Michael Moore plans film on health-care industry

Drug makers and HMOs are telling employees to avoid Moore.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
CHICAGO -- The latest buzz in the health-care industry has nothing to do with new drugs or medical treatments.
It's all about filmmaker Michael Moore and where he's lurking these days.
Some of the nation's biggest drug manufacturers and health insurance plans confirm they have issued warnings to their sales representatives and other employees in recent weeks, telling them to be on the lookout for the shaggy filmmaker in his trademark baseball cap. And, under no circumstances, are they to talk to Moore.
The industry's red alert was prompted by word that Moore plans to aim his camera lens at the health-care industry, much as he did with other targets, most recently President Bush in "Fahrenheit 9/11."
The $100 million box office documentary presented Bush's war on terror as ill-advised and corrupt, angering the president's supporters while drawing cheers from Bush foes.
The planned movie, tentatively titled "Sicko," is expected to focus on health-care industry business practices, specifically those of the managed-care and pharmaceutical industries, which have both been mentioned in Moore's recent speeches and interviews, his spokesman said.
Not happy
Health-care companies are hardly enthusiastic.
"What our society really needs is a serious debate about overall health care based on facts, not just another one-sided micro-mockumentary," said Court Rosen, spokesman with the drug industry's Washington lobby, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
But Moore's people seemed amused by the industry's call to arms, saying health-care companies obviously have reason to be concerned if they feel the need to put their employees on guard. Moore representatives say there isn't even a timetable for production to begin, and financing has yet to be finalized.
"Everything he does is well-documented, so I can understand why they would be so worried," said Moore spokesman Mark Benoit.
Industry observers don't think it will be difficult for Moore to find real-life examples, since the business practices of HMOs and certain other health-plan business practices that encourage low-cost medical care have long been criticized as shortchanging patients.