The TV show, "60 Minutes" hasn't been relevant to us in years, especially since the dimmest of bulbs, Katie Couric, joined the team. But last night's show featured a report about the "Remote Area Medical Corps" or RAM. The charity was initially started in the 90’s by it’s founder, Stan Brock (former co-star of Wild Kingdom...now there's a blast from the past!), to give health care relief to remote areas of Latin America. Last night's segment made America’s health care system look not all that much different than that of a third world country.RAM set up for a weekend in Knoxville, Tennessee, and their eye doctors, gynecologists, dentists and other medical personnel offered free medical care for as many people as they could handle in two days. People were camping out in 20-degree weather for the opportunity to see the doctors. It literally looked like a scene from "The Grapes of Wrath" with people staring into the wire fence with broken, sad faces. Old people, children, young people - all needing medical care.
It brought me to near tears, especially when a woman who was nearly blind and missed the cut-off for getting help was reduced to saying she would have to beg...her friends, her church for assistance to get new glasses. Instead of being angry, she half-smiled, shrugged and said "God will provide."
The people in line for free health care were not entirely poverty striken - many simply had ridiculously high deductibles, or were forced to choose to feed their children rather than see doctors themselves. Needless to say, although the team was able to serve nearly 1,000 people, hundreds were turned away. As I watched I wondered how many of these people had voted for the Chimp, against their own economic self-interest. Imagine if the Democrats set up a voter registration table right alongside these people - something tells me they would have had a rapt audience for the universal health care policy.
Perhaps some smart person will ask Grandpa McCain what his plan is for taking care of Americans who aren't serving in the military. Go here to see a short version of the story, or to the CBS site for the entire segment.
I end on a positive note: the woman who needed the glasses was able to slip in at the last minute and get her glasses. Apparently, God does provide.
UPDATE: Donate to RAM here.
7 comments:
Becks, I'm self employed and have to buy insurance myself. It's asinine.
My insurance is almost as much as my mortgage payment, and that's with a fairly high deductable.
Keep it up, and I may have to put myself a "Vote for Obama" sticker on the man van.
Hope you are well.
Having been brought up in the UK with, initially at least, free-at-the-point-of -delivery universal healthcare (the much-vaunted National Health Service), I found a slight culture shock in NZ to find I had to pay for GP consults. The NZ system was originally modelled on the UK system.
I have no idea how I would cope were it possible for me to settle in the US. I suspect my premiums would be like Ted's, with a list of pre-existing conditions and exclusions as long as your arm.
If either Obama or Clinton is proposing genuinely free healthcare, I'd vote for either of them, more so if it included treatment for hypothyroidism, RA, type II diabetes, high choleseterol and boils on my bum:)
*Cholesterol, of course.
(Blogger still needs a spell checker)
Oh my goodness, John! Socialized medicine??? In the USA that's a FATE WORSE than pre-emptive war against a nation that had nothing to do with September 11, 2001, no WMD, and killing thousands of innocent people.
For the most bizzare reasons, you say the words "socialized medicine" and people just freak the hell out. Universal health care here simply means ACCESS to health care for which we will still have to PAY. (Although I suppose one pays for health care in the UK through taxes, right?) Either way, we'd much rather pay for BOMBS than health care. What the fuck is wrong with us????
Arggghhhh....
Ha Becks! Reminds me of the part in Sicko when Michael was parodying the 50s style red scare. I haven't seen 60 minutes since the Rogah freakshow (can't believe Andy Rooney's still on there, but that's another post), but I'm glad they aired that story. Thanks for sharing it for those of us who missed it.
We saw the same segment, Becks - with the same reaction. In fact, Rob emailed RAM after the fact to inquire about volunteering.
I'll never understand the social Darwinism that drives opponents of universal health care. Have these people never experienced a major illness of someone close to them? And if they have, I'm at a loss to explain the sheer cold-heartedness (or it it hubris?) of their philosophy.
Never mind the economics; you can't have a productive and competitive nation without a healthy workforce - yet, for some reason, these people won't acknowlede the connection. It truly boggles the mind.
Go, Obama.
I actually went online during this piece and send them a donation.
It's digusting what goes on in this country with health care.
Oh, and last night there was a guy on the bus bitching that the tax on cigarettes was going to hike their prices by a $1 soon to 'cover all the people who can't pay for health insurance" (according to him) and that he was voting for Hillary becase "she was going to fix all that!".
Sadly, he said this just as we approached my stop, so I didn't get to argue, er, discus this with him.
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