Film Review: Critical Condition

Roger Weisberg’s forthcoming PBS documentary about 4 of the 47 million people in America without health insurance feels like <i>Sicko</i>, only sadder.

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.


The deepest heartbreak in Critical Condition, Roger Weisberg’s misery vérité about 4 of America’s 47 million uninsured, isn’t the diabetic’s premature foot amputation or the cancer patient’s delayed chemo treatment.

It’s this quotidian conversation between a husband and wife about money, after the doctor leaves the room:

Husband: “I don’t want to live like this…I got 50-60,000 dollars in doctor bills.”
Wife: “You need to stop worrying about those collection agencies and medical bills.”
Husband: “Well I’m dying anyway!”

The documentary, which airs on PBS September 30, gathers a time-lapsed year’s worth of such wrenching doctor’s office and dinner table talks into one dark, pungent bouquet. All four of the US citizens profiled work in the service industry—or did, until their lack of employer health insurance caught up with them—and their stories are as depressing as they come. The cancer patient who couldn’t afford chemo? She turns off her phone to avoid collection agency calls about her unpaid prescription drug bills. Carlos Benitez, a chef whose pregnant wife prays for a milagro to heal her husband’s twisted spine? He finds one at a UCLA medical-student health fair after almost bleeding to death from an ulcer on the way to work. (Benitez’s expensive operation finally happens only because of a sympathetic doctor who frankly admits, “We do ration care in this country, based on ability to pay,” then begs on camera for a national solution to the health care crisis.)

While the film doesn’t offer solutions, it does raise several turnkey questions about preventative care, like, Who pays for the half-million patients currently battling cancer without insurance? And if an uninsured cancer patient could afford the 14 daily pills required to keep him out of the ER, or the tests that would have caught his illness earlier, how much money would the insured save on his annual costs? Stitched between the lapel-grabbing hospital scenes are statistics that fortify these already desperate questions. Perhaps the next president will find less desperate answers.

Find out what happened next to the four individuals profiled in Critical Condition here.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate