Sicko

Sicko is an all out attack on the director, Michael Moore 's, native US healthcare system, without scope for where the system may excel. It is a rollercoaster journey depicting the tragedies of a private health sector and the apparent problem-free health care that countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom receive. My recent elective in the United States coincided with the film's premier, so I decided to see it for myself.

In his distinctive documentary style, Moore tells the stories of people throughout America who have been failed by the corporate driven system and have been refused health care, and of medical bills that have crippled and bankrupted whole families. You meet Mr and Mrs Smith, who are forced to sell their house and move in with their daughter to settle medical bills, hardly my vision of the American dream.

The disturbing reality about the patients interviewed in this film is that they were covered by health insurance at the time of grievance. The film doesn't consider the 50 million Americans who do not have health insurance and instead shows how the health system fails even the people who are supposed to have indemnity. Millions of people battle to have their treatment plans approved by insurance companies and as a result many go without treatment until they reach crisis point.

In frightening interviews, doctors and investigators from insurance companies admit denying legitimate claims for the most controversial reasons to maximise profits for the insurance firms. The main aim is to show US viewers how other developed nations provide tax funded health care that is free at the point of use.

To my astonishment, Moore portrays the UK National Health Service almost as the ideal. Although I am proud to come from a country where health care is …