SiCKO - Mr Moore goes to Washington

In an atmosphere that was part political rally and part tent revival, film director Michael Moore brought his scathing healthcare critique, "Sicko," to Congress Wednesday.

"You wouldn't expect your fire department to turn a profit," Moore told reporters, congressional staffers and activists at a Capitol Hill event.

"You wouldn't privatize your local police force. ... We need to look at healthcare the same way."

Moore's new documentary, which opens in movie theaters Friday, highlights the economic disaster that serious illness can be, even for patients with private insurance. While the director has drawn heavy criticism and legal action for a portion of the film where he takes Sept. 11 rescue workers to Cuba for care, the focus of the film is the pitfalls of a for-profit healthcare system.

At the Capitol, Moore showed clips of the film and threw his support behind a House bill -- which has gotten little traction since it was introduced in 2003 -- that would eliminate private insurance companies altogether in favor of extending Medicare-like coverage to all Americans.

Surrounded by a host of supportive representatives and vocal activists, Moore pulled no punches when it came to criticizing health insurance executives and pharmaceutical company lobbyists.

Insurers protect their profits by denying claims, he said. Meanwhile, pharmaceutical companies boost their bottom lines by overcharging patients for drugs that are often overprescribed.

"There's a new villain on screens across America this summer," he said. "It's not the new villain in Spider-Man. It's the health insurance industry in America."

Calling a for-profit healthcare system inherently flawed, Moore argued for a system similar to Canada's where insurance is public but medical services are private.

Though patients sometimes have to wait for treatment in public systems, the decision of who goes first is made by a doctor, not a person's financial circumstances, he said.

"Ask a Canadian if they would trade their healthcare card for your HMO card."

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