Twelve-year-old Deamonte Driver died of a toothache Sunday.I don't have anything much to add. GOP health care policies cost more in the long run and can kill.
A routine, $80 tooth extraction might have saved him.
If his mother had been insured.
If his family had not lost its Medicaid.
If Medicaid dentists weren't so hard to find.
If his mother hadn't been focused on getting a dentist for his brother, who had six rotted teeth.
By the time Deamonte's own aching tooth got any attention, the bacteria from the abscess had spread to his brain, doctors said. After two operations and more than six weeks of hospital care, the Prince George's County boy died.
Deamonte's death and the ultimate cost of his care, which could total more than $250,000, underscore an often-overlooked concern in the debate over universal health coverage: dental care.
Some poor children have no dental coverage at all. Others travel three hours to find a dentist willing to take Medicaid patients and accept the incumbent paperwork. And some, including Deamonte's brother, get in for a tooth cleaning but have trouble securing an oral surgeon to fix deeper problems.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
What GOP health policies really mean
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2 comments:
What will Democratic Party Health Care policies cost and who will they kill? With a looming recession accompanied by high unemployment, bank failures, crashing home values and a deflated stock market, who's going to pay for it? If we're going to try to squeeze it out of the "rich" and super rich, how are going to take their money before they offshore it?
You are truly an inspiration for compassionate conservatism Anon.
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