"The Waiting Room" Director, Peter Nicks on his documentary on American healthcare system

As the future of health care reform possibly hangs in the balance of the upcoming election, a new documentary takes an insiders look at what life is like at a public hospital in Oakland, California where most of the patients don't have insurance. Unlike what has been seen on TV shows like ER, this films looks at the inner workings of the hospital through documenting life in the waiting room. The hospital is highland hospital in Oakland. The movie is called, "The Waiting Room" and its director, Emmy Award winning filmmaker Peter Nicks joins “Starting Point” this morning.

Nicks says the safety net is the last resort for communities all over the country and usually the “only place they know where to go.” “There are a patch work of community clinics you can go to but for the most part Highland has the infrastructure to deal with a variety of problems,” like language barriers.

Nicks says in the greater health care debate his film questions the role of the safety net moving forward in safety net hospitals around the country. The filmmaker adds that the voices of the people on the ground level in public hospitals have been left out as the debate on Healthcare heats up.

Ultimately the film questions if the de facto care that uninsured people are receiving right now is acceptable. "The Waiting Room" opens in New York City today and will release nationwide in the coming weeks.