We the People

Healthcare: Insuring the Uninsured

We investigate the need for healthcare reform in the US and whether healthcare for all really is the best solution.

This film was originally broadcast on Al Jazeera English in the run-up to the US elections in 2008.

Healthcare is one of the most hotly contested issues the US presidential campaign. Most people in the country agree that the healthcare system is broken. But there is little agreement on how to fix it.

About 47 million Americans don’t have health insurance, and if you don’t have insurance or plenty of money, you can’t get reliable care.

Only the poorest of the poor, those classified as living below the poverty line, are covered by government insurance. Everyone else falls through the cracks; the ill often wait until they are so sick that they are brought to emergency rooms which must provide treatment.

Different states have tried to pick up the slack, creating a patchwork of solutions.

We The People travels to the Denver health facility in Colorado, which has been established as the city’s primary safety net for medical care. The goal is to provide even those without insurance with stable healthcare, but is this the best model for the rest of the nation?