The ills of the medical insurance sector have been a major problem for the American people for a long time. The Health Maintenance Organizations have been viewed by many as avenues for the exploitation of the American citizens in the area of medical insurance. In the documentary “Sicko,” the issue of Health Maintenance Organizations is discussed into details, and the author uses different scenarios and examples to expose the real situation that has plagued the medical insurance sector among the Americans. This paper provides a summary of the documentary, together with the thesis and goals of the movie. In addition, the paper also contains a reaction response on the movie.

Summary/Goals/Thesis of Sicko by Michael Moore

The film “Sicko” is in the form of a documentary and has been directed by Michael Moore. The movie focuses on exposing how the Americans have been plagued by the existing health insurance system that is regarded a free-enterprise. Moore purports that most Americans do not have medical insurance and that those who have, they only have the HMO medical cover, which is a controlled medical insurance. In the documentary, Moore exposes how the health crisis came about, after the HMOs and the drug manufacturers succeeded in persuading the legislators to lessen the restrictions on the HMOs. The lessening of the restrictions enabled the HMOs to operate freely, and, according to Moore, this might be the main contributor to the current health crisis. In order to demonstrate the crisis, Moore takes the audience into the lives of people who do not have insurance, as well as, those who have.

Moore has also managed to disprove the opponents of socialized, government controlled health care. As he travels to Canada, the audience appreciates the fewer doctors for the country’s population, and the long lines of health care. He also travels to Europe and manages to disprove the notion that universal health care leads to high taxes. He also makes a trip to Cuba, where one of his victims realizes she can purchase an inhaler medicine very cheaply. The audience gets the effect of the agenda setting theory (McCombs, 2002), which expounds on the role of the media in agitating for the public agenda.

In short, Moore succeeds in portraying the dark side of HMOs, and shows concerns of the American people in regard to better health. He displays the effect that politics can have to the health sector, for example, an attempt by Hilary Clinton in 1993 to reform the health sector, which was politically thwarted. The elements of persuasion and theories used in the movie are enough to convince the audience on the evils of HMOs.

Reaction/response:

Through his comparisons of the American health system to other countries, I would say that Moore has succeeded to expose the reality of the state of affairs in the health sector. As several people come and talk to the audience about their experiences in the movie, one appreciates the real situation that people experience, whether the good side of the American health system or the bad side. In the movie, Tonny Bennie laments that: “If we can find the money to kill people, you can find money to help people.” The ill behavior of the Health Maintenace Organizations in the health sector is brought out through such statements. In addition, one can appreciate, through such statements, the many citizens of Aerica who do not have insurance, and who have been denied critical health services because of their inability to access insurance.

I am in agreement with the issues that Moore raises in the documentary Sicko. According to Turner, Stephenson and Bresler (2014), the players in American politics affect almost all the sectors of the economy, and the hand of political influence is highly evident in the way health insurance is run in the country. Turner, Stephenson and Blesler (2014) argue that, although the political leaders can see the ill effects of a defective health insurance system, their interests override their responsibility of saving the common American citizen who cannot afford insurance. The scenes where couples had to sell their valuables in order to access health were traumatizing. Further, scenes where citizens could not get health services because of their not being networked with the hospitals were almost inhuman. They showed that the health services providers almost loved money than they cared for the citizens.

Although I am subjected to the American health care system, which Moore depicts as being worse than some countries, there is a reason to doubt some of his evidence. Since we have experienced the American healthcare system, it might be a bit easier for us to identify its disadvantages than its advantages. My thinking is that, even though Moore exposed the truth about our American system, he may not have had concrete truth of what happens in other countries, to warrant the judgement that their system is far better than the American one.

Conclusion:

In sum, the Sicko movie is very thought-provoking, and is very recommendable for anyone interested with the health sector insurance system. Moore, the filmmaker has succeeded in bringing out the dark side of the American healthcare system, which needs to be corrected as soon as possible. My take is that the American government needs to move in speed to fix the problems in the health insurance sector. This will enable the majority of citizens to have access to insurance.

References

Reynolds, A., & McCombs, M. (2002). “News influence on our pictures of the world.” In D. Zillmann, J. Bryant. (Eds). Media effects: advances in theory and research (2^nd ed). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Turner, C. C., Stephenson, G. D., Blesler, J. R., Friedrich, J. R., & Karlesky, J. J. (2014). Introduction to American government (7^th ed). Redding, CA: BVT Publishing.