healthcare?

WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' HEALTHCARE!

At free clinic, scenes from the Third World

Doctors and dentists volunteering their services at the Forum see scenes like those in impoverished areas overseas.

By Steve Lopez
"Do you want to see the tooth?" Dr. Mehrdad Makhani asked me Friday morning at the free clinic being staged inside Inglewood's Fabulous Forum. "Come. I'll show you."

Jenny McLean, 36, opened her mouth and Makhani aimed a little flashlight in there.

"You see here?" he said.

The area around a back tooth was red and swollen, and McLean's eyes were teary with discomfort. She'd endured the pain for more than a year because she's had neither insurance nor the money for a dentist since losing her job as a social worker.

It was a story repeated hundreds of times last week at the Forum, where a nonprofit called Remote Area Medical had brought in volunteers to treat legions of the uninsured.

"Here, look at this," said Makhani, pointing to a second tooth that would have to be extracted and yet another that needed a root canal.

Makhani pointed me to another dentist. "Talk to him. He's worked in Brazil."

That would be Joseph Chamberlain, a Westwood dentist who said he's done charity work in Brazil, but not in conditions like this.
............

off with their heads let them eat cake!!!!

i am fantasizing there is a special place in hell for senator gregg (fantasy is NOT the same as reality by the way. i do NOT wish anyone harm. even asswipes like this)

Sen. Gregg: Force the poor to buy health insurance
-- Stephen C. Webster

New Hampshire Republican Senator Judd Gregg, who was almost President Obama's commerce secretary, thinks he has a solution to America's healthcare crisis. Watch him explain the plan below:

This video is from Fox News Sunday, published to YouTube on Sunday, July 19, 2009. (it's above)

If you didn't catch that, here's what the senator just proposed:

Force the poor into buying "high-deductible" policies. But don't call them poor. Call them "illegal" or "young people" with wonky spending priorities.

Throw in a subsidy of unknown value to somehow "incentivize" folks who have not seen a doctor in years to suddenly vanish a valuable several hundred dollars from their monthly income for individual or family plans.

Don't mention any way to "incentivize" insurance companies to cover the "uninsurable" due to pre-existing conditions or chronic illnesses, of whom there are many. In fact, ignore them. They're not much concern at the ballot box.

Finally, Gregg's masterstroke: Don't mention that 'high deductible' means insurance which will refuse payment on needed care unless the holder can pay a lump sum to initiate treatment, usually $5,000 - $30,000, or more, which of course is Absolutely No Good to someone who cannot afford decent insurance in the first place. (At which point, many Republicans would suggest "health savings accounts" to fill in the gap, which is also no help to the poor.).........

talk about scummy

this is a disgusting thing wal-mart is doing. disgusting

Brain-damaged woman at center of Wal-Mart suit
By Randi Kaye CNN
JACKSON, Missouri (CNN) -- Debbie Shank breaks down in tears every time she's told that her 18-year-old son, Jeremy, was killed in Iraq. The 52-year-old mother of three attended her son's funeral, but she continues to ask how he's doing. When her family reminds her that he's dead, she weeps as if hearing the news for the first time.
Shank suffered severe brain damage after a traffic accident nearly eight years ago that robbed her of much of her short-term memory and left her in a wheelchair and living in a nursing home.
It was the beginning of a series of battles -- both personal and legal -- that loomed for Shank and her family. One of their biggest was with Wal-Mart's health plan. Eight years ago, Shank was stocking shelves for the retail giant and signed up for Wal-Mart's health and benefits plan.
Two years after the accident, Shank and her husband, Jim, were awarded about $1 million in a lawsuit against the trucking company involved in the crash. After legal fees were paid, $417,000 was placed in a trust to pay for Debbie Shank's long-term care.
Wal-Mart had paid out about $470,000 for Shank's medical expenses and later sued for the same amount. However, the court ruled it can only recoup what is left in the family's trust.
The Shanks didn't notice in the fine print of Wal-Mart's health plan policy that the company has the right to recoup medical expenses if an employee collects damages in a lawsuit.......