When Health Law Isn’t Enough, the Desperate Line Up at Tents
By TRIP GABRIEL JULY 23, 2017

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As the sun set in the mountains of southwest Virginia, hundreds of hurting souls were camped out or huddled in vehicles, eager for an early place in line when the gates swung open at 5 a.m. for the nation’s largest pop-up free clinic.



Waiting in line for dental care at the clinic, which is run by Remote Area Medical, a charity group. Credit Mike Belleme for The New York Times

The Remote Area Medical Expedition, held at a county fairground in Appalachia over three days ending Sunday, drew more than 2,000 people who endured high heat and long waits for basic health services. It was a dispiriting reminder that as Congress flails around for health plans that could cost millions of people their insurance, many more don’t have much or any insurance or access to medical care to lose.

Four years into the rollout of the Affordable Care Act’s major provisions, 29 million Americans still lack health insurance. Millions live in states like Virginia that did not expand Medicaid to childless adults among the working poor, as the law allowed. Even for people helped by government programs like basic Medicaid, veterans’ care and disability, there are many gaps: Low-income people struggle to afford co-payments, the gas to drive to a doctor and prescription drugs.

“Expect Delays. Heavy Traffic Area,” a sign flashed on the normally sleepy country road before the Wise County Fairgrounds. ... Patients passed the command tent of the charity that runs the clinic, Remote Area Medical, emblazoned with a plea and a promise: “Stop the Suffering.” The group, staffed by medical volunteers, has treated more than 700,000 people at free clinics around the country and overseas since 1985.
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