received was real, as was their gratitude.

As for Washington, Sicko leaves viewers with an indelible impression that our government is more concerned about the profits of drug companies and health insurance carriers than it is about its citizens. Moore points out how powerful politicians and political institutions have been hoodwinked into accepting our health care system the way it is.

In one segment, Moore points out why Congress is so reluctant to take on the issue of health care reform. Using a film clip of members entering the Capitol, he creates a virtual "perp walk" of legislators who are in a position to take the lead in the health care debate. Each one appears with a "cartoon bubble" over their head containing the amount of campaign cash they have received from drug and health insurance companies.

Sicko even takes on universal health insurance's poster girl, Hillary Rodham Clinton, who fought hard for health care reform in the early 90s. Then she disappeared from her advocacy pedestal and is now accepting big money from the same special interests (health insurance and pharmaceutical lobbies) she accused of skulduggery while she fought "valiantly" for universal health care coverage.

What would happen if everyone in America saw this film and understood its message? What's happening in this country vis-a-vis health care is probably one of the most stress-producing situations that will be faced by every person and family—whether it concerns ourselves, our parents, our children, people we care about, or people we don't even know. Every single one of us is impacted by the deplorable health care situation, and few of us really understand why it is the way it is—and who has the power to change it.

Like Moore or not, you can't deny the facts in this film. It is a great film—funny, sad, thought-provoking, and action-inspiring. If there was an Oscar for "telling it like it is," there would be only one nominee—Michael Moore's Sicko.

David T. Williams is a freelance journalist, poet, consultant, and author. Before these new ventures, he served as VP of government relations for Invacare Corp. His first book, Battling the Beast Within, is available at Amazon.com (with all proceeds going to the Cleveland Clinic). Williams can be reached at .