Health Care Reform

The other week, we drove an hour to a Free Medical Clinic at a local university. They offered dental cleanings, fillings, extractions, vision care, eye exams, Free prescription glasses if needed, general physicals, and women's health. Everything free of charge. I'd never been to one of these before, but in my opinion it showed the obvious need for Health Care Reform. We have basic health insurance, but not dental or vision. So we went.

We got there at 6:30 am and were number 411 in line. Some people had been waiting all night! The waiting went quickly a little before 8am we were registering. It was a little strange that everything was done out in the open. Registering, medical history, blood pressure checks, vaccines, chiropractor, etc. And long, long lines.

 I hopped right over the the dental line. I was number 18, but this line was moving the slowest. Angel and his cousin went to get their vision checked. They were number 61 & 62 but this lined seemed to move the fastest. They both needed glasses and their prescription was filled right then and there! When they got done, I was still waiting for my cleaning, but had them hold my place so I could have my eyes checked. I have a slight correction needed, but not really worth getting glasses. I guess I should have gotten them though since there was no cost.

Anyway, I ended up waiting for 5 hours for a cleaning. But I finally got it. In front of anyone who wanted to watch. I didn't really care. At that point, Angel didn't want to keep waiting The "dental hygienist" seemed to know what she was doing, but her assistant didn't. She kept poking me with that sucker thing. All the dental exams were done in another room. The table in the front had all the "sterile" supplies. I watched closely how it worked before it was my turn.

I love the sleek feeling after a dental cleaning! Talk about the need for health care reform! Now we'll have to just see what the reform actually entails and if we'll still need clinics like this in the future!