"Sick Around America" on Frontline this Tuesday

(this was in my mailbox this morning. I wonder if they will go into just how much the insurance costs are as a percentage of overall healthcare cost in the US? Or whether or not the half of bankruptcies in the US are still due to healthcare costs? I know I had one hell of an argument in a class with some right-wing fucktards in class a couple of years ago about this shit.)

FRONTLINE
http://www.pbs.org/frontline/- This Week: "Sick Around America" (60 minutes),March 31st at 9pm on PBS (Check local listings)----"You might be surprised," a health policy expert says near the start of this week's FRONTLINE, before listing some of the reasons people are routinely denied health insurance. "People are turned down because they have hay fever, because they have acne. People are turned down if they're 20 pounds overweight. Bedwetting, ear infections in kids..." Unfortunately, after watching "Sick Around America" this Tuesday night (check local listings), you might come away thinking those denied coverage for frivolous reasons are actually the lucky ones.In this film, producer Jon Palfreman travels the country talking to some of the millions of Americans who are uninsured, underinsured, or at risk of bankruptcy from unpaid medical bills. He meets a woman who's dropped by her insurer not long after she receives a cancer diagnosis. He finds a 23 year-old engineering student who had planned to head off to grad school, but, instead, works a low-wage job for the affordable health coverage he needs to cover a chronic condition. And then there's the tragic story of a young woman who dies of Lupus after being dropped by her state's Medicaid program. "I'm not afraid to say it," her doctor tells FRONTLINE in an emotional interview. "Nikki didn't die from Lupus. "Nikki died... secondary to the complications of a failing health care system.""I think everyone now understands it's not sustainable, right?" says Jeffrey Kang, a doctor and insurance executive. "From an insurance perspective it's not sustainable. From a business perspective it's not sustainable. Obviously from the consumers' perspective it's not sustainable. And I actually think the doctors and the hospitals understand that it's not sustainable..."The question that powerfully emerges from this film--and which now confronts the nation--is whether the vested interests vying for trillions in health care dollars can come together to make the kind of fundamental change that everyone now seems to agree we need.We hope you'll join us Tuesday night for the full report--broadcast or streamed online. In the meantime, visit our Web site for a preview http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundamerica/ . Starting Tuesday night our site offers interviews with key players, some critical background and links, and the opportunity to join the discussion. Ken DornsteinSenior Editor-------------Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers. Major funding for FRONTLINE is provided by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the Park Foundation. Additional funding for Sick Around America is provided by The Colorado Health Foundation, The Colorado Trust and The Commonwealth Fund.------------------------FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of the WGBH Educational Foundation.----------------------------We're always happy to hear from our viewers. If you have a question or comment about a FRONTLINE program, about our website, or about this bulletin, you can write to us directly by going to:http://www.pbs.org/frontline/contact/----------------------------FRONTLINEone guest street, boston, ma. 02135http://www.pbs.org/frontline/