Former insurance executive Wendell Potter told Bill Moyers that he left the insurance industry after attending the Wise County health fair. Potter told Moyers that he saw people being treated in animal stalls and contrasted it with the gold-plated silverware found on the corporate jets he flew. It rekindled something in Potter's conscience, and he decided to testify about insurance industry abuses at Congressional hearings on health care reform. Despite Potter's efforts, people are still being treated in animal stalls. The Wise County free health care clinic is being held this weekend. So far, nearly 2,000 Appalachian residents, all of whom can't afford to be treated at doctor's offices due to the lack of affordable and accessible heath insurance, have been treated in the animal stalls of the Wise County Fairgrounds.
The stories of this clinic are the stories of a broken health care system. A local resident told the Kingsport Times-News that her husband couldn't get insurance coverage for the diabetes he has had since he was 4 years old.
"Amanda Clarkston of Wise accompanied her husband, 26-year old John Clarkston, to RAM. She said her husband has been a diabetic since age four.
“He comes here to get help with his diabetes because he has no health insurance, and he can’t get health insurance because he has diabetes. That’s so stupid,” she said. “I think they should give Medicaid coverage to people who need it. We have a pretty good income and he has insurance for other things, but he can’t get diabetes coverage. I think that’s ridiculous.”
The media has been saying that "we don't know what health care reform looks like." What they should be saying is, "I haven't bothered to read the bill and determine what health care reform looks like because the wine and cheese of the beltway cocktail party circuit is too alluring." The truth is that both the Senate HELP bill and the House tri-committee bill would empower diabetes patients, and patients with other chronic illnesses, to obtain proper treatment and manage their disease correctly.
The days of a diabetic seeking treatment once a year in a Fairgrounds barn would be over if the House tri-committee bill is signed into law by the President this fall. The House tri-committee bill bans the absurd practices of denying insurance coverage due to pre-existing conditions (See Section 112), charging patients with certain illnesses astronomical premiums (See Section 113), and rescinding policies of patients with chronic illnesses (See Section 162).
The result of our current failed practices is that the diabetic who should be seen by a specialist once every three to four months is instead seen once a year in a crowded animal barn. Failure to properly manage and treat diabetes can lead to severe complications--like blindness and foot amputations. But our current system gives the people directly responsible for denying care to those who need it--the insurance bureaucrats--massive bonuses, even though this passing of the buck will inevitably cost the system more over the long-haul.
Anne Holton, the wife of Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, told the Kingsport Times-News that the fact that this clinic even exists shows why health care reform is needed:
“I think this event right here shows the need for health care reform. The volunteers are performing wonderful, spectacular deeds here today,” Holton said. “But people shouldn’t have to wait in long lines at 5 o’clock in the morning for health care. This shows the possibilities, but it also shows the need for health care reform"
Mrs. Holton is right. Every single American citizen deserves the dignity of proper medical care. People shouldn't be forced to camp out for five days at a Fairgrounds' barn to see a doctor. Patients shouldn't be forced to see a doctor only once a year for a potentially life-threatening illness like diabetes. One attendee of this health care fair told the Bristol Herald-Courier that it could be different:
“We are working taxpaying jobs, paying taxes, and we can’t get insurance because we make $6.55 an hour,” said Laura Head, 32, of Rogersville, Tenn., the first person in line Friday for the first day of the Remote Area Medical clinic, an annual three-day event offering free medical care. “This is really a great beneficial thing, but it doesn’t have to be this way; we could all have insurance.”
A single mother of three who mows yards and moves trailers for a living, Head said she arrived at the fairgrounds Tuesday, to camp out at the fairgrounds until the health fair began Friday morning. Her motivation was simple: severe, constant pain.
She's right it can be different. But change will only come if Senators on the Finance Committee stop Twittering and start working to help hard-working, but struggling Americans like those who were forced to seek health care in animal barns today.
Update: Thanks to nyceve and the Virginia National Guard some photos of this clinic at the Fairgrounds:
Reuters also has a photo album, which while it can't be posted here, is a must see. Finally dmhlt 66 posted a slide show of the lines at this clinic below. And, of course, thanks for the recs.
Update 2: A few people wanted to make sure that people know that the doctors at these clinics are volunteering their time, and that should be commended. I think it's implied in my diary, but it's worth stating again. But as the client of the clinic told the Bristol paper, it could be much, much better
