HMOs take shot at ‘SiCKO’

Even though Michael Moore’s upcoming film criticizing the healthcare system, “SiCKO,” has yet to hit U.S. movie screens, the health-insurance lobby is already reacting to it.

{mosads}Yesterday, America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) issued a press release entitled “AHIP Statement on SiCKO.” The statement, credited to AHIP President and Chief Executive Karen Ignagni, makes no other reference to the liberal firebrand’s new film.

AHIP spokesman Mohit Ghose said the group would focus its efforts on “advanc[ing] a positive agenda” rather than responding in detail to Moore’s film, which neither Ignagni nor any other AHIP representative has watched.
“We see this as a movie, not a documentary,” he said.

No one from AHIP or its member companies was invited to participate in the making of “SiCKO” or to attend a screening, Ghose said.

“Washington and the states should take immediate action to ensure that every American has healthcare coverage. We need a uniquely American solution in which the public and private sectors work together to make sure that everyone has high-quality, affordable healthcare. The American people do not support a government takeover of the entire healthcare system because they know that means long waits for rationed care,” Ignagni said in the statement.

The conservative group Health Care America also issued a statement about Moore and his film yesterday. “The reality is that government-run health systems around the world are failing patients,” Executive Director Sarah Berk said.

“SiCKO” opens nationwide June 29 but will premiere in Washington  Wednesday.