SiCKO is a straight-from-the-heart portrait of the insane, often cruel, and always profit-hungry U.S. health care system, told from the vantage point of everyday people faced with extraordinary and heartbreaking challenges in their quest for basic medical care. Michael Moore asks his fellow Americans "What is wrong with us?"

Moore shows that U.S. health care ranks last among developed nations despite costing more per person than any other health system in the world. Moore seeks answers in Canada, Great Britain, and France, where all citizens receive free medical care. Finally, Moore gathers a group of 9/11 heroes rescue workers now suffering from debilitating illnesses, unable to receive help at home, and takes them to a most unexpected place where they receive the tender care unavailable in the richest nation on earth.