Small percentage of invited lobbyists show up for Moore ‘SiCKO’ screening

About a dozen healthcare lobbyists answered filmmaker Michael Moore’s challenge and turned out for an advanced screening yesterday of his critical take on the American healthcare system.

Moore ran newspaper advertisements this week, including one that appeared in The Hill, listing the names of about 900 lobbyists registered for healthcare clients and invited anyone on the list to a free showing of his film, “SiCKO.”

{mosads}Moore welcomed the lobbyists to the screening, but made clear that he believes their clients are responsible for the problems of the healthcare system.

“Our healthcare system is broken and [the healthcare lobby] has a death grip on the American people,” he told reporters before meeting with the lobbyists. “They really have a chokehold on the Hill here.”

Of the hundreds of invited lobbyists who declined to attend, Moore said, “They’re probably busy doing what they do, which is make life miserable for the rest of us.”

Moore struck a left-handedly conciliatory note when he addressed the small crowd of lobbyists in a theater at Union Station.
“I thought you should have a chance to see this movie first,” he said. Saying that the film “starred” their employers, Moore added, “Usually you show the movie to the stars first.”

When questioned, most of the lobbyists in the crowd declined to identify themselves or their employers. Three of them did: John Greene of the National Association of Health Underwriters, private practitioner Linda Jenckes, and Margaret Tighe of Strategic Health Care.

Jenckes, a former executive at the health insurance trade association that played a pivotal role in derailing the Clinton administration’s healthcare reform push, defended the healthcare industry and said that Moore’s call for abolishing the private market for health insurance was wrongheaded. “It’s everyone’s responsibility” to improve healthcare, she said.

Reporters and Moore fans were ushered out of the theater before the screening began. His fans were permitted to watch the film in an adjacent theater. Moore screened the movie for some members of the press earlier this week.

One lobbyist, who did not identify herself, expressed gratitude to Moore for the invitation. “Thank you for inviting us. This is a great idea,” she said.

When the list began to circulate around Washington late last week, it became a hot topic for gossip among healthcare lobbyists but most didn’t take Moore’s gambit seriously.

“If you’re really a healthcare lobbyist right now, you’re really busy,” a GOP lobbyist, who was on Moore’s list but did not attend, said on Monday. A Democratic lobbyist who also was on the list but did not attend remarked earlier this week, “I work for a living. I can’t go to a 4 o’clock movie.”

The Democratic lobbyist conceded, though, that Moore’s event put those named in an impossible bind. “You’re ‘gotcha’d’ if you go, you’re ‘gotcha’d’ if you don’t go,” the lobbyist said.

The ad featured images of tombstones bearing slogans such as “Denied because of pre-existing conditions” in addition to the lobbyists’ names.

Any lobbyists feeling aggrieved at the filmmaker’s tactics will probably just have to get over it, though, according to an attorney who specializes in intellectual property litigation.

A person on the list could attempt to make a case for defamation, but “it would be a real steep road” to win such a lawsuit, said Joseph Serritella, a partner at Pepper Hamilton in Philadelphia. Still, he said, don’t be surprised if someone tried to strike back at Moore. “I have a great deal of respect for the creativity of American lawyers.”

Moore also planned a Washington premiere of “SiCKO” for yesterday evening at the Uptown Theater. He said he expected numerous lawmakers to attend.

Earlier yesterday, Moore participated in a press conference on Capitol Hill with sympathetic House Democratic lawmakers.
He said he favors dismantling private healthcare industries and replacing them with a national program to provide healthcare coverage and services to everyone.

Saying that a new system is needed to “remove the profit incentive in healthcare,” Moore added, “These companies need to be regulated like a public utility.”

Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and Ways and Means health subcommittee Chairman Pete Stark (D-Calif.) hosted the event, along with numerous members of the Congressional Black Caucus, presidential hopeful Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio.) and others.

The lawmakers gave Moore a hero’s welcome, as did the enthusiastic crowd of supporters who packed the Judiciary Committee’s hearing room.

“Michael Moore has come to the rescue,” said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas). Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) said, “I want to thank Michael Moore for giving us a kick in the butt.”

Moore, Conyers and other lawmakers acknowledged the quixotic nature of their goal but predicted that “SiCKO” would galvanize the public.

“Millions of Americans, after they see this movie, are going to be coming after [health insurance companies],” Moore said. “I believe that there’s going to be a groundswell of support.”

Kucinich, whose campaign platform includes a national healthcare system, said that the film “is going to provide a tremendous boost for this legislation,” and added, “2008 is the year when we’re going to make this happen.”

Moore remarked, “Thank you, Dennis Kucinich, for running for president.”

The filmmaker also indicated that the healthcare proposals emerging from the campaigns of the Democratic front-runners, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) and former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.), fell short because they would preserve a major role for the private sector. “It’s not going to be enough,” Moore said.

Rep. Darrell Issa (Calif.) was the lone Republican to make an appearance and closed out the press conference. “This is a bipartisan issue [though] the solutions are not always identical,” he said. “I look forward to seeing ‘SiCKO,’” Issa said, calling the film “part of the dialogue.”