NY Times - "Thousands Line Up for Promise of Free Health Care" - Who Needs Doctors w/o Borders?

[TomCADem]

When we have millions of people in our own backyard who are going without basic healthcare because they are uninsured, unemployed, or simply can't afford the deductibles. The media loves to dwell on swatikas and people acting like violent idiots, but the truth of the healthcare crisis is right there in front of us if we are willing to take our eyes off the distraction of the political horse races and the astroturf teabaggers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/health/13clinic.html

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INGLEWOOD, Calif. — They came for new teeth mostly, but also for blood pressure checks, mammograms, immunizations and acupuncture for pain. Neighboring South Los Angeles is a place where health care is scarce, and so when it was offered nearby, word got around.

For the second day in a row, thousands of people lined up on Wednesday — starting after midnight and snaking into the early hours — for free dental, medical and vision services, courtesy of a nonprofit group that more typically provides mobile health care for the rural poor.

Like a giant MASH unit, the floor of the Forum, the arena where Madonna once played four sold-out shows, housed aisle upon aisle of dental chairs, where drilling, cleaning and extracting took place in the open. A few cushions were duct-taped to a folding table in a coat closet, an examining room where Dr. Eugene Taw, a volunteer, saw patients.

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