[Vision2020] Free Clinics Overwhelmed

[Tom Hansen]

As many Republicans attempt to portray horrible images of what they
perceive health care reform to be, many Americans are forced to face
reality on a daily basis.

Courtesy of today's (September 6, 2009) Spokesman Review.

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Free clinics overwhelmed
As health care debate escalates, need rises and donations decline

FREDERICK, Md. – One recent Monday, the line in the Church of the Brethren
parking lot began to form at about 2:30 a.m. when a husband and wife
arrived. They came almost eight hours early in the hope of seeing a
dentist – for free.

They soon watched the headlights of other cars as they pulled into the
lot. Some would-be patients laid out blankets and sat on the pavement to
wait for hours so they’d make the top of the walk-in list to see a doctor
or dentist at the Mission of Mercy traveling clinic.

By the time the clinic, a converted recreational vehicle, opened its doors
and the church’s multipurpose room became a waiting room, a nursing
station and a dental office with blue dividers and folding chairs, more
than 100 people had assembled.

At the check-in table, new patients were asked one question: “Are you
insured?”

The Mission of Mercy, a group of traveling clinics that circulates through
Maryland, Pennsylvania, Texas and Arizona, is one of more than 1,200 free
clinics across the nation that are feeling the effects of the economic
downturn.

Their patient lists are growing as Americans lose their jobs and their
health insurance, but as demand grows with rising unemployment, their
donations are dwindling. This year, Mission of Mercy has $350,000 less
than it did last year; it takes no government funds for its services.

“People are so afraid to give now, because they’re thinking they could
lose their job next,” said Linda Ryan, the executive director of Mission
of Mercy. “We’re squished because we have more people in need; we need to
grow now more than ever – who knows what will happen with health care?”

Over the past year, free clinics across the country have seen a 20 percent
decrease in donations and a 40 percent to 50 percent increase in patients,
said Nicole D. Lamoureux, the executive director of the National
Association of Free Clinics. Last year, the clinics the association
represents – which largely have been excluded from the health care debate
– treated 4 million people. This year, Lamoureux expects, they’ll serve
some 8 million, 83 percent of whom come from homes in which at least one
person works full time.

“Quite frankly, the need is so great at some point in time we’ll hit a
place where we have to say we need to start cutting,” Lamoureux said.
“We’d like to be a part of those discussions (on health care). We really
need to make sure that this legislation gives the people we serve access
to quality health care.”

On the outskirts of the nation’s capital in Silver Spring, Md., on a
recent Sunday, the waiting room of the Muslim Community Center Medical
Clinic was packed with uninsured patients. It, too, has grown almost 50
percent in the last year, and about 15 percent of the new patients are
uninsured after losing their jobs.

Although the U.S. spends more on health care each year than any other
nation, about 46 million people in America have no health insurance,
according to the Census Bureau. While the number of uninsured Americans
dropped from 2006 to 2007, indications are that the number has increased
drastically since and will continue to rise as unemployment swells.

Of uninsured families, about 27 percent make less than $25,000 a year,
according to the census survey. About 19 percent of families make $50,000
or more a year. The federal poverty line is $22,050 a year for a family of
four.

Even those with insurance, however, aren’t safe from financial disaster
when dealing with medical problems. More than 60 percent of bankruptcies
are partly attributable to medical problems, according to a recent article
in the American Journal of Medicine. Three-quarters of those bankruptcies
were among the insured.

Many who come to Mission of Mercy and the Muslim Community Center clinic
work 40 hours a week or more, but still can’t afford health care.

In the waiting areas of these clinics, most of the patients had no strong
opinions on proposed health care changes; they don’t have the time or
desire to rage at protests. They want to see a doctor without bill
collectors showing up at their doors demanding thousands of dollars or
having loan officers denying them car and home loans because of their bad
credit, they said.

“It’s the richest country in the world,” Mohammed Munir said as he waited
in the Church of the Brethren to see a Mission of Mercy doctor recently.
Munir, a truck driver, lost his job earlier this year after relocating
from California. “We should get health care.”

Dr. Mike Sullivan, a co-founder of Mission of Mercy, doesn’t think the
government will ever solve this problem because it lacks the love and
faith that he and the volunteers have, he said.

“There are so many people that need now,” he said in the back of the RV
where he sees patients. “We were already pretty full before the economy
fell apart.”

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Mission of Mercy’s Dr. Mike Sullivan asks translator Maria-Teresa D’Orazio
to translate his instructions to patient Lorena Corilla, 34, during an
open clinic at the Church of the Brethren on Aug. 24 in Frederick, Md.

http://tinyurl.com/DrMikeSullivan

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A patient has two teeth extracted at the Mission of Mercy clinic on Aug.
24. The patient arrived at 2:30 a.m. to get in line.

http://tinyurl.com/mla4rj

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Durenez Abro discusses her options with Dr. Asif Quadri at a free medical
clinic in Silver Spring, Md. She needs a $5,000 procedure. Qadri hopes he
can get it discounted for her.

http://tinyurl.com/DrAsifQuadri

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Health care is NOT a privilege.  It is a right.

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
and the Realist adjusts his sails."

- Unknown