Thank you, Dr. Mehmet Oz for bringing up what is all too evident for those of us who work in the nation’s free clinics. Dr. Oz saw patients with me at HealthReach Community Clinic in Mooresville, N.C. and helped us raise some essential funds in 2009 and 2010.
Our patients have to decide daily between their health care, and food and family needs. A full-time minimum wage job pays $290 per week which leaves no room for insurance premiums, co-pays or co-insurance. A visit to an emergency room leaves uninsured patients in debt for thousands of dollars that they may never be able to repay. This may then exclude them from a job or housing opportunity driving them further into poverty. This is a consequence that is seldom considered in health care debates. Our patients are real people: Your neighbors, families, coworkers. They care about their health. We care about them.
Carol Welch, Chronic Disease Clinic Manager, HealthReach Community Clinic, MOORSEVILLE, N.C.