Critical Condition

What happens to the sick and uninsured in America? Documentary filmmaker Roger Weisberg's Critical Condition, which examines America's healthcare crisis with unflinching candor, combines individual case histories with dire national healthcare statistics. Weisberg profiles the desperate situations of several uninsured individuals as they battle critical (and in one case terminal) illnesses without adequate medical care. The outcomes vary but the overall message is clear: despite the fact that Americans spend $2.1 trillion per year on healthcare, between 46 and 50 million Americans have no health insurance (2.2 million people lost their coverage in 2006 alone), and over 20,000 die each year due to lack of health insurance. Weisberg has been making films about healthcare for nearly 30 years (two of his earlier short films are included here as DVD extras), and Critical Condition benefits from both that depth of expertise and what is clearly a very compassionate and persuasive approach, since he's been granted access to real-life scenarios that most people (and families) would consider extremely private, resulting in deeply emotional scenes of sadness and fear, courage and tenacity, resilience and surrender. Not all of the people profiled here will survive, and as a closing title informs us, 377 more will become uninsured during the 83 minutes it takes to watch this film. In Critical Condition, viewers see the staggering costs, both financial and in terms of human suffering—of our flawed healthcare system, which denies citizens access to routine primary and preventative care. Also featuring a bonus interview with the director, this is an eye-opening film on a timely subject. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (J. Shannon)