The Healthcare Divide (full documentary) | FRONTLINE
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- Опубликовано: 17 май 2021
- How pressure to increase profits and uneven government support are widening the divide between rich and poor hospitals, endangering care for low-income populations. With NPR and the Investigative Reporting Workshop.
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COVID has put a spotlight on disparities in American healthcare and the large urban hospitals hit hard by the pandemic. But many of these “safety net” hospitals, whose primary mission is to serve low-income, working-class communities, have been in crisis for years.
From FRONTLINE producers Rick Young, Emma Schwartz & Fritz Kramer and NPR correspondent Laura Sullivan, “The Healthcare Divide” explores the growing inequities in American healthcare exposed by COVID-19 - and their consequences.
For more reporting in connection with this investigation, visit FRONTLINE’s website:
to.pbs.org/3bv9rmC
#Documentary #COVID #Healthcare
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I'm sorry but I don't see how America can call itself the best at anything, except for greed. Ridiculous!
its 100% not the best.
developed in favor of white capitalist's.
US is the best because people are free to investigate and report problems without fearing persecution.
Look at vaccines the same all the other countries are begging for it.
No comprende
US is best at buying and making vaccines, covid tests and ventilators and then sending them to other countries that work. Canada, Mexico, Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa, El Salvador, Peru, Vietnam, Russia, Ecuador, Indonesia, and more.
Take the last line to heart: "If you're mad, change the rules." It is criminal to make health care an industry of greed over a caregiver to all the people.
There are a lot of people fighting to change the rules so that everyone has universal care but it is very hard to get everyone on board with the idea here in the US
@@CelesteAnise The status quo is that this all works & dissenters are naive bleeding hearts.
The U.K. NHS wants the US model of healthcare ....God help us...
@@Foxy_ladyYTSLI can attest, U.S. healthcare is super dystopian and people should do whatever possible to let it not become the way of their country's healthcare system.
@@masond7573 I think the UK govt has purposefully destroyed the uk nhs. The managers have eroded the good will of the staff and changed the culture to one of selfishness and corporate greed. Staff are just getting through the shift as it’s money. Patients are commodities as the govt use the nhs to hide money through various private companies within and affiliated to the individual hospitals. The private companies are treating patients and providing services. The CEO of said companies are friends and associates of the govt.
This is NOT healthcare system. This is HEALTHCARE MARKET
In a way, it's not. In a market, you can see the price of the good or service before you need it. This is an extortion racket with people who need medical care to live faced on the other side by an entity that wants to suck every penny out of them.
I hope the US will catch up to the 20th century and get actual universal healthcare.
yeah right, joe biden won’t even allow negotiating with pharmaceutical companies
@@itsaaronlolz More like Republicans will prevent it because to them, its Communism to use taxes to provide Universal Healthcare.
@@Adohleas the democrats like kristen sinema and joe manchin are actually the ones that block any progressive movements. both parties only cater to the elites. nancy pelosi believes insider trading should be allowed. even obamacare was a scam forcing you to buy healthcare from a for profit heath insurance company.
@@itsaaronlolz Don't forget that overwhelmingly the Republicans are also blocking that idea by a wide margin. You have far more Democrats receptive and 0 Republican lawmakers receptive to the idea.
There are no Republicans that would vote on an idea of Universal Healthcare even if evidence was shoved into their face of the benefits they could provide.
Lets put it this way. If you had every single lawmaker a Republican, there would be no chance in hell that the idea of Universal healthcare would be mentioned. While if you had the reverse, It's likely Universal Healthcare would probably become a thing. Of course I would be opposed to any party holding so much power so I'm just using it as an example.
Republicans have the idea that letting government run any program that benefits its citizen through any form of tax is Communism. In there eyes why let the government run it when it can be run by corporations. They also don't like the idea of the government becoming "larger" and more involved.
Really puts into perspective the whole idea that people from Canada come to the U.S. to get expensive treatments done our doctors. But only if you can afford it. As far as basic medical coverage it seems that Canada and most of the world has that already covered. Our medical system is amazing for the people who can afford it, very cutting edge. Unfortunately most of us would rather die than call an ambulance because then we will die of debt.
I live on the Canadian border, the stories of Canadians streaming over the border to obtain care in American hospitals is largely a myth. That’s trotted out by the insurance industry every time there is danger of the US nationalizing healthcare, which we should have done decades ago!
Ask Canadians if they want to trade their healthcare for ours & the resounding answer is “hell, no!” Ditto for Europeans. They are speechless to learn that people can lose their assets as a result of medical debt. That can’t happen in those countries.
I’m lucky where I live every year I fill out a form and pay $35 and everyone in my house is covered if they need an ambulance from the local ambulance service. If I’m 200 miles from home then its on me. And I’ve already decided that if something happens my son is going to toss my into my truck, hand me the first aid kit so I can treat myself while he drives lol
@@prepperjonpnw6482 where do you live? USA? what state?
I’m sick with cancer
The treatment is very good
The doctors and nurses and other staff are wonderful
The bills are ridiculous
Amen my mother's before her death at 65 got Medicare were insane! Healthcare is not for profit !
Hope you're doing better now!
Nurses and doctors don't give a shit what it costs they just get it done...where I work we may or may not backlog things just to show insurance what they absolutely wanna see in a favorable light to try to make it less taxing on patients
Salaam /Peace : Pray you HEAL !
You alive?
You shouldn't have to worry about medical Bill's when you are sick. The more I work the more I spend on meds and Docs.
You know I have a disability and all my money goes to my disability my 9 meds and going to doctor appointments and also when I have a seizure in public and people call 911 and I end up in the hospital when I don't need to and my meds are expensive and some jobs will hire me then fire me cause they can't deal with my disability anymore so it's hard to find a job so it's hard to pay rent or live in a place i have been homeless
We cannot barter our well beingfor profits to private equity's. Why won't this country give help to the poor rather than line the pockets to rich and richer.
One medical care for everyone in this country is dire. S. Korea is one medicare for all.
Do you see the difference in Covid19 mgmt? They focus on wellness management to patients. Diet/ healthy foods, excercises, not prescribed medications.
Even foreigners can be treated with national insurance after 6 months stay..
Where is our Sen. Sanders??
I will pray for Erlanger Hospital..Thank you Frontline for helping me to understand the previously not wanting to know into US complicated healthcare system
@Chishio Chishio yep 100%
Us paying customers are paying for these “ immigrants “ who don’t even speak the language......smh
That's the motivation most people have when they work to be able to afford things like medical care. I know it goes against their hippocratic oath but at the end of the day, we all know everything in society is commoditized and health care is no different otherwise what's stopping someone from saying screw it, I won't work because if I'm sick I'll have free health care. Having said that, no one really wakes up one day and says they want to feel sick and living in pain only to have the safety net of relying on free health care to take care of htem because you'lll still feel like utter crap with or without pain killers which is very likely all they'll give you if your health is so bad it's not worth saving especially if you're not a paying patient,.
As an Australian I’m horrified! Hospitals owned by corporate companies? Like they are a McDonald’s franchise? Wtf America?
Yep and we make good money off them too.
The corporate greed never ends....😪
Ahh Cory so right you are.
Living in Australia, I can’t even understand this way of thinking…all hospitals and doctors visits should be free for everyone.
Nothing is for free in this world....healthcare must be paid with your taxes..
Thanks for another great documentary and giving us an open eye into the broken, many times shameful and complex America's health care system.
Ikr. I check in in this channel Every once in a while to put something in the TV and there's always a new doc about how something in America is failing. It's saddening, but people need to see this to realize there are problems that should be dealt with...anyways that's my rant
What's complex about greed?!..
I can’t believe that the leading country in the world can’t afford to provide health care for it’s population. Something is so wrong with you, America. Thanks God I live in Russia and in my country health care is free for everyone!
@@elenapashaeva1 Because Republicans say its Communism to use taxes to provide health care for its citizens.
@@elenapashaeva1 you live in an oligarchy, endlessly run by a man who kills his enemies.
Hello there from the Czech republic. The public healthcare system here works as in Germany; that means health insurance companies pay to public and private hospitals for every surgery, work, and so forth an amount that is set by the government. The whole system is paid by taxes. The health insurance tax is 13,5% from the super gross salary = 4,5% from your gross salary and 9% is paid by your employer and it is compulsory. Entrepreneurs have their tax categories related to their income. Everybody who is employed or older than 26 years has to pay it. We've got some issues, but overall it is a very good system that really cares about prevention. Almost all imaginable checks are for free, especially for newborns, because the system knows that it is cheaper to prevent a disease or disorder from happening than it is allowing it to develop. I've got to say that the healthcare system that is in place in the US is ridiculous. And it is even though the US is the richer country by GDP and so on. Do something about it.
I’m a nurse & a lawyer who graduated from university when this all began back in 1980. There is a fundamental problem with the for-profit model in healthcare. The two are mutually exclusive to anyone who believes that healthcare is a basic human right regardless of ability to pay.
The desire to turn a profit will always trump quality of patient care. I’m sad to say I’m not at all surprised to hear that patients were given paper towels instead of wash cloths. These shenanigans have been going on for years as safety net hospitals lose more & more money while the vampires swoop in to buy them & flip them (for profit, of course.) The community based hospitals that existed when I was in college have all closed. None of the corporations give a hoot that those communities are without community based healthcare. It’s disgraceful.
Yes, like everything else - privatized & monopolized. But hospitals are literally life & death.
*"For the love of money is the root of all evil."*
The very reason why at the age of 55 very healthy and do not take any medications I'm a DNR. Why survive a major stroke to be placed in a long-term care facility with no quality of life people are living longer but not better. Pharmaceutical companies long-term care facilities are making huge profits not going to profit off warehousing me to be a cash cow.
I am in good health and Im DNR.
Wouldn't wash cloths be more economically beneficial? They are washable and reusable. Paper towels get thrown out and then the company needs to buy more
Fight AGAINST Private Hospitals, AKA...for profit hospitals. THEY ARE FOR PROFIT!! Not for YOU!
How is it legal for hospitals to be profit making?? Non-profit hospitals are not allowed to turn away any patients, no matter illness severity or ability to pay. They save lives first!!
@@kimberini6465 wrong emtla doesn’t apply to for profit or private. Flip of the coin they don’t participate with Medicare or Medicaid
The system itself makes perfect sense. The rich are getting richer even in healthcare (in a pandemic).
Capitalism inevitably becomes a race to the bottom. And diligence, hard work and honesty are always punished.
More to the point--the rich are getting richer BECAUSE there's a pandemic of which they can take advantage, as they do of every disruption (most of them caused by the rich themselves).
I like how the doctor quickly corrected his statement from "that is our burden..."... "Our mission"... when talking about the poor that rely on that hospital.
The burden is thousands of customers going to a business that do not pay for services. Any business would go under. The burden is on the govt and businesses to provide health insurance to ALL of America's people!! Nobody can help getting sick. It happens to everybody in life. The sick are not the burden to me. It is the greedy govt and corporations who don't want to provide insurance benefits to employees!! A basic human need.
@@kimberini6465 Well said! Refreshing to encounter someone who is focused on the real enemy! Not the traditional looking down on those who are less fortunate and scapegoating.
Imo, he didn't correct himself. He had just finished talking about how being a safety net hospital prevented them from being in richer neighborhoods, so I took it to mean he was saying taking care of the poor is both a burden and a mission. Also, he didn't cut himself off, and the words were spoken fully with no rush
@@kimberini6465 very well said. I can't stand to see our current healthcare system. In Washington state, we are trying to get universal care put on the ballot. But they have been working for many years on it. You have to gather over 300k signatures between April and December to get it on it.
@@karendalsadik7119 The very reason that I resent the so called religious conservatives preaching love and compassion while worshipping American Capitalism!! Their mear hope to have their heavenly spots reserved next to God makes me laugh!!
I’m a recent RN grad. Watching docs like this reinforce my goal to pursue a career in public health. I want to learn more about these healthcare disparities and find a way to help.
Best wishes, Ms. Denise.
I work for a gastroenterologist in the middle of the Florida panhandle. We are the only provider that offers service to those who are on socialized health care. Other providers have refused due to the lack of it being financially beneficial. We have patients that drive over 2 hours for care. This is very difficult if you’re a patient who may not have dependable transportation. These individuals aren’t just rural patients. These are patients who are leaving a larger city(state capital) to receive health care. Even in our city the other gastroenterologist no longer accept these programs. It’s very sad, and heart breaking to see these patients driving a great distance to receive care.
Beware; public health is not necessarily for the public. NIH funded public health programs are just a corrupt and the 'pandemic' proved this.
@@mrspleasants8529exactly.
@@mandyadkins8258 Or for that matter, as in the case of receiving antineoplaston treatment, flying cross country.
My fear is the goal post keeps moving. Full retirement & medical care for my generation is already looking like past age 70. That is not sustainable.
That’s where things go wrong when corporations takes over the healthcare.
I'm Australian living here in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Seeing this makes me shudder and watch in disbelief. We here in Australia have universal healthcare through our Medicare system. with medications subsidised on our PBS system (Meaning medications which would usually cost thousands, are equitably accessible.
I’m Australian too and this makes so grateful to be Australian but I also feel sorry for the people who have to live like this and a so called first world country. 99% of my medication is covered by the pbs and if it wasn’t I’d be screwed one of them is over $200 full price but I only have to pay $6.50. The security of knowing if I have an accident I’m not going to go into debt over something I had no control over.
@@kimberleyh9509 So many of us Americans go bankrupt or homeless over health bills or becoming disabled. It is disgusting. Then society looks down on these suffering and traumatized people and blames them for where they are saying you needed to work harder or you should have been smarter. No one wants to think about the real root cause of their misfortune until it is them sleeping in a tent then they finally understand.
The main issue with our healthcare is that we treat healthcare like a business which its not. If you can't afford new shoes its not the end of the world you can find cheaper alternatives if you can't afford oxygen you have no choice but to get it because its the difference between life and death.
@experience The state should provide healthcare for its citizens, same for education.
@@hello_world_0 Socialism does not work! Eventually you run out of Other people's $$. Then every one is Dead Broke. If only politicians would Stop their THIEVING and invest in Health care. Not Wars.
@@fredthompson4568 I never mentioned Socialism, pls stop labeling everything as Socialism
You're also forgetting companies that sells medical equipment to staff or residence including medicine are jack high way up to the point nobody can't afford a proper healthcare. This is why America's healthcare system is just a fucking joke to everyone.
@experience you can pay your staff, buy equipments, etc but when you have shareholders it becomes less about healthcare and more about business. Hospitals should be run at-cost meaning paying the workers, buying equipments, paying the operating bills etc but not profit. It's goal should never be to make profit. Lives should not equal profit
It is a shame that the US invest more money in our "safety" than in the safety and wellbeing of their ctiziens.
I live in Canada. My only experience with the US health care system was about 7 years ago. My wife and I were in Utah and she broke her leg very badly. She was taken to a local hospital, rushed into emergency surgery and the doctors did an amazingly good job fixing her leg. We (yes she AND I) were put up in the hospital for four days. It was like a 4-star hotel, including food that people would come from miles around to enjoy; it was that good. On two of the nights we were one of only 2 or 3 three beds that were occupied in a 45-bed facility. When she was discharged we were presented with a bill for $125,000. Thankfully my employer's health insurance covered it. So, the US has great health care for those who can pay for it. But they pay far too much for what they get. Yes, in Canada it comes out of our taxes It is not "free"), but we pay much less per capita, live longer, and have a much fairer system. No one goes bankrupt to get what should be a basic right in any civilized country.
100,000 thumbs up.
@@user-be1jx7ty7n I’m sure you’re right about the medical issues associated with recessed gums. But seriously?
And when did you think anything was fair in life. Btw, who should pay for the fairness. Btw, I think healthcare is obligation the state has, however what are we collectively willing to spend. The Canadian system loses money.
@@harpreetsangha8751 So in your view the health care system should be a source of profit to governments? And what about policing, fire fighting and defense? Let's run those to make money. If users can't afford to pay, well too bad. The fact is that, in Canada, we spend about 10% of our GDP on it; in the US they spend about 18%. We live longer on average, have lower infant mortality rates, better overall health outcomes.
My grandfather who worked his entire life and paid taxes to the corrupt Canadian government to pay for healthcare was negligently left to die in a "free" Canadian hospital because they were caring for a bunch of bums who hadn't worked a day in their lives. Fuck communist healthcare. The only "basic right" you get in Canada is being forced to pay for a system that will kill you if you're dumb enough to work for a living.
This is venture capitalism at its finest. Buy, reduce, leverage, sell, repeat.
Effectively fraud on the community, since eventually the state will have to buy back the house.
@@RalfStephan Actually, the fraud is Medicaid and trying to blame anything other than Medicaid. Medicaid pays barely the cost of a service (which hardly covers the resources necessary to provide the service). Hospitals are barred from attempting to recover the difference between billed amount and the Medicaid reimbursed amount. It does not take a genius to see how this will make even the best managed system go belly up.
Amen the first idea knew why private equity would buy not rocket science business degree in 1984!
*vulture capitalism
As with education, once an essential function of society is profit driven, it will fail millions of human beings and reduce them to not only dollar signs, but tombstones. We can do better as a nation.
@AtomAriola Well said!!!💪👏👏👏
Do you work for free?
The government schools are failing people. Private schools are better and cheaper.
@@jakebredthauer5100 isn't government failing period?!🤷 lol js
@@biggaydave5905 I've never seen a European Socialist model, like France, or Italy, or Germany, to say nothing of the Scandanavian countries where anyone "works for free." I actually do work for free as a lawyer: more pro bono work than most. That said, your question is reductionist. Nobody is asking you to chose between free work or paid work. I don't know where you received your education/indoctrination, but you may want to take a glance at other ways other societies organize and distribute wealth. You are utterly ignorant of the facts.
Im a nurse who works at six or so different hospitals regularly and I see a huge difference in the supplies the facility and the staff quality from one location to another
As a Canadian with immediate family working in acute care, this video was terrifying. Well done PBS
Canada has a different system but not better.
@@panfilosmith6558 It’s objectively better. Many studies from many countries have shown that the healthcare systems In almost all other developed countries are superior to the US mess
@@panfilosmith6558 being able to access healthcare anytime without cost from your pocket IS absolutely better. Wait times can be longer for certain things, but I would take that system over the US system any day
Best journalism on tv today. Thank you PBS and Frontline for all the years of spectacular programing
You must be left of the divide.
Not really. Just a bunch of self-obsessed Yanks.
@@jakebredthauer5100
I guess you are saying this cause you are not heavily biased to one side of the "divide".
@@Hookooo Yes.
@@jakebredthauer5100
Your youtube playlist shows it quite otherwise.
The USA is and already has been a “great” country, but the ONLY industrialized nation without universal healthcare. I’ve lived in two countries as an ex-pat (not military) where I was provided excellent healthcare without question. The USA is rich enough that healthcare, poor health and nutrition in general that hunger and prevented illnesses should not exist, but it does. Like F. Scott Fitzgerald says in The Great Gatsby, “one thing's sure and nothing's surer The rich get richer and the poor get children.”
“ GREAT for WHOM “? Not INDIGENOUS /HOMELESS /POOR /BROWN SKIN people
(NEVER has BEEN)! Even MANY VET.S are SCREWED !
@@samreynolds3789 I was being facetious
Yep since the rich just decided to cut family planning and allow states to prohibit abortions will even get more unwanted poor people being born to fill those glorious places in our society like soldiers to be killed and injured in needless wars, prisonors to fill up those beds in for profit prisons, workers in mindless jobs and baby makers so we can keep that plantation full of modern slaves making money for the Masters. .
Everybody loves capitalism until they get the bill.
With socialism, you don't get the bill because everything was taken away from you up front.
Everybody loves socialism until they look around and realize everyone, including themselves, are now poor.
@@dangli-sac4053 We in the U.S. already have socialism. You are silly.
@@donnamaco1 Not really. We have programs that have a socialist feel but thats about it. Not true socialism.
@@dangli-sac4053 Yes really. We have a blend of capitalistic and socialistic systems working in tandem. Successful societies have this. Think don't feel.
Wealth over health. It’s come down to profit. Healthcare is a business.
How is universal health care not a thing in America? I live in Australia and no one has to go broke due to poor health. The government needs to prioritise their spending as well as control the prices of healthcare cost. You pay $90 USD for a dietetic shot when we pay $6.95 AUD. How is that even fair for you???
Annie, 1000 thumbs up!
The priorities in the U.S. are as follows:
1. Fund the war machine.
2. Maintain corporate profits.
3. Lots of flags and "We're the greatest" propaganda.
4. Crumbling infrastructure.
5. Never-ending financial and military support to Israel (where they have universal healthcare).
6. More funding for war machine.
Because our government is corrupt to the bone. We don’t trust them, and we don’t want them in our lives. Now buzz off with the universal healthcare nonsense. You don’t live here and have no clue how things are here. All of you utopian Australians spout the same Pleasantville comments. Why? Because maybe your government is better run. Ours is not. Our government actively tries to screw is over. They have never made one thing in my life better.
@@truthteller4442 I am a US citizen living in Australia. Trust me - it really is that good (and the main reason I live here). We spend less of GDP on healthcare with better outcomes in terms of longevity, stillbirths, chronic diseases. All this is paid for by1 % of our taxes - and no our taxes are not higher. In fact, they are lower because we don't have additional state taxes. I can go to my primary care physician, walk in and walk out without even signing anything. Ditto for hospital care. No one even questions the costs of anything. If you need it, you get it. No questions asked. Nobody goes bankrupt because of hospital bills. And if you want to, you can pay for health insurance and choose your physician or private hospital, but the cutting edge of care is in the big public hospitals. I am not making this up. It really is true. US citizens need to demand better, cheaper, universal healthcare. Demand it!
@@EricaNernie Germany has fine coverage too, I don't leave without extended coverage to include translators and medical return transportation.
I don't get it...
Why the hospitals are making profit?
How much profit police departments have made?
How much profit fire departments have made?
How much profit did military make?
As a Canadian the last thing I ever think about is the cost of health care. America is truly a society in decline.
As an American I can't agree more, this country has become a fucking joke. Any more I'm embarrassed to say I'm American and been thinking of moving to Canada I just got to figure out what the gun laws are like cuz I'll never give my guns up not even to my own government they will have to kill me first. There's to many crazy countries out there that are worse than ours and I'm not going to rely on our government to protect me, they have already proven they can't be trusted. Especially not giving up my 50 bmg that can accurately kill a target at 2 miles with no issue at all
@@elitehacker1416 As a Canadian, I'm gonna level with you. Our healthcare system is not what it's cracked up to be. There is a misconception that our healthcare is free, but that's far from the truth. While the money, for the most part, doesn't come out of our pockets, it instead comes out of our paychecks. Which would work out well IF there weren't huge strains on the system. Depending on which city you live in and what hospital you go to, it's more apparent than others. For instance, the average wait time for an MRI in my city is 20 WEEKS. That's right, 5 months just for an MRI. You can't pay to jump the line either. Your only other options are to travel to a province that has a 2-tier system or to the States (Which for many of us is only a few hours away and far more convenient to do) and pay for one. Another problem is surgery wait times. Even before the pandemic, depending on what city you're in, the wait times were as long as 2 YEARS. Right now, the people who are getting their surgeries done, some of them have been waiting nearly 3 years. Could you imagine waiting 3 years for surgery on your knee just so you could go back to work? There are many other problems with our system, too much to get into in a comment section. Although I will concede, you won't have to re-mortgage your house or go into bankruptcy over your medical bill and you're free to seek medical attention when needed. So we got that going for us...
Healthcare should have never been privatized. You shouldn't be shoveling millions to shareholders and executives while the American people suffer from crippling healthcare costs and die from lack of or poor care. We need universal care for all that is only there to serve the people. No upper management siphoning funds off the top.
Getting rich on other people's suffering.
What do you propose?
@@jakebredthauer5100 the answer to this question is complex. There could be many possible routes to leveling the field but, it would take making brave bold moves that will not be popular with the rich/super rich. One move would be to eliminate any surplus Medicaid monies to these for profit hospitals. Another would be to have set national price lists these hospitals could charge for service. I've seen bandages that have a price tag of $200 a bandage. The same one you could buy at your local pharmacy for about $5 per box. There needs to be so many changes.
@@jakebredthauer5100 Single payer.
@@jimparsons9454 What makes you two (Jim, Donna) think that if medical money/power were concentrated that much, the people that have it, would not spend it for something else.
@@jakebredthauer5100 Thieves always will find ways to separate you from your dollars. At least there would be a system in place that attempts to correct the suffering and deficiency. It will not be perfect but would be better than the system we have now. We can use the example of countries that do it best.
I really don't understand how the richest country in the history of the world doesn't have universal healthcare. What an uncaring society.
The reason it’s the riches country is because we expect everyone to pay for what they receive in life. You call the United States uncaring well, I bet you live in a country that the United States cared enough to save you from Hitler and the Soviet Union from ruling over you.
@@teena2814 there were other countries that fought in the war also and still managed to provide their citizens with universal healthcare;
Yea how dare a country not give you free shit just for existing. What selfish scums of a country where things aren't handed to us on a silver platter at the cost of others. Its just terrible.
@@sherrymac1336 well sure they could afford it since they lived under the protection of the United States Military. The U.S. is NATO and without it NATO would not exist. Instead of criticizing the United States why not thank it for keeping you protected? Ungrateful POS!
@@teena2814 Thanks Nato for your protection and thanks Canada for free healthcare! I guess I have the best of both worlds and for that I am blessed; sincerely yours an ungrateful POS! PS maybe read up on Canada , France and Britains role in the war and educate yourself.
If you made the wealthy and powerful receive the same health care as the poor, you would be surprised just how quickly the tide would rise!!! "How a society treats its vulnerable is always the measure of it's humanity". You in America have made great innovations in medical care but you have put profit over people, and in that equation, your society overall will always lose.
The wealthy can travel, good luck with your proposal.
The richest country in the world yet the medical care is controlled by the insurance firms and big pharmaceutical companies. The NHS in my country has many faults but the good it does outweigh the fault. The government who ever takes the NHS into private hands it will regret it .
As long as the necessities of life are just products to be sold there will always be people who can't afford to be alive
I had an Orthopedic Surgeon that was retired from the military. One of the smartest ideas I heard , said “ our soldiers and there families get healthcare, why don’t we just expand that?!” “ everyone gets the same level of care and no corporations “. Makes sense to me. Our health insurance dictates our care NOT WHAT OUR FIRST MEDICAL NEED IS. So if I need an eye medication that does not have “ sulfa” in it ( I’m highly allergic) the second choice is a steroid. Which does NOT fix the disease!!!!!! And in the long term makes it’s WORSE! What I needed cost $748, YES $748!!!!! For 1/4 ounce eye drops!!!! Yes I paid out of pocket
Just look at the VA hospitals as a whole, they suck. Some va hospitals are fantastic but as a whole they suck
@@jonathanjones3126 Yes that’s true. But consider this, I was a military dependent for 20 years then married a retired Marine ( at age 31) and received medical care for another 15 years as an adult. That medical care was very good. My father and X husband are Veterans now. The difference between early care and elder care is remarkable. 🕊
@@jonathanjones3126 No one is advocating such a set-up. Medicare-for-All allows for competition.
Like the problem we have in America with the cost of medications and supply being 10x higher then in any other country…insulin costs around $275/vial in the US but that same bottle of insulin only costs $30 in Mexico…same manufacturer but laws in the US allow them to charge so much more then in other countries…we are literally being robbed blind
A hospital is not a Holiday Inn. We don't go there for a vacation.
I haven't seen a doctor in 25 years..... I know it's going to be too late for me when I finally see one 😐
Dont go and definitely DONT GET THE JAB....your not the only ones. Keep holding the line and stay the course and when the time comes this FARCE will be revealed as the Lie it really is......but shhhhh, this is the new normal. You cannot question any official story otherwise your a conspiracy theorist. This is called MARGINALIZE AND DISCRIMINATE
You’re probably healthier for it.
Start banning together already block colleges from requiring your kids for getting the jab before they can attend college. If we use social media and band together our numbers WILL make colleges cave in folks. Seriously we can STOP the idiocy. Just tell yourselves there are others just like you WHO ARE READY.....but like you they arent sure either
Trust me, you're probably better off.
@@HandsONreviews4u go take your anti science crap back to the uk. We don’t need it here.
Also exacerbated by poorer communities living in food deserts leading to more health issues.
Bingo! I watched a documentary on this exact issue/problem. Poorer communities have a lot more Heath issue including severe dental problems.... Eating habits and lack of nutritional awareness is literally killing the impoverished/poor communities!
@@patrickmeyer4829 So you expect the poor to follow a healthy diet when all they can afford might not be the most nutritious or healthy food? Wow you must be a special kind of ignorant.
@@ermericcarolissen694 That maybe the dumbest comment I have ever read! Being poor doesn’t excuse eating bad! Have you ever heard of food stamps! Guess who gets food stamps, people struggling or low incomes! Guess what the food stamp/card can buy?? Need a hint? Nutritional food at the grocery store!
@@patrickmeyer4829 You've obviously never been poor. Yet you claim to have so much insight into something you know absolutely nothing about.
@@patrickmeyer4829 Typical Republican. Blame the poor for being poor and then also blame them for not eating correctly. But you're not just happy with that. You also have to blame them for getting sick as well. Because according to you getting sick only comes from having a poor diet. You are a selfish prick who has no empathy or sympathy for anyone.
Private equity is horrible enough when it comes to factories and saw mills but it is unconscionable with hospitals.
You guys desperately need a public health care system. We might have some wait time in Canada, but at least we don`t go homeless by receiving the hospital bills.
Plenty of Americans die on waiting lists ... And still others go broke.
I don't know a single Canadian who would like to switch systems .. that should tell you all you need to know.
Well waiting lines are a method of delaying and denying a service, because there is a limit in resources. It takes money to train nurses and doctors and you turn around, wanting to give that service out for free…someone has to pay and there is a limit to that free service. You can not expect to be in a business of giving a away brand new free iPhones and expect success. Healthcare has unlimited demand but infinite resources. Question is where does the public and tax payer want to draw the line? How to fix a broken system that currently highlight the disparity? Either you develop an accepted two or three tier system or the whole system gets downgraded for everyone.
Nobody in the US is forced into homelessness due to Healthcare bills. It's such a myth. If you don't pay your bills, it will be sent to collections. That's it. Anyone who "goes broke" is because they're already broke. People choose not to have insurance, and there are consequences to that.
@@ChicagoMike-fc9ur What colour is the sky in your world? You're flat out wrong and delusional..
@@TheNiteinjail: No, I'm not. Do you live in the US? Do you work in Healthcare in the US? My guess is no.
Why are you surprised America your whole entire country is built for capitalism , its not your problem until you need care
I saw the bill for a hip replacement done on my girlfriend in new mexico.... had she gone to a private( we have a few)hospital in copenhagen the cost would have been almost half.
To me it seems you have a system in the US that has perfected a system that sucks money out of people if you get sick
*My sister died homeless and alone May 13th from cancer in a "non-profit" place, and it eats me up constantly. No one gives a fuck about the poor. Not even their "family."*
As an independent of all things I support national Healthcare. Better to see a blind dentist than none at all
Healthcare private equities suck; oooooh, I had a 15% return in my 401k portfolio from healthcare investments; healthcare private equities rock! Far more of us are complicit in this fiasco than we realize.
"non-profit (Catholic, for example) hospitals competing for market share..." Ya'll know there was a time when to BE "non-profit" meant not competing for market share.
"Profitable patient mix".
My god, you guys really are screwed over there... aren't you?
The word "profit" should NEVER even be mentioned in a healthcare setting.
Leave it to these huge corporations to come in, buy struggling safety net hospitals, cut funding, supplies, decline on camera interviews, then pay their shareholders huge dividends, and admit no guilt whatsoever in a written statemment instead! What a crying shame!
The lady that was an ex drug addicted, I feel her pain so badly. If u haven't been a drug addicted you have no clue what's it's like to be treated like your less than human. So to have a place that doesn't look at you any different than anyone else is a blessing Noone will ever understand. I mean even when I was in an out patient rehab the people that worked there always acted like they were better than you or you were different than them. And to be treated that way by someone that's suppose to help you is a feeling that's impossible to discribe, it leaves you feeling like there's no point in getting clean if your going to be treated like shit anyways. And u have to understand that mot drug addicts suffer from severe depression in the first place so that does nothing but make it worse. I wish I lived close to that hospital.
All the keyboard warriors out there who praise the 'war on drugs' and literally refer to "the drug addicted" as some sort of lower than lower class have gotten absurd. Of course some of them drink alcoholic and/or caffeinated beverages, too. When investigating a crime they even go "Was that person on drugs?"
As a USA full time student working part time bearly making it that’s why I pay my health insurance first before rent I’m so scared of not being able to afford medical care.
You're only one hospital stay from going broke. Life after that will never be the same
I'm sorry to hear that
How lucky we are to have Hospitals that care for people that wouldn't see a Dr. Otherwise. They are true Heroes.
People of all first world countries can see a hero
Yes, now let's raise taxes on the middle class so the working class can get good medical care.
No, we aren't lucky. We will be lucky when the United States joins the rest of the developed world in providing health care for everyone. Preventative care. So that a person doesn't have to be sick or dying in order to be seen in an emergency room. Healthcare for everyone is cheaper but most Americans have no idea because we are fed propaganda. The United States spends more per capita on healthcare than any other country and yet we have the 13th or 14th result. Ahead of us are all of those European nations that provide basic healthcare for all of their citizens. We spend far more and our results are worse.
@@Kyarrix Taxpayer provided Healthcare isn't better ..dig a little deeper you will see wait times for elective surgery are insane..anywhere from 1 - 6 years for hip replacements , back surgery's , and other such procedures . Death panels too. Hospital decides if you live or die. Surgery costs too much to keep you alive ....your over 80..the hospital will opt to let you die. In Canada ....if you leave the country to get Better Healthcare here in the USA...Canada will arrest and jail you when you return." Govt" Healthcare would be highly regulated and simple services would become increasingly difficult to obtain in a timely matter. It's not just about getting free healthcare..because nothing is free. It's about getting Quality Healthcare in a Timely Manner ..When You Need It
@@DemonSlayer-df4ym Hmm. OK. Then how about this - raise taxes on every one making over 60K a year.
Here I am, dreading a biopsy and another ultra sound because my doctors are cautious and want to double check there's wrong. Because of universal health care, I've never worried about being seen as less by medical professionals especially regarding if I have money or not.
Ur lucky then lol…I have health ins that doesn’t pay out easily if at all and getting in to get my thyroid meds once a year is nearly impossible…my teeth have gone to crap cuz of the lack of dentists that take my insurance coverage and was told I have to chose between seeing fat away or if reading was more important because I can’t get bifocals cuz my insurance is so bad…so they don’t even test for bifocal prescription and if I get sick, I’m on my own because I refuse to go to the hospital due to the death protocol used on underinsured and uninsured patients… I used to work for my local hospital and I know for a fact their expenses are inflated by double and there’s coding being done to hide profits big time
@@w8what575 DEATH PROTOCOLS!? I heard of it on John Oliver that it's used for Transplant patients because there isn't enough donated organs. Money shouldn't even be an obstacle when it comes to health care as said by every other industrialized country. Although unless we get benefits from our employers, we do need to pay for our meds, dental and glasses. Though there has been changes made recently where those under 25 and over 65 get pharmacare and dental. I didn't see a dentist for 8 years until I got my benefits due to lack of insurance. So, our system isn't as utopian as I may have led you to think. Sorry. Also, our healthcare system is on the verge of collapse due to lack of funds, understaffing and them being under constant pressure. I know the biggest argument against universal healthcare is the wait time. But the idea is, if you need it right away, you'll get it. My thing was time sensitive, so I didn't have to wait to get every test done. Also, my city is a miracle that actually still have decent healthcare infrastructure. Changes need to be made for both of our countries. But the important thing is, healthcare should be an universal right to everyone; not just the rich. Illness should be the ultimate leveler because everyone feel the same pain.
Medical care should not be in a for-profit industry.
And so goes the myth of American exceptionalism. Gofundme is a normalized form of securing for life sustaining treatment.
This is the story of healthcare across America.
Exceptional reporting...clarity on the problems...
This is pretty messed up, in so many ways. Healthcare and for profit, are words that should not be linked together. Greedy pigs that can care less about the health of pay. Unexcusable.
A friend of mine late husband was an educated man and the Tribal Chairman of the Tohono O’odham Nation. He was used to going to the IHS (Indian Health Service). He had stomach pain and went to the doctor and was given Maalox. After a few times of that he and his wife went to a doctor off the reservation. He had inoperable stomach cancer.
Omg 😢
Why don’t they interview some shareholders about how they live with themselves running off with a big investment portfolio while working class and poor people can’t receive sufficient medical care.
Watching from the UK, disgusted
23:48 36:33 this hospital in March of 1992 failed me by letting my son die because I had no money or insurance to get an incubator for my kid. My son, Christopher Micheal Luna, Born March 2nd, 1992 - Died March 5, 1992. To this hospital, remember him.
@@jimhabsfan Thank you so much friend. May you also have the Lord's love, protection, and blessing my friend. These people who play an important role in society are to blame. Because of money, not life, I lost my only son. Is it a lesson from God? God would never do this. Be safe my friend.
Why the heck should people be making stock profits off of providing life saving healthcare to people!?!
It is a simple one word answer...DEMAND. They know people want desperately to live, be cured, or at least be out of pain. Especially if it is a loved one suffering. So, people will do anything for the treatment. Work like dogs and get paid peanuts to keep a policy. Borrow from their savings, retirement, mortgage. You name it. And that brings them profits.
This documentary seems keen to lay the blame squarely on for-profit corporations. It neglects disclosing that the American government plays a significant role in this ongoing corporate profiteering. On one side, by legislating in favor of corporations and, on the other side, by failing to enforce restraint and reducing drug prices.
This doc gets people mad, sho'nuff... But at the wrong parties.
Yes, at the end of the day the government are the lawmakers, and they have failed to regulate appropriately.
Don’t forget about not once mentioning citizens taking more responsibility for their own health to decrease the healthcare burden that drives these corporations
It’s so weird watching this in a country where the health care isn’t designed to make the most money possible, but instead break even or at the best making a SMALL profit(and that profit goes right back into the hospital)
We have private companies as well, but to be able to get the same benefits as the government run hospitals, they need to adjust their prices to the same level.
Amazing. It's biggest and most expensive third-world country styled healthcare system on this planet.
same with our education system.
Im in a 3rd world country with free health care for all.. who's really 3rd🤔 lol. America is disastrous this is sad.
Poor =dead
I love America and I loved living there a few years back. But programs like this, as well as the response to the pandemic, Australia feels far more comfortable and reassuring.
Yikes; and exactly what did Austrailia do correctly during the covid "pandemic"?
@@mrspleasants8529 for example not billing their patients millions of dollars because they stayed in the hospital
@@TetsuoTakayamaCyberpunk millions...I think that is a bit of an exaggeration.
@@mrspleasants8529 it happened, and even billing hundred of thousands is still horrible for a 1st world country. Stop being blinded by your patriotism.
@@TetsuoTakayamaCyberpunk I am an American that has lived longer outside the USA than in the USA. I am far from patriotic, however I do value freedom.
What my original point was is that Australia was a horrible place to be if you in any way value freedom and have even a minimal understanding of virology. I have a lot fo both.
Wow, I am *almost* at a loss for words. Get profits OUT of healthcare, and get better funding for these important safety net hospitals. This is an outrage. If there were real desires in our country to fix this, it would be get done. Sadly, I have looked for that desire from lawmakers to fix healthcare for decades. Still waiting. Some of what I noted here: Change bedding every three days in a hospital??? Wash patients with paper towels? Are they kidding? I am stunned.
I was in hospital for eight days in 2015. I had emergency surgery. My bedding was changed once, and I didn’t get to bathe at all. They discharged me before I was ready and I told the taxi driver to take me to the ER at another hospital bc I couldn’t get up or walk. No way was I ready to go home and care for myself. The hosp knew that, but they discharged me anyway. I was charged 120K which I will never be able to pay. They’ve simply dropped my case since Covid because I’ve since become unable to work, lost my housing, and a lifetime of personal possessions. I’m currently homeless. They’ll drop you when you’ve got literally nothing to repossess.
The problem is the US healthcare system is a business. That is not how healthcare should be structured. I have no idea how America could ever shift to universal healthcare though. It would be a huge shift and lots of powerful companies would no longer be. It’s so disheartening. I feel like a cog in the dysfunctional wheel.
US spends more taxpayer $ on healthcare than any other country. The main problem is that cost shifting is allowed, so hospitals can keep marking up their prices while all the government does allow it to happen while imposing excessive administrative regulations.
These documentaries need to dig deeper and interview more nurses and especially mid-level practitioners who directly see the problems in for profit medicine. Many doctors have too much on the line because they are financially intertwined with these facilities and are less likely to really get to the reasons medicine is so expensive. I'm a PA and been personally told to do certain things solely for money by my supervising physician. I've seen people die that should never had had surgery and nothing will ever be done to that POS. These docs are buddy buddy with the administration, compared to PAs who do all the same work as doctors but are often treated vastly different. I worked for HCA and would be more than happy to tell you the problems there.
HCA employee here (RN). It's appalling what this corporation is doing to patients and staff. I had to resign, could not take it anymore. I got into this profession to take care of people and make a difference in their lives, but for-profit healthcare has destroyed that dream. The last straw for me was being assigned 4 ICU patients. So unsafe and if anything goes wrong HCA will throw the nurse right under the bus.
@@jenniferosullivan6787 that’s scary
All these disparities is influenced by GREED😞
hospitals are there for profit maximization, not healthcare, as its primary goal
This is incredible reporting by PBS
I don't believe it either.
The Department of Defense has stated that the alarming increasing costs of healthcare in The USA will be the greatest threat to our national security. That being said, I don’t think it’s necessarily that our healthcare system is poor but more so that people don’t take very good care of their health. This country has an obesity problem that’s most likely the problem that’s causing the system to collapse.
Obesity equals. Heart issues/ Diabetes/ Thyroid conditions/ digestive ailments..
Gluttony is a deadly sin...1 of7..
Obesity is more often a result of poverty.
Because the cost of living increases anxiety, depression, and other mental issues which leads to people not giving a fuck about their Heath.
Finally. This is the issue
I have PTSD, MDD, and COPD. I am 26. I can't afford my medications since I lost my health insurance.
Do you have medicaid in your state?
How do you feel about moving across an ocean to a civilised place?
@@anonymousstormchaser we do but I don't have service on my phone and I don't have a computer. My parents took my SSN card and I don't have a driver's license. I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place and all I want is to breathe and function in the real world again.
@@fionafiona1146 I would if I could in a heartbeat. I don't have a passport or any money.
BMO I am so sorry 😢. I was in a terrible situation in regards to having illness and I almost died from my condition but it was years of suffering till then....
This makes me realize how lucky i am to live in Britain.
God and His Majesty be with you.
Amen.
America is over...R.I.P.
Yep.
They are more concerned with dividend then sick people!
My heart is simply aching for you people
Why oh why haven't you achieved universal health care.....yet🇨🇦
it is so hard. I am a single mom. for health insurance for my son and I, it is half my paycheck. plus copays. plus drug prices. plus out of pocket copays for emergencies.
Every human sould have a right to healthcare 🙏
So basically what Jeff Goldsmith is saying is in his speech about the problems and inequities of healthcare and him not blaming the hospitals is that it’s a failure of politics and social policy, and if people would just not be poor and not live in poor locations there wouldn’t be problems. So just be rich and live in wealthy zip codes and you’ll be fine. If you’re poor then tough - your fault.
This has not been a great country in a long time, and health care is the 800 pound gorilla in a room of problems.
When I was in Germany no one had to worry about a medical bill. They had socialized medicine at the time. I don't know if they do that now. It worked well for everyone. A doctor came to my home when I collapsed. This was in the 1990's.
For the life of me, I can't understand why we don't have universal care in this country by now! They're doing the opposite of what it means to help someone, without the stigma of money. The ones that think it's ok, hopefully you don't fall in a category of having no insurance or means for care!!!
That's a a eye opening document with great content. Thank you PBS for making this.
Identifying one's self "American" is a moral dilemma
It is absolutely discussing how patients were made to die alone and family barred from being by their sides. Wacking patients on respirators, particularly against the wishes of patients and family is not just bad medicine it is criminal. The whole ethos of "do no harm" has vanished.
This is not just an issue with the broken healthcare system, it is also a governmental disaster. And the masses just put up with it, went along...and continue to do so. As I started this...discusting.
Just took my Mom to a state of the art hospital in Bengaluru, India, for a Chest XRay. Cost: $8. Yes, eight dollars. In contrast, in my hometown in North Carolina, the same chest Xray costs $400. WHAT a racket.
Why do you think this is ? Is it because of better imaging facilities, better machines ?
Wake up America! You can afford healthcare for all. Just see what every other civilized country is doing. And maybe spend less on the military.
What if we have healthcare for all and spend that money on the military?
I'm an RN and this sickens and enrages me.
I remember as a kid in the mid eighties. The DRGs screwed everything up. Then all of these for profits popped up. Surgical patients were also being discharged with pneumonia. We were short staffed and had to be quiet about it, or lose our jobs. The patients knew that we were short staffed. I had 11 patients without an aide or volunteer to run errands for us. If you had no time to give patients fresh water because you were passing medications, taking care of custodial care patients and running everywhere you’d get yelled at by the management who didn’t lift a finger to help. I eventually had to get out of the field as no RN job was decent. Even, the desk jobs. My schizoaffective disorder and health is very bad now. It’s all because of the “for profit” places I worked for.
The voice of the people has been drowned out by the massive lobbying ability of large corporations. People now serve companies.
This is pathetic!
Australia is fabulous as we don’t need insurance to see a doctor nor does anyone need to pay.
Universal single payer health care would eliminate this class based, profit first, careless system.
The supplemental programs in some states allow the state to take your property from your family once you die. Hence, they take your kid's inheritance. So the poor once again pay more for everything, and are left with little to no wealth and security to leave for their children, despite years of labor and working. Such unfairness and hopelessness only increases with time as it goes on and on for generations.
Private equity firm should be banned from any ownership in our housing, utilities, prisons and healthcare because they only come to cannibalize and exploit whatever they buy. there are too many hands in the healthcare pot that actually provide no care they're just taking the cream off the top. Eliminate these bad actors, who drive up the cost and reduce the service for patients, and funding will be less of a problem.
These supplement programs are Medicaid, a welfare programs.
It'd be good if some solutions were offered
Universal Healthcare as is offered by most countries in the world.
Industry…hmm. Corporate…hmmm. Profit…hmmm,m. These are words that should not be spoken in the same sentence as healthcare.
Is there anything in the US that’s not for profit……. as a healthcare worker I feel people’s pain not to have healthcare insurance