If government makes it easier for people to get free medical services, the argument goes, too many people will come clamoring for those services and the demand will bankrupt any publicly-funded program. In healthcare wonk circles, this is called the 'woodwork effect.' People will come out of the woodwork seeking costly, perhaps unnecessary, services if they are widely offered. After speaking with some of the registration staff charged with categorizing every patient who walked through the forum's doors, the woodwork theory becomes suspect.
In front of the shuttered refreshment stands, Mary is waiting behind a card table that doubles as an intake desk. She has worked as an RN for 23 years and is volunteer triage nurse this afternoon.
"Many doctors don't accept Medicaid because they don't want to attract that kind of population into their offices," Mary said. "It's about American entitlement. You know, the haves and the have- nots."
Mary is a labor and delivery nurse at Long Beach Memorial hospital. Her hair is pulled back in thick French braid and a stethoscope adorns her neck. "People who can afford insurance or have good employer medical plans don't want to share a waiting room with people who don't," she said.
* * *
There is a new demographic attending the RAM Expedition this summer: the recession patients. Jan, a nursing administrator for RAM, said that there has been an uptick in young, laid-off workers seeking dental and vision care. "Most young people think they're invincible," Jan said, "until they realize they need glasses to drive." Most of the young recession refugees can't afford dental or vision plans.
Even if their parents policies offer them coverage, the co-pay for glasses and wisdom teeth extractions are out of their price range. Today, the optometry line is divided between seniors and people under thirty.
* * *
"Also, can you remove my lip ring? It was a stupid idea." Jennifer, a high school student, said to her volunteer dentist, who has already outfitted Jennifer with a hygienic bib.
Jennifer does not look 17. She looks like a trendy twentysomething in chunky glasses, kitten-heel flats, and her hair tied off to the side. She is a senior in high school and her father is a longshoreman at the Long Beach port. While she is getting her teeth cleaned, Jennifer's boyfriend Lewis comes over with a paper bag in hand. The two arrived at 3 a.m. Friday morning.
Lewis, who stayed awake while Jennifer slept against him on 90th street, had a physical, an optometry test and a filling put into his canine tooth. Inside of Lewis' paper bag was acne medication. Lewis's employer, a limo company, does not offer health insurance and he can't afford it. He and Jennifer met a year ago on Myspace and came to RAM because, according to Lewis, he wants to make sure they "stay healthy so they can stay together for a long time."
Lewis put on his new pair of prescription glasses and grinned at Jennifer as she got her teeth drilled.
Stellar piece. And refreshing.
A question, though, from the lawyer who inhabits my rotten soul: they had to sign releases against malpractice, I'm assuming?
Yep. All the standard releases and paperwork. I think organizers assure themselves that there won't be too many malpractice problems because it ain't a very litigious crowd, you know?
Denying people access to doctors, hospitals and dentists is inhumane and evil. For each of these "lucky" people, there are dozens who will just suffer and die because of our me-first society.
And isn't it interesting how many of these "town brawl" yellers are themselves covered by government health care like Medicare and the VA, but can't find it in their hearts to support the same options for others?
Burn in hell, Republicans.
to be fair, that last sentence is their default argument, Nic.
great point about how ongoing management of chronic diseases like diabetes is both better health care and less expensive than forcing the patient to go into crisis before seeking care through an ER.
also - i fully agree with yanking teeth from a medical perspective. but it can be pretty hard to get a job without any front teeth.
Also the remaining teeth deteriorate faster. Dietary issues may follow as well. Or at least that is what my dentist always said and he was a professor.
That was actually a point a lot of people in the "tooth stands" (the de facto waiting room") made. How much their mouths and teeth determined their overall health, psyche, and employment. The problem becomes cyclical, especially in service economy like Los Angeles'.
They pay for all this through T-shirt sales, right?
"MONSTERS OF EMERGENCY CARE TOUR 2009!!!"
Jesus. The last time I heard about "teeth day" was when talking to some friends who do mountain clinic work in Haiti. People walk dozens of miles and wait all day to have their teeth yanked with the help of novocain. To see this same "teeth day" recreated in the richest nation in the world... well...
and keep in mind that the latest round of cuts from the legislature and the governor will further erode the existing primary care options for the uninsured and further cut back insurance options for the low-income. so if this is 3rd world, LA should be in 4th world status this time next year.
I think that may be true in a comparative sense. But, having been there, and knowing a lot of first-person stories from clinic workers living there, NOTHING I have ever seen has anything on Haiti. For this hemisphere anyway. In fact, calling it "3rd world" implies that it is of this world. And it is not.
And in one of the richest cities in the richest country.
I do wish the insurance/medical community would stop treating teeth and eyes as if they are luxuries. They are firmly attached to my body and they came with the whole package I was born with. It's maddening to me that dental and vision care have the crappiest coverage and highest copays yet when you need that care, it can be as urgent as appendicitis...
Yes and tooth infections can quickly evolve into a life threatening condition. We are so far from getting what the rest of the developed world takes for granted...it's disheartening.
I bet the lollipops are terrible.
Ha, a similar roadshow came to my town for two whole days. I got a free x-ray AND a free filling! But the line of people desperate for dental care was so long that by the second day they had to restrict everyone to only one procedure, and some of the services that had been advertised were no longer offered.
What I love most about the treatment of dental care as a "luxury" is the vicious-circle aspect: how are you going to get a job with a dental plan if you're missing your front teeth? That interview is NOT GOING TO GO WELL.
Nic - I can find it in my heart to allow the same care for others. I just don't want to be the one paying for their care and mine.
People are talking about how we have to be “fair and justâ€Â, and that we have moral obligation blah blah blah. What about people being responsible for themselves? In school, did you have someone else do your work, attend your classes, and then you get the diploma? How about work? Do you go to work and just sit there while someone else does your job, and you collect a paycheck?
Why should the govt have to burden any of us with heavy and excessive taxes to pay for people who are too ignorant or stupid to take care of themselves? I know, I know, "what a mean and arrogant thing to say". Bite me! I graduated high school, joined the marines, served in Panama and the 1st Gulf War. Got out of the military, got a job, worked my up the corporate ladder. I could have stayed in corporate America as a worker-bee (manager or above) but realized I could do better on my own. I've never asked anyone for a hand-out, but I've asked plenty for a hand-up.
If the govt programs were offering people a hand-up, sure...I'd be more than happy to help. But they aren't. Do some govt programs help people who truly need it? Sure, but do those same programs allow people to abuse the system…hell yes! We need checks and balances with all these programs. They need to be audited and adjusted. A perfect example of how the left is yelling at the right is the Fair Housing Act. People think the republicans are all upset about who gets to buy a house and where people can live. If that’s what you think then you need a history lesson. The Housing Act was introduced by Carter in the 70’s. He wanted to allow fair housing for everyone, saying there is no reason for someone to not be a homeowner. Reagan and Bush Sr both made some adjustments, and then Clinton slammed it with a policy not requiring anyone to show proof of income or immigration status. Now you tell me how the republicans are to blame for that!
This healthcare reform is just another govt run program which is going to fail miserably because the govt has not business being in this business, and business directing or ordering businesses how to run in this industry.
Can't you just be a wrong asshole in fewer words? Thx.
This is too funny.
Citizens of the richest country in the world need medical aid orginally designed not even for the third world, but for the Amazon jungle. This story hasn't gotten the coverage it deserves. This should be the top news on every network and cable channel, because it so dramatically shows the US is in dire need of health care reform.
RAM's health care expeheditions were first brought to my attention by Wendell Potter.
http://www.squidoo.com/wendell_potter