Judged By The Way We Treat The Least Among Us

Via Digby comes this story from the LA Times on the reality of health care for those who don't have coverage:

Hundreds of people were already lining up to receive free healthcare checks at the the Forum in Inglewood.

Volunteer doctors, dentists and optometrists will conduct free health clinic for uninsured and under-insured individuals.

The eight-day healthcare event will run from 5:30 a.m to 6 p.m. and is sponsored by Remote Area Medical, a charity that in the past has staged clinics in rural sections of the United States.

People started arriving before 3. Many said they didn't have health insurance and saw this as an opportunity to be checked out. Organizers placed them in stadium seats outside the Forum, and some said they waited for hours to get medical treatment.

Since 1985, about 400,000 adults and children have been treated by the organization, its leaders said. Individuals will not be required to show proof of income or insurance or documentation of any kind for treatment, according to organizers.

Only 1,200 people a day will be scheduled for the 45 medical exam rooms, 100 dental stations and 25 eye exam sites set up at The Forum, they said. Full exams, including Mammography, chest X-rays, PAP smears, blood pressure screening and diabetes screening will be offered. Prescription eye glasses will be fitted and prepared on site, said organizers.

People lining up for an entire day for a shot at maybe seeing a doctor, dentist, or optometrist. Having to miss work or maybe try again tomorrow. Who knows. Maybe they'll get a basic checkup. Charity health care clinics that come around once every year or so are for the most part it, as states and cities can no longer afford clinics and other services. They're the first to get cut. It's not like these folks have political clout.

And there are millions of Americans screaming bloody murder across this country that if these people get health care, that it will be the most un-American tyranny imaginable, that a revolution is necessary to stop it. They are therefore sworn to see that it never happens. Think about that.

Meanwhile, more and more people will be needing and using these services. As Digby says,

If things don't change, in a couple of years they'll be needed in the suburbs as well.

If the uninsured want health care they can (probably) get it by staying up all night and waiting in the street outside a sports stadium once a year. What's the problem?

There is none as far as millions of Americans are concerned. That's what they get for being poor.