Does Michael Moore go overboard with his new film on the U.S. health care industry?  Sure. Of course he does. That’s Moore’s signature technique for driving home some point in a big way.

 

In “Sicko,” Moore does the usual stunts. For example, he takes 9/11 rescue workers to Cuba to get health care they can’t get at home.

 

People can argue over such one-sided tactics – Moore is nothing if not one-sided -- but his basic point is valid. In example after example in the film, he shows that we have a dumping problem in the U.S. health care system. That is, giant, expensive bureaucracies try to unload sick people on to somebody else.

 

Here’s just one example from the film that shows the larger problem. A young mother lost her 14-month-old daughter when an ambulance brought the sick child to the nearest hospital, but her insurance company wouldn’t allow tests. Why? The hospital was out of network.

 

Similar horror stories plague the 250 million Americans who have health insurance.

 

Surely, “can-do” Americans in the wealthiest nation on earth can figure out how to fix this. On that simple point, Moore is right on.  But, judge for yourself.

 

 

Michael Moore’s “Sicko” is in theaters beginning June 29. Pia Lopez writes for The Sacramento Bee opinion pages.