Remote Area Medical

Several years ago, my husband an I (he is a physician) did volunteer work in Wise, Virginia, for Remote Area Medical. This is a three-day event in Appalachia for people who have no insurance. People drive hundreds of miles to line up in the middle of the night, just to have an opportunity to be seen by a doctor, dentist, or just take a simple procedural test, like a mammogram (some of the women had not gotten one for decades-too expensive. I was in charge of recruiting women to take this test). It was gratifying work; I was so happy to do it, but also sad and frustrated. Sad because a basic human right-health insurance-was clearly not available to people and frustrated because (according to my husband) there was no follow up for patients once they left Virginia. Ultimately, he stopped wanting to go down to Wise, since he was not convinced this was good care-to be seen once; to get medication and never to be seen again. What is even more depressing is reading in the NYT this week that Remote Area Medical is thriving-bigger than ever. The lines are longer and there are more desperate people. This made me feel when I retire, I will go back there, even if my husband does not come with me, but also I felt so sad that the state of healthcare in our country has grown worse-not better. The biggest part of my frustration is that now the Republican majority wants to dismantle whatever little is left of a broken healthcare system, leaving millions without the proper care. Those same senators would make it their business to go down to Wise, Virginia for Remote Area Medical, and see the countless families whose children have never seen a dentist (age nine), who have never been tested for cancer or diabetes, even though it runs in their families; the countless toothless people who have never been to a a dentist. Maybe then they will give pause and say, something is terribly wrong with the heartless way we regard people's lives. Perhaps they might think to do the right thing.