Hector in Critical Condition
Hector Cardenas
Los Angeles, CA
Joe in Critical Condition
Joe Stornaiuolo
Bethlehem, PA
Karen in Critical Condition
Karen Dove
Austin, TX
Carlos is Uninsured
Carlos Benitez
Los Angeles, CA
Created by some of the most effective, most respected organizations on the issues related to this series, these resources can help guide discussions at your screening event.
A Roadmap to Health Insurance for All: Principles for Reform
This report, prepared for The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System, explores the different options and how elected officials can not only increase coverage for the uninsured, but also improve quality and efficiency and gain control over spiraling health care costs.
Lesson Plan for Critical Condition
Classrooms can use this lesson to examine health insurance coverage in America and create public service announcements to connect the uninsured with free and subsidized health care services.
The Uninsured: A Primer (PDF)
This report from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured presents basic information about the uninsured--who they are and why they do not have health coverage. It also explores the difference that health insurance makes in people's lives, provides a summary of how and why the number of uninsured is growing, and discusses currently proposed solutions. (October 2007)
Tune-in Notice for Broadcast of CRITICAL CONDITION
National PBS Premiere on P.O.V., Tuesday, September 30 at 9 pm.
Tomorrow's leaders need to understand the power of the story. If you're a high school or college leader or educator, here are materials, created by education experts that untap the series video's dialogue potential in classroom discussions and assignments.
Critical Condition Lesson Plan - Grades 9-12
This lesson plan is designed to be used with film shorts from Critical Condition. Teachers can use this lesson to examine health insurance coverage in America and create public service announcements to connect the uninsured with free and subsidized health care services.
Here is information specifically designed for grassroots organizers on issues related to this video and related series.
Overburdened and Overwhelmed: The Struggles of Communities with High Medical Cost Burdens (PDF)
The number of people with potentially high medical cost burdens varies widely across the nation. Some of these people lack insurance, while others are insured but are paying a high portion of their income to get that coverage. Federal support will be critical to addressing this problem. (November 2007)
The Uninsured: A Primer (PDF)
This report profiles the 45.5 million Americans under age 65 without health insurance. It reviews how they receive and pay for medical care, explains why the number of uninsured individuals has changed recently, and describes options for expanding coverage. (January 2006)
Multimedia related to this video and related series.
Slideshows from Kaiser Family Foundation
A collection of downloadable slideshows with charts and visuals demonstrating the health coverage crisis.
Slideshows on Public Opinion
From the Kaiser Family Foundation
From some of the nation's most respected research and advocacy organizations, on the issues related to this video and related series.
Families USA Resources
A comprehensive collection of reports on a range of aspects related to the American crisis of health care coverage.
Family Coverage: Covering Parents Along with Their Children,
A report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, describing ways in which states can both cover more parents and simplify the enrollment and renewal process.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Link to the foundation's reports and related articles on the health care coverage issue.
The Human Right to Health Care (PDF)
A report from the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative outlining provisions in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that support the human right to healthcare for all.
The Uninsured and Their Access to Health Care (PDF)
The fact sheet, from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, states that while the majority of Americans (62%) under the age of 65 receive health insurance coverage through their employers and almost all the elderly are covered through Medicare, 44.7 million nonelderly Americans lacked health insurance in 2003. Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) play an important role in covering millions of nonelderly low-income people, especially children.
Wrong Direction: One Out of Three Americans Are Uninsured (PDF)
This report presents new data showing that 89.6 million Americans were uninsured for some portion of 2006-2007, an increase of 17 million from the 1999-2000 period. It provides a detailed analysis of who these uninsured people are, where they live, how long they have been without coverage, and their demographic characteristics. (September 2007)
Links to organizations and more publications on issues related to this video and related series.
The Uninsured: Families USA Publications
Comprehensive list of a range of PDF documents about the uninsured.
What Happens When Public Coverage Is No Longer Available?
In the face of prolonged budge difficulties, a number of states have cut eligibility or are considering such cuts in public coverage. What Happens When Public Coverage Is No Longer Available? concludes that no more than 9 percent of low-income adults would have access to an alternative source of insurance in the absence of public coverage. (January 2006)
Women and Health Coverage: The Affordability Gap
Although men and women have some similar challenges with regard to health insurance, women face unique barriers to becoming insured. Women and Health Coverage: The Affordability Gap describes these obstacles and stresses the importance of addressing these disparities in health policy proposals. (April 2007)
