Thousands flock to free medical clinic, as Washington dithers on health care

[dalton99a]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/thousands-flock-to-free-medical-clinic-as-washington-dithers-on-health-care/2017/07/21/07b7d1f2-6d80-11e7-96ab-5f38140b38cc_story.html

Thousands flock to free medical clinic, as Washington dithers on health care
By Gregory S. Schneider | July 21 at 5:20 PM


Hundreds waited overnight in a parking lot for the gates to open at 5 a.m. in hopes of getting free medical or dental treatment. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

WISE, Va. — The sick and the disabled pour out of these mountains every summer for their one shot at free health care, but this year was supposed to hold hope for a better solution.

Donald Trump won the White House in part on a promise to fix the nation’s costly and inefficient health-care system. Instead, Republicans in Congress are paralyzed and threatening to dismantle the imperfect framework of Obamacare.

No relief is in sight for someone like Larry McKnight, who sat in a horse stall at the Wise County Fairgrounds having his shoulder examined. He was among more than a thousand ailing people attending the area’s 18th annual Remote Area Medical clinic, where physicians and dentists dispense free care to those who otherwise have none.

“I really think that they don’t have any clue what’s going on,” McKnight said, referring to political leaders in Washington. “You watch the news and it’s two sides pitted against each other, which in turn just makes them pitted against us, the normal person.”

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[Quanta]

2. Look at all that body language...

Defensive, shocked, yet still in group think mode. They have no idea what hit them or how they are going to respond.

[Hekate]

3. The most haunting thing I ever read about these free clinics was about the buckets of teeth...

People with no access to dental care show up with teeth cannot be saved, so they are extracted. At the end of the day -- the one day they have health care -- there are buckets and buckets filled with bloody teeth that had been making them sick.

[Demtexan]

4. Sad.

How many voted republican and still will.