Latest 'SiCKO' News

Justice Tour 2008 Goes SiCKO

Michael Moore — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:21:00 +0000

The Nightwatchman Tom Morello's Justice Tour 2008 is taking him across the country to rally groups working to bring about social change. In Boston, he met up with American SiCKO's Donna Smith and Adrian Campbell as they push for universal healthcare with Healthcare-NOW.

Politics aside, it has to rank as the year’s best music bargain: three hours of music from a panoply of national and local stars for $15.

But politics was the whole point of Sunday night’s Justice Tour 2008, which drew about 700 fans at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston. Each stop on the two-week tour is tied into a local community action group – Healthcare Now in Boston – and several other advocacy groups play major roles. Iraqi War Veterans Against the War had an informational booth in the lobby.

It’s all the latest project for Tom Morello, better known as the guitarist for Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, who also performs as a crusading folk singer under the moniker The Nightwatchman. Morello, 43, has assembled an impressive cast of supporting acts, with every lineup different so local stars can be featured, and Boston’s lineup was superb.

CLiCK here to read more...

Watch Donna and Adrian discuss the need for single-payer healthcare in Boston.

CLiCK here to read Donna's blog post...

‘Show Me’ Some Single Payer Healthcare

Michael Moore — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:36:00 +0000

American SiCKO Donna Smith, left, shares a light moment with Mayor Joe Adams of University City, MO, before a rally and march in support of single payer healthcare reform. University City is the only municipality in Missouri that has passed a resolution in favor of single payer reform, even though there is a single payer bill in the Missouri Senate right now.

Citizens in the ‘Show Me’ state lived up to their billing when more than 150 people turned out on Saturday night at the St. Louis Ethical Society to watch ‘SiCKO’ and to hear more about healthcare from American SiCKOs Donna and Larry Smith. The event was a huge success with guests enjoying free popcorn and lemonade provided by volunteers and lingering for more than an hour for a lively question and answer session led by Donna.

CLiCK here for blog post from St. Louis...

American SiCKOs Donna and Larry Smith stand in front of City Hall in University City, MO, where a rally and march preceded a SiCKO showing and address as part of the healthcare weekend hosted by Missourians for Single Payer (MoSP) and co-sponsored by The Ethical Society of St. Louis.

An Arm, A Leg And A Life

Michael Moore — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:52:00 +0000

Co-payments Soar For Drugs With High Prices

Health insurance companies are rapidly adopting a new pricing system for very expensive drugs, asking patients to pay hundreds and even thousands of dollars for prescriptions for medications that may save their lives or slow the progress of serious diseases.

With the new pricing system, insurers abandoned the traditional arrangement that has patients pay a fixed amount, like $10, $20 or $30 for a prescription, no matter what the drug’s actual cost. Instead, they are charging patients a percentage of the cost of certain high-priced drugs, usually 20 to 33 percent, which can amount to thousands of dollars a month.

CLiCK here for the full article...

A History of Bad Healthcare Plans

Michael Moore — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 19:06:00 +0000

A very insightful piece about what is wrong with the Clinton-Obama health care plans, and the plans of their predecessors...

A major problem -- if not the major problem -- for many people living in the U.S. is the difficulty of accessing and paying for medical care when they are sick. For this reason, candidates in the presidential primaries of 2008 -- the Democrats more often than the Republicans -- have been recounting stories about the health-related tragedies they have encountered in meetings with ordinary people around the country (an exercise conducted in the U.S. every four years, at presidential election time). These stories tell of the enormous difficulties and suffering faced by many people in their attempts to get the medical care they need. I have been around long enough -- I was senior health advisor to Jesse Jackson in the Democratic primaries of 1984 and 1988 -- to know how frequently Democratic candidates, over the years, have referred to such cases. The only things that change are the names and faces in these human tragedies. Otherwise, the stories, year after year, are almost the same.

CLiCK here for the full article...

More On Healthcare Under McCain...

Michael Moore — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:50:00 +0000

Paul Krugman weighs in...

Elizabeth Edwards has cancer. John McCain has had cancer in the past. Last weekend, Mrs. Edwards bluntly pointed out that neither of them would be able to get insurance under Mr. McCain’s health care plan.

It’s about time someone said that and, more generally, made the case that Mr. McCain’s approach to health care is based on voodoo economics — not the supply-side voodoo that claims that cutting taxes increases revenues (though Mr. McCain says that, too), but the equally foolish claim, refuted by all available evidence, that the magic of the marketplace can produce cheap health care for everyone.

Healthcare Under McCain?

Michael Moore — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 22:04:00 +0000

McCain to follow Republican tradition of letting patients fend for themselves

There's a sense of deja vu about McCain's proposal. Haven't we been injecting competition into the health insurance markets for a very long time? Even the establishment of the government Medicare and Medicaid programs in the 1960's had a pro-competitive edge, because it removed from the commercial markets the most expensive and the poorest paying cases, leaving them with the most lucrative consumers to insure. The Health Maintenance Organization movement of the 1970's was another injection of that competitive hormone into the insurance markets in the form of prepaid group plans which combined insurance with the provision of care. What additional forms of competition has McCain invented that health economists never dreamt about?

The truth is that not all competition is helpful to consumers. I know that this is not an idea free-market conservatives like, but it's possible for competition to actually hurt some consumers.

CLiCK here to read more of this post from The Nation...

Also, check out Elizabeth Edwards on the McCain health plan over at Think Progress...

Primary Physician Care is Fixin' to Let Paxten Mitchell Die

Michael Moore — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 04:32:00 +0000

Don't Get too Comfortable

Paxten's dad would rather not watch his son wither away:

“The fact is, my kid has leukemia, and if he doesn’t get this treatment, he will die,” Robert Mitchell said. “The way they made me feel was that they were pressuring us to take him home and let him die. We’ll try anything that has a chance of succeeding, and I will not give up fighting for it to be covered.

“Go to their Web site, and their mission statement says they treat each person with compassion,” he said. “I think that’s a bunch of hoopla.”

Paul Tate, a spokesman for Primary Physician Care, said the company is not authorized to discuss Paxten’s case.

CLiCK here to read more about Paxten in the Asheville Citizen Times.

Get to know Paxten Andrew Mitchell.

Ask Primary Physician Care to let Paxten live!

The Democrats and the Drug Companies

Michael Moore — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 17:09:00 +0000

Big Pharma is hedging its bets with the Democrats

Democrats have long served as the traditional enemy of Big Pharma, but in this presidential campaign, the left is taking the lion's share of drugmaker money.

Democratic senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are the top recipients of donations from the pharmaceutical industry, according to The Center for Responsive Politics, a non-profit, non-partisan research group in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, donations to Sen. John McCain, who was recently endorsed by President Bush as the official Republican candidate, pale in comparison.

CLiCK here to read more...

Track health industry contributions to the candidates at 'SiCKO's for Sale'

Wipe That S-Merck Off Your Face!

Michael Moore — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 20:12:00 +0000

"Cheating Medicaid out of millions..."

Merck Executives

Merck recently agreed to pay $650 million to settle charges that it overbilled the government for drugs such as Vioxx and Zocor.

Prosecutors say the drugmaker gave pills to hospitals at virtually no cost to hook poor patients on expensive medicine. When the patients left the hospital, they often continued taking the drugs, but with the government footing the higher bill.

The Merck settlement culminates an investigation that began in 2000 and is one of the first in a series of cases centering on whether drugmakers used unfair pricing practices to bilk the government. The Justice Department is looking into 630 health-care whistleblower claims.

CLiCK here to read more...

Caught! Insurance Industry Snubs Sicko, The Rainmaker

Michael Moore — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 17:39:00 +0000

I actually did vote for SiCKO, before I voted against it...

The good folks at the Center for Justice & Democracy have caught the Insurance Industry Institute flip-flopping in their support for SiCKO.

Recently, we got a tip from J. Robert Hunter, Director of Insurance for the Consumer Federation of America, about a "top-10 list" of "insurance" films that the hip and edgy Insurance Information Institute (III) put up on their website. Hunter told us that the trade mag National Underwriter listed the 10 films, which included lots of old films (Double Indemnity, The Fortune Cookie). It also included a couple of newer ones, The Rainmaker, and the Oscar-nominated Sicko - neither of which looked too kindly on the insurance industry, so kudos to the III - hey, it's Oscar season right?

But then we got another tip from Mr. Hunter that we could hardly believe. Seems like The Rainmaker and Sicko have suddenly "disappeared" from III's top-10 list! Take a look...
Oops! Hey III, if you're going to censor yourself, it's probably not a good idea to get caught!

To read the entire post, CLiCK here...

For more info on the civil justice system and the dangers of so-called "tort reform," visit The Center for Justice & Democracy and the Pop Tort Blog...

10 Myths About Canadian Health Care

Michael Moore — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 19:35:00 +0000

Canadian Fakin'

1. Canada's health care system is "socialized medicine."
False. In socialized medical systems, the doctors work directly for the state. In Canada (and many other countries with universal care), doctors run their own private practices, just like they do in the US. The only difference is that every doctor deals with one insurer, instead of 150...

2. Doctors are hurt financially by single-payer health care.
True and False. Doctors in Canada do make less than their US counterparts. But they also have lower overhead, and usually much better working conditions. A few reasons for this...

3. Wait times in Canada are horrendous.
True and False again -- it depends on which province you live in, and what's wrong with you. Canada's health care system runs on federal guidelines that ensure uniform standards of care, but each territory and province administers its own program. Some provinces don't plan their facilities well enough; in those, you can have waits. Some do better. As a general rule, the farther north you live, the harder it is to get to care, simply because the doctors and hospitals are concentrated in the south. But that's just as true in any rural county in the U.S. ...

CLiCK here for the full list and more details on the Canadian system...

'SiCKO Surgeries' Invade Great Britain

Michael Moore — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 18:59:00 +0000

The new practices have already earned the nickname “sicko surgeries” among critics, partly as a swipe towards the incoming American influence with a nod to film-maker Michael Moore’s recent critique of health care in the United States...

Decades after the 'British Invasion' brought the likes of The Beatles and other popular music from the U.K. to the U.S., America is now returning the favor. Unfortunately, rather than our finest musicians, our largest private health care companies are crossing the Atlantic.

An American health giant is to take charge of three doctors’ surgeries, sparking fury from Camden GPs who have warned the controversial contract will hit patient care.

The Brunswick Medical Centre in Bloomsbury, The King’s Cross Road Practice and the Camden Road Surgery, will all fall into the hands of United Health – the largest profit-making healthcare company in the United States – from March.

CliCK here to read more...

The results of United Health's invasion of the U.K. will come as no surprise to Americans:

The American firm which has seized control of three doctor practices in Camden’s “sicko surgery” row did not score the highest rating in all areas when its contract bid was assessed, the New Journal has been told.

United Health’s strongest score during a review by the Camden Primary Care Trust was related to issues surrounding value for money rather than developing patient service, insiders have suggested.

There are now fears that financial savings were prioritised ahead of potential service provision during the process.

For more on our closest ally's turn for the worst, CLiCK here...

If you find any of this depressing and would rather not be bothered with it, CLiCK here...

Health Care Mandates in Colorado?

Michael Moore — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 18:37:00 +0000

Denver

Even the snow and ice didn't keep Colorado citizens from trying to tell their legislators not to support health insurance mandates as a way to reform the broken health care system. American SiCKO Larry Smith is in the crowd waiting to hear from true reform leaders -- those who support publicly funded, privately delivered, single-payer health care for all.

American SiCKO Donna Smith took part in a Denver rally promoting single-payer universal health care and speaking out against the proposed 'mandate' model.

Colorado need not search too hard to see the failures of plans like that recommended by the 208 Commission for Coloradoans. In Massachusetts, a two-tiered system of health care is entrenching itself as the insurance mandates and connectors that were the brainchildren of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney take hold and price average, working-class citizens out of market for buying affordable, quality health coverage.

CLiCK here to read more of Donna's dispatch from the rally...

Nashville Guitarist to Play Like Her Life Depends on It

Michael Moore — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 22:05:00 +0000

From the Nashville Scene:

BENEFIT FOR LORNA FLOWERS Less than a year ago, Michael Moore’s documentary Sicko—an attack on America’s health care industry—helped highlight our staggering number of uninsured and underinsured citizens. Nashville-based U.K. songwriter Lorna Flowers shares a similar predicament with many of the film’s subjects. Recently diagnosed with breast cancer, Flowers, like most other Nashville songwriters, has no health insurance. Seeking to offset the ghastly cost of treatment, surgery and recovery, this benefit at the Commodore Sports Lounge (located inside West End Holiday Inn Select) will feature performances by Rivers Rutherford, Tony Lane, David Lee, Benita Hill and too many others to list. Autographed memorabilia from other popular artists will also be up for auction. 7 p.m. at Commodore Sports Bar —SETH GRAVES

Check out Lorna's music on her MySpace page.

SiCKO 'Hitman' Lee Einer Strikes Again

Michael Moore — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:50:00 +0000

Former Insurance Industry 'Hitman' Lee Einer, who appeared in
'SiCKO,' is now a contributor at HonestMedicine.com.

As you saw in 'SiCKO,' Lee adds an important insider's perspective of how the insurance industry does whatever it takes to find an excuse not to cover its customers. His new column should help publicize more flaws in our private, profit-driven health care system.

One of the great failures of our current American healthcare system is that it does not -- and cannot -- provide true health insurance to most self-employed Americans.

Why not?

The core concept of health insurance is shared risk, and this is what we have with employer group insurance. With employer groups, the insurance company is insuring not an individual, but rather, a group of individuals. The larger the group, the more predictable the risk the company is taking – with “risk” referring to the likely future healthcare costs of this particular group.

CLiCK here to read more from the 'Hitman'...

Top Democratic Candidates Missing The Boat on Health Care

Michael Moore — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 23:14:00 +0000

The Democratic candidates should listen closely...

While the Democratic presidential candidates squabble over the details of their flawed plans, they are missing the bigger picture.

The Democratic presidential candidates have been disappointing, if not derelict, in reforming the system. In their misguided efforts to avoid too much controversy and to build a "centrist consensus," they are completely missing the target even before starting. Although Democrats in Congress united behind reauthorization of an expanded State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), that effort has diverted them from the real challenge -- how to reform the system to make accessible and comprehensive health care affordable for all Americans. That would require taking on powerful stakeholders, especially the insurance and drug industries, in the medical-industrial complex, now one-sixth of our economy...

CLiCK here to read the entire article on AlterNet...

SiCKO Screening 5,280 Feet Above Sea Level

Michael Moore — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 22:27:00 +0000

First Universalist Church in Denver

Members and guests of the First Universalist Church Social Justice Committee attend a screening of SiCKO. Donna and Larry Smith, featured in SiCKO, were in the audience.

Denver, Colorado was the latest city to get the chance to attend a free screening of 'SiCKO.' American SiCKO's Donna and Larry Smith were in attendance and took questions from the audience afterwards. From Donna's blog entry:

The pillars did not crumble and the crosses did not quake as Michael Moore's documentary 'SiCKO' played on the screen in the sanctuary of the First Universalist Church of Denver. More than 100 people attended the forum hosted by the churches Social Justice Committee, and the group lingered for more than an hour after the film to talk with two of the film's subjects, Larry and Donna Smith, of Aurora, Colorado.

The First Universalist's Social Justice Committee has already endorsed single-payer (publicly funded, privately delivered), universal health care, and the forum was one in a series held to give the community an opportunity to explore the issues. Dave Bean, webmaster for Health Care for All Colorado, was also invited to speak about state efforts to pass a single-payer plan.

CLiCK here to read more of Donna Smith's blog...

One Baby, Seven Opportunities for Injustice

Michael Moore — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 20:39:00 +0000

Life is just a bundle of jaundice for little Sidney Markie's parents.

Sidney needs a 7-organ transplant, but the real battle is with her insurance company:

Recently, after waging another insurance war, the doctors in Miami agreed to accept payment for their services at whatever the state of Minnesota deems it would pay if the surgery and care was taking place here.

However, since insurance will not cover the $10,000 medical helicopter flight and the family doesn’t have access to a private airplane, they have to hope that a commercial flight is available when they get the call.

And, once the surgery is performed, Sidney will have to remain in Miami for three to eight months — including a month-long stay in the intensive care unit — during recovery so the family will need to find temporary affordable housing there.

Murray said that she’s not a big fan of Michael Moore but, as she watched his movie, “Sicko,” which compares health care in the United States as provided by profit-oriented health maintenance organizations (HMOs) to free, universal health care in other countries, she saw a lot of similarities to the experience she was going through.

“It’s frustrating because there’s a lot that’s not covered,” Murray said. “People don’t understand the realities of insurance until you have a medical crisis. No average person could go through a financial situation like this and come out OK.”

CLiCK here to read more about the little pink burden who is quickly turning yellow...

SiCKO-Cure Road Show in West Virginia

Michael Moore — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 20:00:00 +0000

At the Blue Moose Cafe in Morgantown, local nurse Catherine Forman, far left, of the California Nurses Association and the National Nurses Organizing Committee, joined in a discussion of health care reform along with local PNHP doctor Peter Wentzel, far right, and West Virginia State Legislator Barbara Evans Fleischauer, next to Dr. Wentzel. Other local nurses joined the group as did Laura Jones, director of the Milan Puskar Health Right Clinic.

The SiCKO Cure Road Show crew spent the day in West Virginia meeting with medical students, physicians, local activists, nurses and community members though a heavy rain fell and threatened to leave flooding in its wake. Just as they have found in every city and state they have visited since leaving Chicago on Nov. 11, the road show team met concerned Americans with thoughtful questions and deep worry. Many mentioned friends or family members with no health care coverage or who had suffered at the hands of the current health care system. And all knew the time for change has been upon this nation for some time.

CLiCK here to read more about the road show in West Virginia...

This meeting was another stop on the SiCKO-Cure Road Show. To donate to this effort and keep the show on the road, CLiCK here.

Road Show in Rocky Mount

Michael Moore — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 19:30:00 +0000

The Road Show crew meets with the local Black Workers for Justice in Rocky Mount

When the road show crew from Healthcare-Now rolls into a community, it isn't as if one of the current presidential candidates has arrived with a flashy and spirited entourage. The crew brings news of the possibilities for organizing local support for pushing Congressional members for their co-sponsorship, and the road show builds on community and shared vision not celebrity or the political winds of a primary election season.

CLiCK here to read more of Donna Smith's dispatch from Rocky Mount...

This meeting was another stop on the SiCKO-Cure Road Show. To donate to this effort and keep the show on the road, CLiCK here.

Hallelujah!

Michael Moore — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 21:26:00 +0000

The SiCKO-Cure Road Show in Goldsboro, North Carolina...

Rev. William Barber of Greenleaf Christian Church and Liv Boykins of Rep. Conyer's staff at the pulpit

But Barber shared more with his flock. "We must remember," he said as he spoke in support of Conyers' universal health care bill, "we must always know,'Power concedes nothing. It never has and it never will without a struggle,'" the pastor hearkened to the words of Frederick Douglass. He told his church that being ready for a fight to secure this most basic of rights should underscore the validity of the cause.

CLiCK here to read more of Donna Smith's blog...

The screening was part of the SiCKO-Cure Road Show. To donate to this effort and keep the show on the road, CLiCK here.

SiCKO in Seattle

Michael Moore — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:01:00 +0000

In spite of the ugly weather on Monday night in Seattle, the community made a strong showing to see 'SiCKO' and discuss health care with Donna Smith...

Though hurricane force winds and torrential rains blasted the Seattle area throughout most of the day on Monday, students, local activists and interested community members took the weather in stride as they gathered to watch ‘SiCKO’ and to talk health reform with me – since I am one of the subjects of the film, they had sponsored my trip to the area and I am deeply involved in the health care reform movement...

CLiCK here to read more of Donna Smith's blog entry...

The guests enjoy some refreshments before the free screening of 'SiCKO'

This screening and discussion was part of the SiCKO-Cure Road Show. To donate to this effort and keep the show on the road, CLiCK here.

Nixon Democrats

Michael Moore — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 21:12:00 +0000

"Even before Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton unveiled her new health-care plan, Republicans attacked it as socialized medicine. They neglected to mention, however, that her plan bears a striking resemblance to changes that were proposed in 1974 - by the late President Richard M. Nixon..."

Clinton’s plan, like Nixon’s, calls for building on the existing private-sector health-care system and using government subsidies and tax credits to get all Americans under an umbrella of health coverage.

CliCK here to read more...

Don't be fooled when you hear a presidential candidate call for "universal health care." None of the top Democratic candidates' plans goes far enough and cuts out the middle man between you and your doctor--private health insurance companies.

Have you contacted the 2008 presidential candidates to let them know what you think?

Cuba's "Miracle" Doc's In High Demand

Michael Moore — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 03:57:00 +0000

Cuba's program of exporting its renowned eye doctor's throughout Latin America is detailed in the New York Times.

Cuba’s economy is not exactly booming either, yet within two hours Ms. Guevara’s cataracts were excised and the lenses implanted, with the Cuban government paying for everything — including air transportation, housing, food and even the follow-up care.

The government has dubbed the program Operation Miracle, and for the hundreds of thousands of people from Venezuela, Central America and the Caribbean who have benefited from it since it was started in July 2004, it is aptly named.

CLiCK here to read more...

Free 'SiCKO' Screening at 'Bama-Huntsville

Michael Moore — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 06:37:00 +0000

The SiCKO-Cure Road Show hits Huntsville, Alabama on Monday, November 19th. A free screening of SiCKO followed by a discussion about health care is free and open to the public.

From the Huntsville Times...

A free showing of the Michael Moore film "Sicko" starts at 7 p.m. Monday in the University of Alabama in Huntsville's Chan Auditorium.

Following the movie will be a question-and-answer session complementing a discussion about a bill proposing a single-payer healthcare system for America. Visiting representatives of Healthcare-NOW, a national organization promoting the bill, will be present.

For more information, call 882-3611 or visit www.healthcare-now.org

This screening and discussion is part of the SiCKO-Cure Road Show. To donate to this effort and keep the show on the road, CLiCK here.