DocStory
Come join me on my journey to Haiti April 2012, where myself, another doctor and 8 3rd year medical students work in Port-au-Prince and a rural village of Haiti.
Why can't all diseases get organized, well intentioned, humane care? Why does a man who has his own business have to play Russian Roulette with his life in trying to get treatment for his Rectal Cancer? Thanks to Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act most people in the U.S. who make 133% of the Federal Poverty level and below will automatically qualify for health insurance and will get the much needed care they haven't been getting up until now.
Last week the US Census Bureau estimated that 50 million people in the US are uninsured. Here's a story of three of them. (Names and identifying details have been altered to protect the patients' identities)
Uninsured patients have to wait over a year for procedures, thus we clinicians will send urgent patients needing procedures to the emergency room just to get it within a timely matter. But if all the providers were taking care of all the patients, there would be no wait and the emergency rooms would be for...emergencies.
As a doctor for the uninsured for 17 years in Los Angeles I'm still blown away on a daily basis on how horrific the medical system is for the poor!
Upload logo
Choose a logo image in .gif, .jpg, or .png format.
Delete logo
Choose File