Free «Sicko» Essay Paper

Sicko is a documentary film produced in 2007 by Michael Moore, an American filmmaker. The director tries to conduct an investigation into the U.S. healthcare system, particularly the pharmaceutical and insurance industries. He compares the universal non-profit health systems of Canada and the United Kingdom, Cuba, and France with the for-profit non-universal one of the United States (Adams, 2007). Moore (2007) uses media reports and interviews conducted in hospitals where doctors and patients are respondents. In addition, he takes a group of patients to Cuba for treatment. This essay seeks to examine the contents of the movie and Moore’s scathing attack on the U.S. healthcare system.

As compared to the rest of the countries, Moore (2007) terms the healthcare system in North America as a failure due to a profit-oriented motive instead of the purpose of life-saving. He exposes corruption in governance by stating that corporations that provide health care services bribe members of the Congress and government officials and shows how this affects ordinary U.S. citizens, including volunteers who offer assistance during disasters (Moore, 2007). He also records his visits to France and Great Britain comparing hospitals, staff, and patients and proves that even prisoners in Guantanamo access better healthcare services than ordinary citizens. In addition, according to Adams (2007), he manages to secure free treatment in Cuban hospitals for a group ferried from America to Cuba.

Moore (2007) attacks drug manufacturers by arguing that they are the richest corporations in the U.S. regularly raking in profits by inventing in diseases and selling drugs to patients. He claims that the U.S. is the number one among developed countries with a large number of sick citizens who spend the greatest amount of money on healthcare than people in other countries despite America bragging of the most sophisticated medical technology. He also adds that about 50 million Americans have no healthcare insurance and that hospitals throw out this group from their premises while politicians sit and watch (Adams, 2007). To make matters worse, the United States accuses Moore (2007) of violating travel regulations when he takes a group of people denied medical care for treatment in Cuba.

To support his claim that the healthcare system in the U.S. is rotten, he questions an employee of an insurance company who confides to him that he has received instructions to process medical claims of patients not for their benefit, but to throw them away (Moore, 2007). He exposes similar rot in the health insurance industry where firms have bribed senators to secure freedom for their crooked business. Moore (2007) also states that insurance companies dismiss many claims based on unrealistic conditions. For instance, when an ambulance evacuates an unconscious patient, the company may fail to pay for ambulance costs, arguing that the management has not authorized the transfer of the patient (Adams, 2007). He argues that while prisoners in Guantanamo, most of whom are dangerous terrorist criminals, have access to free medical aid, free citizens who pay premiums for insurance and social security have poor or no free medication. This problem subjects people to bankruptcy and avoidable deaths.

In conclusion, in his film Sicko, Moore (2007) reprimands the U.S. government and the healthcare system for concentrating on profits instead of saving lives unlike other countries, such as France, United Kingdom, and Cuba. In the latter, people have access to free treatment unlike citizens of the United States where hospitals eject patients. Thus, Cubans have more health benefits. He also argues that drug manufacturers in the United States are becoming increasingly rich for inventing in diseases and medicines to be sold to patients. The United States has the most sophisticated medical technology, but citizens pay more as compared to other countries. Lastly, he attacks health insurers for dismissing patients’ claims based on unrealistic conditions.