Sicko Page #5

- And they have total control.

- (Moore) Well. Not total control.

Drug companies like to buy

their members of Congress too.

Here's what it costs

to buy these men.

And this woman.

This guy.

And this guy. And him too.

(man #6) Ladies and gentlemen,

the President of the United States.

(Moore) And the biggest check

was saved for last.

Why did they hand out all this cash?

They wanted a bill passed - a bill

to help seniors with their prescriptions.

Let there be no mistake about it.

Republicans love their mothers,

their fathers and their grandparents

as much as anybody else on this hill,

and we're gonna take care of them.

(Moore) Of course. It was really a bill

to hand over 800 billion of our tax dollars

to the drug and health insurance industry.

By letting the drug companies

charge whatever they wanted.

And making the private health insurance

companies the middleman.

Everybody was going to get their cut.

The man they appointed

to get the job done

was congressman Billy Tauzin.

He was the right man for the job

because he had a secret weapon.

There's no one in this house loves

their mother more than I love my mother.

I challenge you on that, sir.

Nobody in this body that loves their mother

any more or any less than any one of us.

I love that woman.

Do you think for a second

you love your moms and dads

any more than we love ours?

Do you think Republicans

and Democrats who will vote...

Do you really believe that, Mr. Stoddard?

God bless you.

(Moore) Oh. They all loved their mothers.

It's just that they didn't

love our mothers as much.

Now I'm honored and pleased

to sign this historic piece of legislation -

the Medicare Prescription Drug,

Improvement, and Modernization Act

of 2003.

(Moore) What they didn't tell us was

that the elderly could end up paying more

for their prescriptions than they did before.

Over to thirds of senior citizens

could still pay over $ 2.000 a year.

And when it was over. 14 congressional

aids who worked on the bill

quit their jobs on the Hill and went

to work for the healthcare industry.

As did one congressman.

# 'Cause I've got a golden ticket...

(Moore) Billy Tauzin left Congress

to become the CEO of PhRMA.

The drug industry lobby.

For a salary of $ 2 million a year.

Oh. It was a happy day in Washington.

Many Americans knew they were never

going to see universal healthcare.

And that's why some of them

decided to look elsewhere for help.

(woman #3) We're driving across

the Detroit river.

Back there is the Renaissance Center,

you can see it.

General Motors' headquarters,

downtown Detroit, the skyline.

You get a really nice view

from driving over the bridge.

(Moore) This is Adrian Campbell.

A single mother.

Who at the age of 22

came down with cancer.

(Adrian) I got cervical cancer and I was

denied through the insurance company.

They said, "We're not paying for it

because you're 22 and you don't have..."

"You shouldn't be having cervical cancer.

You're too young."

(Moore) Forced into debt.

But now cancer free.

Adrian was fed up

with the American healthcare system.

She had a new plan.

I have everything ready

before I even hit the border.

I got my passports ready,

I got my money out.

It's three dollars and 25 cents

to get across one way.

And I got everything just sitting

up here on my visor just ready to go.

Aurora, be very quiet.

- Citizenships?

- US.

- Where do you live?

- Michigan.

- That's not on, right?

- No.

(Moore) She may live in Michigan.

But ten blocks across the border.

Adrian becomes a Canadian.

How long have you been living here?

Three months?

A couple.

I haven't applied for the OHIP card yet.

- I still have mine.

- It takes ten minutes.

That's fine, I don't mind.

OK, thank you.

I put down Kyle's address at the clinic,

and when they ask, you know,

what my relationship is,

I put down that I was

his common-law partner.

I don't like to lie and I don't like liars.

It's little white lies, but it's...

You know, I'm saving the money.

You don't bring a checkbook when you

go to the hospital here. It's provided to us.

It's something you don't have to worry

about or go out of your way to get.

Stress free.

- They called the cops.

- (Moore) The presence of our camera

alerted the clinic

that something was up.

And I don't think

I'm gonna get seen now.

So I have another idea.

I'm gonna go down to the other clinic.

There is a clinic down...

one that we passed.

The police showed up over there.

Look.

(Moore) Yes. What Adrian was doing

was illegal. But we're Americans.

We go into other countries

when we need to.

It's tricky. But it's allowed.

(Kyle) It's kind of frustrating having...

I mean...

Just get married and that'd solve

everything - she'd be covered.

Americans marry Canadians

just for the healthcare!

- I'm being used.

- (Moore) Sounds like a good idea.

See if it works.

Start something. Start a trend.

In Canada they give everybody

free healthcare.

- Doesn't it work up there?

- No, unfortunately it doesn't.

We wait months to get treatment

you can get in a week or a few days here.

(reporter # 5) In Canada you have to wait

nine to ten months for bypass surgery.

(reporter #6) Many Canadians believe

it's the healthcare system itself that's sick.

(reporter #7) They pay their doctors less.

(reporter #8) A surgeon can only do

a certain number of operations each year.

With only so many

expensive new pieces of equipment.

It's easier for your cat or dog

to receive an MRI here in America.

You die of cancer waiting for chemo 'cause

all of Ottawa has one chemo machine.

If you think socialized medicine

is a good idea, ask a Canadian.

(Moore) I thought who better to ask than

my Canadian relatives. Bob and Estelle.

But they wouldn't cross the border

into America.

They wanted me to meet them

at Sears. In Canada.

What are you guys doing here?

- We're buying insurance.

- We're going to the States to see you.

Right, that's just across the river.

Yeah.

You wouldn't go over to see us in Michigan

for a couple of hours without insurance?

No, we wouldn't. We're just adamant

about it. We would not do it.

If somebody punches us in the mouth

or something, something like that...

You don't want to get caught

in the American health system thing?

We have nothing against Americans

or America, or anything like that at all.

- (Moore) We're a nice and simple people.

- Not very simple, but certainly very nice.

(Moore) I decided to explore

their anti-American views further.

Over some fine Canadian cuisine.

We have a friend who went to Hawaii.

And he sustained a head injury

while he was there.

And before he was

well enough to come home,

he had chalked up a bill

of over $600,000.

So what middle-class Canadian

could absorb that?

(Moore) I guess I feel bad that you would

have to worry about something like that.

We're not criticizing your country,

we're just giving you the facts,

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