Yet high technology diagnostic procedures are much more available in the U.S., and Canadian patients may be subjected to older, more dangerous diagnostic tests. To complement the powerful patient stories, health care experts and business leaders like Lee Iococca comment on the medical and financial implications of both systems. This powerful documentary shows that despite America's extraordinary medical resources, our health care system is failing a large part of the population. One out of six Americans has no coverage and cannot afford basic care. They must rely on public clinics whose funding is shrinking.
Poor children are at greatest risk.
In the U.S., which ranks 20th in infant mortality, nearly 40,000 infants die every year because they are born prematurely with low birth weight. Two-thirds of these deaths occur among mothers with little or no prenatal care. The cruel irony of our system is that, while denying routine preventive care to millions, it often gives dying patients useless care they don't want. In the intensive care unit of New York City's Roosevelt Hospital, Dr. David Finley illustrates how difficult it is to withdraw life support equipment. The documentary explores the complicated issue of organ transplants, where huge sums of money are spent for the benefit of the relatively few.