Sicko is a 2007 documentary film by American filmmaker Michael Moore. The film investigates health care in the United States, focusing on its health insurance and the pharmaceutical industry. The movie compares the for-profit, non-universal U.S. system with the non-profit universal health care systems of Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Cuba.
Sicko was made on a budget of approximately $9 million, and grossed $24.5 million theatrically in the United States. This box office take exceeded the official expectation of The Weinstein Company, which had hoped for a gross in line with Bowling for Columbine's $21.5 million US box office gross.
According to Sicko, almost fifty million Americans are uninsured while the remainder, who are covered, are often victims of insurance company fraud and red tape. Furthermore, Sicko points out that the U.S. health care system is ranked 37 out of 191 by the World Health Organization with certain health measures, such as infant mortality and life expectancy, equal to countries with much less economic wealth. Interviews are conducted with people who thought they had adequate coverage but were denied care. Former employees of insurance companies describe cost-cutting initiatives that give bonuses to insurance company physicians and others to find reasons for the company to avoid meeting the cost of medically necessary treatments for policy holders, and thus increase company profitability.
Sicko is a 2007 documentary film by Michael Moore.
Sicko may also refer to:
Sicko were an American rock group from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1991. Exceptionally, the three-piece pop punk group maintained a constant membership for every recording as a band. This line-up was Denny Bartlett (guitar, bass, vocals), Ean Hernandez (guitar, bass, vocals), and Josh Rubin (drums, brother of Aaron Rubin from The Mr. T Experience). Although the band wrote and recorded an extensive catalog of original material throughout the mid-1990s, the group is perhaps best known for its punk-flavored cover of the song "Closer To Fine", originally written and recorded by the folk duo Indigo Girls.
Sicko released four full length albums and five 7" eps as well as a retrospective CD with unreleased and rare material, a released demo and a tour video. They also appeared on approximately fourteen compilations on labels such as Lookout! Records and Liberation Records. They once exchanged covers with Cub. The vast majority of their recorded output was recorded by Kurt Bloch of The Fastbacks and released on Seattle-based punk label eMpTy Records. One EP and the retrospective CD were released on Mutant Pop Records. Three Sicko songs were featured on the Xbox game Project Gotham Racing 2 alongside artists like The Flaming Lips and Princess Superstar.