Health Care: Where the Rubber Meets the Road

As the country debates health care reform plans, Stan Brock is getting a first hand look at the people who stand to be affected by these plans: people without any health insurance at all. Mr. Brock is the volunteer CEO and founder of Remote Area Medical(RAM), a global, all-volunteer non-profit which provides free medical care to the uninsured. While they normally set up their fully-equipped health care trailers in rural parts of the United States, Mexico and South America, today they set up camp in Los Angeles. It’s the start of an eight-day stint that is the group’s first foray into a major urban setting. The Takeaway talks to Mr. Brock from The Forum in Inglewood, California, as people line up to be seen at the free clinic.

The Takeaway also spoke with two people waiting in line overnight: Rachel Wallace spent $75 to get down to L.A. for root canals at the clinics ? when we spoke with her this morning, she had already been waiting in line for 6 hours. We also spoke with Jimmie Peters, who came down both to volunteer and to get care.