sw, I wish there was afree clinic here that truly operated that way. I have in the past gone for 7 day mission trips to Central America to see patients. Most of the time we have dentists in the group, and an optemtrist to perscribe glasses (and even give these out for free).
SOmething like that would work here as well, but I have heard that others have said they cannot do this because of the legal ramifications involved, and I can see their point. People get sued all the time, and no one wants to be sued in a situation where they are not even being compensated.
I watched the article on 60 Minutes last night about the healthcare bus in virigina. I applaud their work, but they picked some really bad examples to highlight. First was a lady complaining about being asked to pay for a doctor's visit. She had smoked for 40 years, and her father had died from cancer. Despite free healthcare when she was diagnosed (Stage IV lung cancer with brain mets) she died four months later. She did not think she would be asked to pay because her father got free healthcare (in the military). I am more apalled at her sense of reasoning than her total disregard for her health and lack of priorites.
I wish there was a state run hospital like we had in MS in the 60's/70's that provided care for indigents with doctors and nursing on training schedules. that worked better than what we have now.
QD, read the article I posted earlier about the portion of the bill being put thru to help the AHA by Republicans, and the fact that nothing is bing made of it by the MSM, nor Harry Reid, because it does not support their agenda. this is not entirely the fault of the Republicans. There is hope to salvage parts of this, but it requires some compromise.