Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore sat down with Amy Goodman ahead of the release of his new film SiCKO.

The film is a seething indictment of the US healthcare system.

It focuses not on the more than 40 million people who don't have healthcare but on the 250 million who do - many of who are abandoned by the very health insurance industry they paid into for decades.

"They are getting away with murder," Moore said of the health insurance companies.

"They charge whatever they want. There is no government control & frankly we will not fix our system until we remove these private insurance companies."

Approximately 45 million Americans lack health insurance. Health care costs are increasing faster than wages & six in ten insured Americans are "worried about being able to afford the cost of their health insurance over the next few years."

But these high prices aren't buying the world's top care. Even while US health spending per capita is higher than any other country, America is not necessarily the best country in which to get sick.

Moore’s movie highlights the deficiencies in the US system, which opens nationwide across the US on June 29.

Moore travels to Great Britain, France, Canada & Cuba, comparing the accessibility & costs of those systems with health care in the United States. He finds that his own country often comes up short for Americans who can't always afford high premiums. "Every American has a human right to know that when he gets sick, he can go to the doctor without worrying if he can afford it," Moore said

Moore recently spoke with Oprah about America's broken health care system, which you can view here, along with clips from the film.

Myth 1 – In 2006, bushit promised that his administration would "confront the rising cost of care, strengthen the doctor-patient relationship & help people afford the insurance coverage they need." He has not lived up to his promise. Instead, the US health care system is pushing millions of hardworking Americans into relentless financial constraints & sending thousands to early graves.

Health care costs skyrocketed 87 percent over the last five years, despite wages increasing just 20 percent. As Moore highlights in SiCKO, these costs are significantly higher than what people in other nations pay for care.

According to a 2004 study published in Health Affairs, more than "one-quarter of US adults (both insured & uninsured) spent more than $1,000 out of pocket on health care in the past year, far exceeding expense burdens in the other countries."

As a result, nearly half of all sick adults in the United States "said that they did not see a doctor when sick, did not get recommended treatment, or did not fill a prescription because of cost."

Perhaps not surprisingly, US health care spending also significantly outpaces the spending of other countries. "Health spending per capita in the United States is much higher than in other countries - at least 24% higher than in the next highest spending countries - & over 90% higher than in many other countries that we would consider global competitors."

According to a CNN poll from May, 64 percent of the public believes the "government should provide a national health insurance program for all Americans, even if this would require higher taxes.

Compared to people in other developed countries, Americans are the most likely to say that their health care system needs to be completely rebuilt.

Myth 2 – Another myth that Moore exposes is the common belief that the United States has the world's best health care.

As former Sen. Tom Daschle notes, the myth is that "we have the best health system in the world - & changing it will lower quality, reduce access & hurt our businesses. The perception of excellence stems, rightly, from the exceptional performance of many of our health professionals, researchers & institutions. Yet, some of our self-image results from the mistaken belief that we get what we pay for - which, in health care, is a lot."

Still, the right wing continues to perpetuate this myth, arguing that it is dishonest to highlight the deficiencies in the US health care system. "The fact is, the United States provides the best health care quality in the world," said Sean Hannity this past Sunday on his show Hannity's America. Earlier this month, Fox News's John Gibson argued: "In the film, Moore says that our health care system is inferior to dozens of other countries. So why are so many people from other countries coming to America for medical attention?"

But unfortunately, what often distinguishes the United States is "its relatively poor performance." The United States is behind in preventing asthma-related deaths, vaccinating children against polio & providing flu shots to seniors. The "likelihood of surviving a kidney transplant is 6 percent higher in Australia, 13 percent higher in Canada & 4 percent higher in the United Kingdom & New Zealand than in the US"

Additionally, one in three sicker Americans "who seek care suffers some type of error," & US patients experience approximately 98,000 medical deaths per year.

Myth 3 – While no health care system is perfect, the American public recognize that the US arrangement needs an overhaul. A 2006 poll found that 96 percent of Americans believe that there are problems with the health care system in the United States.

Health care reform is an urgent priority, as Americans on average die at a younger age compared to the average age of death of comparable nations. The US infant mortality rate is 6.9 deaths per 1,000 live births, while Japan & Sweden have rates below 3.5 deaths per 1,000 live births.

And the obesity rate among adults in the US is 30.6 percent, the highest rate of developed countries; this rate is nearly 21 percent higher than the rate of the second highest country, Mexico.

An estimated 45 percent of Americans had a chronic illness in 2000, a number that is projected to rise to 50 percent by 2020. Additionally, the "number of people with diabetes has doubled in the past fifteen years," & one in three persons born in 2000 can expect to have diabetes in his or her lifetime.

Certain racial & ethnic minorities are particularly vulnerable: the rate of diabetes is 59 to 80 percent higher among African-Americans than it is among non-Hispanic whites.

A hallmark of high-quality primary care is an emphasis on preventive care, counselling & awareness of patients' health concerns.

The US continues to be plagued by preventable diseases - such as asthma and Hepatitis B - with proven preventive services remaining largely unused. "About 70 percent of deaths & costs in the US are attributable to chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes & cancer - diseases that can be prevented or controlled."