The things we take for granted

Health insurance, PCPs, low-cost prescriptions, our dignity...these are the things we take for granted in America. Today I experienced life through a poor woman's eyes. I went to a free clinic for a yearly check-up and boy, did it take forever! I had forgotten what life is like for many people who don't have affordable healthcare. I walked in, went to the reception window and all I wanted to know was if I was in the right place. I approached the reception desk, a white woman of about 55 years got up, opened the sliding glass and before I could finish my sentence said "take a number" and then slammed the glass. I was 30 minutes early for the opening of the clinic and I was number 23.

A year ago I didn't even know that a free clinic existed. I had the highest coverage from a notable HMO and was able to visit the doctor as many times as I was sick without even thinking twice. Healthcare was not a concern for me; all I had to do was flash a card and I'd be seen in less than 30 minutes wherever I went. Today, I stayed in a clinic for 3.5 hours before I was seen by an intern. Nobody answered questions, I was just a number and everything seemed to refer back to that one number, 23. When I was called forward to explain why I was worthy of their service, I was told that new patients are being screened because there were less doctors available and new patients were only being seen if their situations were important.

A one-year checkup is not important in free-clinic logic but a nurse had been listening in and approached me after I walked away to wait on the receptionist to confirm with the doctor to see whether I was eligible (I call it worthy) to be seen. The nurse was a young 30-something woman who is working on her Ph.D. After our initial interview she found out that I, too, am a doctoral student. Her brow raised of course and the condescending, spell-out-each-word-as-if-I-have-no-sense talk that she had been giving me changed to more "normal" free-flowing conversation. I guess I was no longer "really poor" but just "a needy student" so I was not quite like the other people in the room. After she gave me my informed consent and interview session for my paid participation in the study (I earned a whopping $20 for filling out 40-mins worth of paperwork. Cool way to make money while you wait, huh?), she returned to her post behind the glass window. Soon, I was treated with utmost respect by everyone behind her glass window. One nurse who did my initial patient screening even commented on how "impressed" she is that I am doing this work. Everybody, including the nasty receptionist, began to speak to me with respect and asking me questions about the book I had been holding in my hand and about my areas of interest. So I guess education does make all the difference, even if you're a poor graduate student who sits in a free clinic, having to validate your need to maintain good health just like everyone else.

A number of my students have lived their entire lives without health insurance. Besides being humiliated by slamming glass windows, condescending stares, and long waiting hours, there is the fear of not being seen at all after waiting three full hours. After my experience today, I could not conceive of how it must feel for people who have to spend their entire lives going to free clinics and waiting. I spent more time just waiting than anything else. For me, this is temporary poverty, since grad school only lasts for a few years. I have the option of quitting school and going forth to maintain an upper-middle-class lifestyle. So this temporary humiliation, for me, is endurable. But what about those for whom this reality is permanent? How must they feel each time they approach the glass window to ask a question? I am sure that some people who could use the service of the free clinic probably do not even take advantage of it. Just imagine having to work 2-3 jobs and sitting in a clinic just waiting. It's no wonder that people who live on or below the poverty line are in poor health.

The services offered at the free clinic are thanks to doctors who volunteer their time but there must be more that the government can do to help those who are truly in need feel more validated and less inferior when they attempt to get good healthcare. That's part of the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, isn't it.? That's just my two cents.