M.D. treats lawmakers to 'Sicko'; 2 show up

Michael Moore was preaching to a small choir Tuesday night.

The documentary filmmaker's newest film is "Sicko," which Salt Lake trial lawyer Dr. Clark Newhall thinks every Utah legislator should see. So Newhall sent invitations to all 104 lawmakers and several high-ranking Utah health-care officials, and bought 100 movie tickets for the 7 p.m. show. His Plan B was to hand out any unclaimed tickets to Utahns who are uninsured or have been denied coverage.

By showtime, only two legislators, the states' insurance commissioner and a smattering of uninsured people had shown up for the free tickets.

Only one Republican sent an RSVP, Newhall said as he waited in front of the movie theater before the show. That was an e-mail from Rep. Brad Daw of Orem, who noted that "I must decline as I don't wish to support a filmmaker cut from the same cloth as Joseph Goebbels. The solution to our health-care system is not socialism, which has never been successful in the long run."

"Sicko" is an indictment of America's health-care system and the insurance industry, and a call for universal health care. The movie includes a shot of a man stitching up his own leg; interviews with people who have gone bankrupt paying for deductibles or lost loved ones because an insurance company refused to pay for treatment; and an insurance company list of "pre-existing conditions" that seem to stretch into infinity.

"Whether you agree or disagree with the film, it's part of a critical dialogue we have to have as a nation," said Rep. David Litvak, D-Salt Lake City, who with Rep. Larry Wiley, D-West Valley City, took Newhall up on his free ticket offer. "You can call the filmmaker a socialist, but that's shutting down the dialogue."

Jim Phillips, a 44-year-old self-employed owner of an online clothing business also showed up to see the movie.

"I'm one of the millions of people who don't have health insurance," said Phillips. "The only insurance I can get is too expensive."

Carole and Ernie Nylander had driven down from Pleasant View to see "Sicko." "We have Medicare," they told Newhall, who then launched into his spiel about Medicare being "the only socialized medicine in America. Gold-plated socialized medicine."

Newhall, who is also a physician, plans to provide another set of free tickets to lawmakers during the Legislature's next interim session in September.

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E-mail: jarvik@desnews.com