Sicko

(applause and cheering)

We got issue in America.

Too many good docs

are getting out of business.

Too many ob-gyns aren't able to practice

their love with women across this country.

I don't have a job. I don't want to have

any more debt out to anybody else.

I'm flushing the wound.

(man) This is Adam.

He had an accident.

He's one of nearly 50 million Americans

with no health insurance.

But this film isn't about Adam.

So this is the table saw.

It was spinning that way...

(man) This is Rick.

I was gripping a piece of wood

and I grabbed it here and it hit a knot...

(man) He sawed off the tops

of to of his fingers.

...and it was that quick.

- (man) His first thought?

- I don't have insurance.

Am I gonna have to pay cash for this?

$ 2,000, $3,000 or more?

Does that mean

we're not gonna get a car?

(man) Rick also doesn't have

health coverage.

So the hospital gave him a choice.

Reattach the middle finger for $60.000.

Or do the ring finger for 12.000.

It's an awful feeling

to just try to put a value on your body.

(man) Being a hopeless romantic.

Rick chose the ring finger.

For the bargain price of 12 grand.

The top of his middle finger now enjoys

its new home in an Oregon landfill.

I can do that thing where, you know,

the old man used to pull the finger off.

(man) This movie

isn't about Rick either.

Yes. There are nearly 50 million Americans

with no health insurance.

They pray every day

they don't get sick.

Because 18.000 of them

will die this year.

Simply because they're uninsured.

But this movie isn't about them.

It's about the 250 million of you

who have health insurance.

Those of you who are living

the American Dream.

It's moving day

for Larry and Donna Smith.

They've packed everything they own

in these to cars.

And are driving to Denver. Colorado.

To their new home...

- Hi.

- Hello.

... in their daughter's storage room.

This is home, sweet home.

- Look at all that stuff.

- We'll get everything organized.

- We will.

- What do we do with the computer?

- It stays.

- It stays there.

So this is where Heather talked about

we might have to put bunk beds.

I see what she's talking about.

(man) It wasn't supposed to

end up like this for Larry and Donna.

They both had good jobs.

She was a newspaper editor.

And he was a union machinist.

They raised six kids who all went to

fine schools like the University of Chicago.

But Larry had a heart attack.

And then another one.

And then another one.

And then Donna got cancer.

And even though

they had health insurance.

The copays and deductibles

soon added up

to the point where they could no longer

afford to keep their home.

If somebody told me ten years ago this was

gonna happen to us because of healthcare,

I would have said, "It's not possible."

"Not in the United States.

We wouldn't let that happen to people."

- (Larry) Are we gonna quit?

- No.

It's just hard.

(man) They were bankrupt.

So they moved in

with their daughter.

We'll get it all figured out.

We emptied the dresser

so you have a spot.

Nice, very nice.

(man) Even their son Danny

popped in from across town

to welcome them to Denver.

- What do we do about people like you?

- I don't know, that's a good question.

You're supposed to pay a deductible for

$9,000, I understand. That's healthcare.

What about people like Kathy and I

that have to come up there

and move you every five years,

every two years, every year,

- 'cause you don't have enough money?

- That's what Russell says too.

I'm sorry. It's not what we wanted

to have happen in life.

And we're doing what we can

to make the change.

You don't know what that feels like inside

at 50-some years old,

to have to reach out

to my 20-something-year-old for help.

It's gonna be hard for four, five, six,

seven months, it's gonna be hard.

I have a feeling of you bring your problems

with you no matter where you go.

Yeah.

But I don't know

what to do about that.

(man) By sheer coincidence.

Their daughter's husband. Paul.

Was leaving on a job

the very same day they arrived.

Paul was a contractor.

But there weren't many jobs lately.

So he found work out of town.

I'm sure you'll keep

a telephone conversation.

Email you.

(Donna) You're gonna be

just fine, lovies.

Weird situation, isn't it?

- (man) Tell me where Daddy's going.

- Iraq.

Why is Daddy going to Iraq?

To do some plumbing.

Oh, boy.

This I do early in the morning.

The first thing I do is I clean here.

(man) At age 79. Frank Cardile should

be kicking back on a beach somewhere.

But even though

he's insured by Medicare.

It doesn't cover all the cost of the drugs

that he and his wife need.

(Frank) Being that I'm an employee here,

my medicine is for free.

So that's why I gotta keep working.

Until I die.

There is nothing wrong with that.

OK.

I always gotta keep my ears open

because there's always spillages.

Sometimes you get a gallon of milk.

Tomato sauce - oh, you're in trouble.

It'll take a half-hour to clean that up.

And I look up on every aisle

so as everything is clean.

If I see something I pick it up,

whether it's paper or garbage.

One day I had the keys in my hand

and they went in there.

And I had to climb in there

to get the keys out.

It's a sad situation.

If there are golden years,

I can't find 'em, I'll tell you that.

She had a painkiller for her hip.

The girl said, "Frank, this is $ 213."

"What, for a painkiller?"

- I didn't take it.

- I backed off. I said, "I gotta come back."

What's in them? What's in these

new drugs that they distribute?

I don't believe you need

half of the things they tell you.

I have never taken medication now,

as I'm getting older.

I don't even like to take an aspirin.

I do like a little brandy.

I don't really know how this happened, but

the trunk came forward into the back seat.

(man) Laura Burnham was in a head-on

collision that knocked her out cold.

Paramedics got her out of the car and into

an ambulance for a trip to the hospital.

I get a bill from my insurance company

telling me that the ambulance ride

was not going to be paid for,

because it wasn't preapproved.

I don't know exactly when I was supposed

to preapprove it, you know?

Like after I gain consciousness in the car,

before I got in the ambulance?

I should have grabbed my cellphone

off the street and called in the ambulance?

I mean, it's just crazy.

(woman) I applied for

HealthNet insurance for Jason.

They rejected him

because of his height and weight.

Jason is six feet tall

and 130 pounds.

I applied for healthcare

through BlueCross BlueShield

and they told me

that my body mass index was too high.

I'm 5' 1 ",

I weigh 175 pounds.

(man) I always thought health insurance

companies were there to help us.

So I posted a note on the internet.

Asking people if they had had

any similar stories

about problems

with their insurance company.

Within 24 hours.

I had over 3700 responses.

And by the end of the week.

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