Thousands flock to free medical clinic, as Washington dithers on health care

Source: washpost


By Gregory S. Schneider July 21 at 5:20 PM
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Donald Trump won the White House in part on a promise to fix the nation’s costly and inefficient health-care system. Instead, Republicans in Congress are paralyzed and threatening to dismantle the imperfect framework of Obamacare.


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These events are staged nationwide, but the Wise clinic is among the biggest, drawing people from throughout Appalachia and casting Washington’s sterile political debates into the starkest human terms.

A third of the patients who registered Friday were unemployed. T.............................

Tabitha Lindley and her mother, Tammy Lindley, check for messages before dawn after sleeping in their car. In the foreground is Dalton Barton, Tabitha’s fiancee. They hoped to get dental work done. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

Josh Phillips waited all night, with hundreds of others, for a chance at dental work. He rested in a wheelchair as he waited to be sent to a check-in area. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

It is the place of last resort for people who can’t afford insurance even under Obamacare or who don’t qualify for Medicaid in a state where the legislature has resisted expansion........................

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/thousands-flock-to-free-medical-clinic-as-washington-dithers-on-health-care/2017/07/21/07b7d1f2-6d80-11e7-96ab-5f38140b38cc_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_no-name%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.ea15d7661839