Free Health Care Receives Rock Star Reception In Los Angeles
The past few nights, thousands of people have lined up outside of the Forum in Los Angeles. a venue that usually hosts basketball games or big arena concerts. Who's in town to attract such a crowd? Metallica? Green Day? No, even better—doctors and dentists providing free care on a first-come, first-served basis.
What's that, you say? People lining up for rationed health care voluntarily? That can't be right.
The Forum, located in Inglewood, Calif., is hosting a visit from Remote Area Medical (RAM), a volunteer group that usually provides free medical, dental, and veterinary care to people living in poverty in remote areas. Recent cuts to Medicaid and health care programs for California's working poor have left many people without care quite suddenly. RAM has found a grateful population in Los Angeles—some of whom drove hours to wait in line for care.
Ana Maria Garcia, who works for Orange County, has health insurance that covers her husband and 3 ½-year-old daughter, but her dental deductibles are too high for them all to get care, she said.
Ms. Garcia's husband, Jorge, who was laid off from his custodial job last October, arrived from their home - a 90-minute drive away - at 4 p.m. on Tuesday to get the family's spot in line.
But the Garcias' number never came up, so they slept in their car for a few hours and lined up again early Wednesday morning, awaiting a chance to get root canals and cleanings that Ms. Garcia figured were worth thousands of dollars. They made a friend in the bleachers outside, who gave the family some coffee and hot biscuits for breakfast.
"Regardless if you are employed or not," Ms. Garcia said, "everything in California is expensive, and so I can empathize with everyone here. Looking at this crowd, I think this is what people fear health care is going to be with reform. But to me it also shows the need."
Interestingly, more people would be able to receive care, but there was a shortage of medical professionals in the area willing to volunteer their time.
Thousands Line Up for Promise of Free Health Care [NY Times] (Thanks, Kelly!)
(Photo: meta viendo)
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Comments:
I wonder if those in line were all too poor to afford the health care, such as the root canal mentioned.
Could some maybe be there because it is a good way to save a lot of money, even if they could, strictly speaking, afford it?
If someone asked me, if I would wait 10 hours in line in exchange for saving 1000-2000 dollars on stuff like dental work, I would probably be tempted to do so.
@pecan 3.14159265: Judging by the article, they're not doing anything tricky like that--fillings and extractions are as complicated as they get, and I suspect that they could pass on people whose extractions were going to be particularly complex. Mostly the non-dental stuff was preventative and diagnostic. They confirm this on their website: [www.ramusa.org]
Just guessing, I would imagine that it's like any charitable medical organization, like the Smile Train or Doctors without Borders--you're operating as part of the organization, not individually, and they'd be the defendant in any suit. (It's also possible that patients have to sign a waiver of some kind.) But it's not just doctors walking up and pitching in, which, I agree, would be a bit nerve-wracking from a liability standpoint; they do have a considerable organizational framework.
Looks like a cool organization, all told, and I'd never heard of it before.
@ BrazDane - Wow, these articles always bring out a comment like yours, just not usually so soon.
RAM has been doing these clinics for years, often they're in Appalachia where not only is treatment expensive but in many cases a provider is not available. If you are seriously willing to spend 10 hours in line and sleep in your car while in pain waiting for a root canal I have to go with the theory that you really need it because those suckers HURT!
@pecan - RAM has been doing this for years, I expect they have the legal ramifications figured out.
This is the first article I remember Consumerist talking about health care (I'm sure I've missed a few.) Good for them!
I'm torn. RAM sounds like an awesome organization, it just kinda sucks that it's necessary here in the US.
Speaking for me, I'd love to hear more about Health Care. Shoot, I'd love to see Consumerist do a buying guide on health insurance, unfortunately it more than likely would end up being a plea for reform -- you can't really buy health insurance in the US.
AMERICA FU... umm.
Its sad isn't it :-( Being from the UK and living here in the USA, I look at this sort of thing like it should exist in the third world, not the richest country in the world.
And people are against 'bad' social medicine. Idiots.
Voltunteer work = Comunism! this is America last time I check.
Seriously, there are a bunch of free clinicts that work on volunteers, is sad to see people send back home after hours of waiting because the doctor decided to elave early that day. They should let Med Students do this things as well real practice for them and more people can get some health care not top notch but basic at least
@Nicholas Roussos: I think the difficulty in trying to do a buying guide on health insurance is that health insurance tends to vary from state to state and what may work in one state may not work in another. Besides that, many people have to get the insurance that their employer gives them (if it's offered) so they have no real choice.
Ahh, the UK with those lovely NHS smiles!
The best thing that happened to my parents when they moved to Canada from the UK was that Canada doesn't have any free dental work. They learned just how much more skilled dentists here are, and that their rates aren't all that exorbitant (And that there's ways for the truly broke to get work done for little to no cost at the local universities by students).
The last parting gift from NHS for them was the (two separate!) dentists there scaring them into thinking they'd never be able to afford a dentist after they emigrated. They pulled all their top teeth (At 30 only years old!) and gave them both dentures.
Although, I have to admit, the work that was done was done pretty well (Although they didn't hit my parents up with novocaine for anything, perhaps that's because it was 30+ years ago). My dad's gold crown he got there only fell off two years ago. And, weirdly, they did use gold without extra fees at the time (I know my dad's too cheap to pay for gold teeth!).
@floraposte: This was the organization witnessed by Wendall Potter, former Cigna VP of Marketing, a couple of years ago, when he decided that he had to get out of the biz. He was humbled by the people in Tennessee and surrounding states that waited hours on end to be seen by a doctor or dentist in converted stalls at the fairground. He testified before Congress about it. Google Wendall Potter and read what he now thinks about the insurance industry.
A little Red Hot Chili Peppers joke.
Rockin' to the beat of the fabulous Forum,
My doctors, I adore 'em!
I have to wonder why groups in communities don't start their own "socialized" health care, a few hundred people contributing $10-20 per month and having a few doctors on retainer for basic health care and checkups.
Preventative care is always cheaper in the long run, so why couldn't communities try putting together their own basic coverage plan? A pool of $5000-10000 per month would go a long way to taking care of people, encouraging regular quarterly checkups would prevent the need for expensive care in some/many/most cases, and left over money could be pooled when expensive treatment is required.
Cool. But where are all the low-cost (or free) clinics that used to exist in cities back in the hippie days of the early 1970s? I'm sure they were government subsidized (but no one called Dick Nixon a socialist, so there!). When I graduated from college in '73, I was only making $100 a week for the first two years. I used to go to two different community clinics operating out of storefronts in low-income neighborhoods of my New England city. I think I paid $10 or similar to see a doc when I needed to -- for strep throat, UTIs, whatever. Most of the docs were fresh off their residencies, just starting out, and that was fine. I haven't seen a low-cost clinic in decades.
This is cool to hear about. My medical school hosted (still does) similar events throughout South Florida often, though we usually didn't have dental work included. It was a really pleasant experience for everybody involved; we got to learn more, the patients got to receive free care, and because it was volunteer all around, nobody acted entitled to anything.
@pecan 3.14159265: Well, the people who go to mobile free clinics for dental care opt to have their teeth pulled rather than have corrective measures like a root canal. In their mind if they don't have it pulled it's just potentially going to happen again later. It's a very real and sad truth about the dirt poor sections of the world that people like to make fun of. People camp out for days for these clinics as if it was a line for the latest Xbox.
@theblackdog: You're right, and I understand that. I was really just trying to make a dig on how impossible it is to get health insurance outside of the employment relationship.
@pecan 3.14159265: This program's been around for years (though not in LA) and in that time they've ironed out all the kinks.
And yeah, floraposte has the liability issue about right.
@ds: Did they do this last year, too? If so, "Back to back is a bad ass fact, a claim that remains intact."
@floraposte: @Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): NPR had a story a week or two ago about the organization in Virginia.
That was the first time I heard about them, though I initially thought it was something like MSF.
These stories and the one about the tent city near Sacramento tend to shatter my ideas about what kind of country this is.
That was the first time I heard about them, though I initially thought it was something like MSF.
Hey, no Frenchie abbreviations here. We only do 'Murican initials, thankyouverymuch.
@Nicholas Roussos: I was quoted over $2500 a month with a $3000 deductible for catastrophic only family coverage. That was if I could pass their physical and pre-existing condition check. Odds are I could not get coverage due to having chronic medical problems that have nothing to do with lifestyle "choices".
Seriously $2500 a month. That is insane even for someone with a middle class income.
@edguitar: Medical Students should be required to do this kind of volunteering. It might give some of those soon to be doctors a real wake up call about their industry.
@P_Smith: Our city has a community clinic but it is so overwhelmed that people avoid using it so what little funding they have can be used for the utterly desperate.
I would love to see a larger community health clinic exist that served all segments of the community. The cost of services here is insane. Medical care here costs more than it does in NYC. The median income here is $60k for a household.
@shepd: Of course most Europeans have better teeth than the average American, and they have socialized dentistry. The problem with the UK is they try to do everything on the cheap.
I sure hope no one confuses this with the mobile pig butcher facility. It could be disastrous either way.
With stories like this, I can't believe we need to argue about health care in this country. How to pay for it? Maybe it would have helped if we didn't load cargo planes with PALLETS of cash to go to Iraq just to have them vanish. POOF! You right wingers don't want to pay for my doctor visits, I didn't want to pay for your war!
@theodicey: Hahahaha. That is SO very NOT TRUE. But good for a laugh. I'd like to make a coffee table book called, "The Big Book of European Smiles."
@ElizabethD: I live in Madison, WI and we have 3 low-income clinics that are mostly staffed by volunteer physicians from the University of Wisconsin Hospital. There's also a Benevolent Specialty Provider clinic that's staffed by retired specialty doctors.
I think it's just that they don't really advertise much -- they have plenty of patients coming to them through word of mouth.
Go to RAM's website now and watch their story that was on 60 Minutes last year ([www.ramusa.org]). These people do awesome work. They've normally been operating in the southeast in the US (they also do work outside of the US), but now are scheduling these weekends in more parts of the US. They've found that there are folks in the US who have the same need for medical care as those in 3rd world countries where they used to focus their energies. They desperately need donations to fund what they do.
Plus, the guy who started it is Stan Brock from Mutual of Omaha. We all remember him, right! Stan was the one who actually got down with the wild animals while Marlin Perkins stayed home and safe. He's a cool dude and he's really trying to help folks.
Can we get one of these in New York City? NYU dental school is not funny anymore.
RAM has an annual clinic out in middle-of-nowhere, Virginia, where I interned last summer at a newspaper. They always set huge records there as to how many people they treat. Thousands of people, thousands of miles of driving from 16 states ... it sucks.
And the Republicans are telling these same people that free market health care is the end-all, be-all.
@edguitar: Medical students DO volunteer at these clinics. At the one in Wise, Va., most of the medical schools in the state send pretty big groups.
And no, it's not a case of "the doctor decided to leave early that day." These volunteers usually work 12-14 hour days during these clinics (volunteering, let me remind you), and there's only so much they can do as humans.
I drove by the other day and wondered what the crowd over there was all about. They seldom open the place during the week, usually only for weekend concerts and even those are infrequent.
I'm sure there were a lot of people in need. Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital closed and Centinela Medical Center isn't a full service facility. Thank God my insurance and doctors are all through Cedars Sinai!
my work involves supporting people with a specific chronic illness and yesterday i spoke with one gentleman whose medicaid ended and he was told his next option for prescription drug coverage with medicare(!) would cost him $800 a month [just for the prescription coverage]
his social security disability income is $1000 and month and his living expenses for shelter, food and utilities is $900 a month.
fortunately he has some other options for getting help, but if he was relying on private insurance only, he'd be in deep trouble.
and, due to the nature of his illness, he can't drive or go outside in the heat of summer so he wouldn't even be able to get to a clinic like this.
i'm glad services and organizations like this exist, i just wish it could be spread to help even more people
Kinda funny - having all these people running around in open-ended hospital gowns...at a place called the Forum.
Like a big TOGA party!
I watched the movie Sicko and now everything about America's health care pisses me off. We should have access to free health care!!
They've actually had to stop taking people. They gave out wristbands today so people could come back and get a spot in line. This covers the next 5 days and was done so people wouldn't be sleeping on the street waiting in line with their kids. They do still need medical (optometrists and such) and non-medical volunteers (food and water hand outs and translators).
please stop calling it "Free" Health care. There is no such thing.
@styloroc:
Before I get called out as a troll, I just hate the overuse of the word "free"...the use of the word is more often than not, misleading -- it's a marketing gimmick.
Let me elaborate -- they were giving it free of charge... true; but they were paying in terms of time, charity, etc.
Semantics sure, but the word has a very powerful meaning in terms of perception and connotation.
@ElizabethD: The free clinics are all over the place, you just have to look for them. In fact you can go to almost any Medical College and get free or insanely reduced health care. It's usually done by students supervised by doctors, but then again so is alot of the work done by RAM as well.
@bohemian: Wow, that's really bad.
I tried obtaining insurance on my own as a student once, because I had a kidney stone the year prior, they then wanted about $300 a month, and had written a clause in the contract that they would not pay for any type of "renal issues" i.e. another kidney stone.
I told them to go pound sand, and when I did so, then they decided to inform me that I could have appealed that extra clause. I still told them to go pound sand.
@styloroc: Of course, but for these people its free due to the fact that the time they may spend being dead is reduced by having preventative care.
Id say thats pretty free.
But...but...I saw on the Daily Show a clip of Glenn Beck saying the US has the bestestestest health care EVAH! And then a clip of him saying the opposite a year or so before, but still...surely the anti-reform people can't be so wrong? Ahh, I know...in the back of the stadium they had a Death Panel set up, didn't they? Would have helped make the line go faster too. Heck, they could have set up some of those Futurama suicide booths by the line!
Down with the sick! They make the sweet, lovable anti-reform movement look incredibly stupid! Booooo to the poor! Booo to the sick!
(Anyone who can't smell the sarcasm is cordially invited to bite my shiny metal ass.)
@kaceetheconsumer: Anyone as condescending as you deserves to have their shiny metal ass melted down and used for something useful, like new medical tools.
![[www.waagnfnp.com]](http://www.waagnfnp.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/bookofbritishsmileszn1.jpg){kind=link}
Before medical professionals are all maligned for not volunteering - what kind of legal ramifications are there for people who are in line to get a delicate procedure done, like a root canal? If it's not a simple tooth cleaning or getting your rash looked at, what ramifications are there for a doctor or dentist if he/she volunteers time to people for conditions that require more than just gauze and a q-tip.