Doctors Within Borders

I am retied miltary and have what is considered a good dental plan. Four months ago I paid around $600 co-pay for a root canal and crown. My wife is Vietnamese and last month we traveled there on vacation. I had the same work done there on another tooth, without any insurance and paid only $100. I receive a permant bridge for $300. They had sanitized tools and excellant working conditions. If your teeth and gums go bad it effect your overall health. I am not sure why dental is not included in basic health care insurance. If you don't change your oil in your car you mess up your engine. We are suppose to be the greatest country on earth why are we not taking of our people first. Prisoner get free medial and dental, don't our people deserve at least that?

The problem goes way beyond what this article reports. I have health insurance and still can not afford to go to the doctor because I cannot afford my copays and deductibles! I do not waste money on things like booze or cigarettes, I merely pay my rent, utilitities and car insurance. My big luxury is that I have a $15 a month Netflix account, and cutting out that would not pay for a doctor's visit. I have lived in a country with universal healthcare and much of the "horror" stories are not reality. It's not a perfect system but it's better than not having any coverage or not being able to afford coverage even with insurance!

In response to Sickofthewhining; Chances are good this jerk has never been to a depressed area and seen just how bad the conditions actually are. These people are have nots because there are no jobs, no trust-fund accounts, no wealthy benefactors. A large majority of the people pay for daily items (like cigarettes and toothbrushes) with food stamps. Good luck finding a doctor who will accept those for payment! Furthermore, there are plenty of us who brush daily and still have all sorts of problems with our teeth. Some of it is due to genetics, some of it is due to diet.
Sickofthewhining...stop whining about things you know nothing about aside from what Rush Limbaugh tells you to believe...

I really get sick of people like "sick of the whining" who want to judge people without knowing any of the circumstances. How could you begrudge anyone in the United States free dental or medical if needed so much that they have all decayed teeth. Be part of the solution, make a donation and you make be blessed by helping someone else that has needs.

I am disgusted by the comments that suggest all of our health care woes will be fixed by federally mandated programs. People just do not understand what nationalized health care means. The scenario that is described in this article is exactly what will happen when we nationalize health care. Despite all of the "wonders" of nationalized health care described by many, I have seen first hand the poor quality that you get in Germany and other countries in Europe. I bet most people did not know that most citizens in Germany still pay for insurance to cover things like dentures that would take years to get if you waited in the national health program. How about all of the private hospitals and clinics people pay to go to there because the care is 100 times better than at the public hospital. Every country that has nationalized health care also has a private health system so you still have a separation of classes for those who can pay and those who cannot. If you don???t think that will happen here, think again. If someone is a good doctor and has $100k in student loans from medical school, do you really think this person is going to work in a public hospital where the pay will be significantly less than in a private enterprise? Think again. Supporters of nationalized health care need to get a reality check.

Makes you wonder when our government will get their priorities right. Was scanning the AP headlines yesterday and caught a glimpse of something about the dirt on Mars being toxic or whatever. People in the United States don't have adequate health/dental care, homelessness, poverty, hunger, unemployment and more, yet our government is helping fund studies on the dirt on Mars? Who cares. Leave the dirt on Mars and start using the funds to help the people here...you know, the ones that pay taxes to fund the Golden Fleece retirement funds, the elected officials health care, etc., etc. I don't think you see any of them deciding whether or not to spend a months wages to get a tooth pulled.

sickofthewhinning- I think that maybe things may be oversimplified in you mind. Dental care goes beyond a toothbrush and toothpaste. It has to do with healthy diets, gum disease, medications, vitamins, etc. how about accidents where teeth get broken? I agree with other part of your statement regarding pork programs.

To "sickofthe whining" : I get sick of the people that have never been in Ms. Fowler's financial shoes that want to judge and would begrudge anyone in the United States of America free dental or medical care. Show a little love for mankind you may be blessed in the process. Try making a donation to help the problem.

this is to sick of the whinning i can bet you grew up with out a need or want some children are brought up without basic skills so it is not their fault that when they are adults they have health problems you should not judge unless you walk in someones shoes

Thank God for Doctors and Dentists and assistants who care - we need to do more of this in our country

Sickofthewhining might want to go back and re-read the article to see beyond the personal bias. There's a lesson there for everyone.

what's with these comments. have to do it in 2 parts. while they lie and cheat their way to power, tax-paying Americans are screwed by big medicine, big insurance, big everything, and people like the idiots who post here think they deserve to die or worse. The Axis of Evil is Bush, Cheney, McCain, and Corporate America, who are turning the U.S. into a 3rd-world America. Oh, wait, it's already happened.

Mr Gates! and the like. . . get off your billions and do something for the people in need in our country that has provided you with so much weath!

what's with these comments. have to do it in 2 parts. while they lie and cheat their way to power, tax-paying Americans are screwed by big medicine, big insurance, big everything, and people like the idiots who post here think they deserve to die or worse. The Axis of Evil is Bush, Cheney, McCain, and Corporate America, who are turning the U.S. into a 3rd-world America. Oh, wait, it's already happened.

No wonder health insurance is so expensive... when all the wealthier spoiled brats take advantage of it. My roommate just went in to the doctor... for free or nearly free... because she feels generally tired and her joints are sore. At age 22. Maybe, just maybe the tiredness comes from talking to a boyfriend for hours every night until way past a reasonable sleeping time. Maybe, just maybe, both the tiredness and the sore joints come from a lack of consistent exercise. Maybe it being 'that time of the month' has something to do with it too? Chances are that changing a few attitudes and habits would fix everything, but no, she has to go to a doctor and get expensive blood tests for an imaginary problem. That's what makes our insurance so expensive folks.

Social medicine doesn't fix this problem.... if medical care is free for everyone the syndrome gets worse. Go spend some time in Europe and try to get in to the doctor's office when you need to. Listen to all the people going in for all the minor complaints. Listen to the stories of people waiting for months on a waiting list to get a surgery to explore a strange blip in an x-ray, only to find out that the blip is cancerous and could have killed them by then had they not been lucky. Listen to the stories of doctors, yes, doctors who have sworn to help people, going on strike because the salaries they get are literally not enough to live on due to the social medicine systems. Doctors make less than grade school teachers in many european countries. I'm sure social medicine is a great thing, particularly when you drive doctors to that extreme. And if you think our system here would be better, just look at the government and how efficient they are, how much money they don't waste, and think again.

Make my roommate and others like her pay out of her own pocket for her nonsense, and maybe stress on our current healthcare system will ease, allowing doctors more time to donate to those truly in need.

I grew up below the poverty line and did not have a lot of "things" but one thing Mom and Dad always made sure we had was health care coverage. We might have had only one car, no TV (gasp), no stereo, and no fast food, but we had insurance--and we lived in extreme rural America. I think sometimes folks forgo health care unless it is free. So what motivates them to try and take care of themselves?

Sad facts about having no health insurance in the United States:

- Contrary to popular belief, you won't get help if you really need it.
- You are much more likely to die if you don't health insurance.

Copy a link to this article, visit congress.org, and contact your representatives. Ask why basic human needs of American citizens aren't being met.

Ah yea but the government can sure give everything to the illegals! They need to get them out and the money and care they give them needs to be used on OUR own people.