With no health insurance, a boy dies from a toothache

[lwcon]

WASHINGTON - Twelve-year-old Deamonte Driver died of a toothache Sunday.

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.

More: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17372104


___

Hey, the liberal light is always on at the Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy. Please stop by and say "hi!"

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. And rwers crow abt what a great country this is

[lostnotforgotten]

2. And RWers Can stick It Up Their Assess!

I am sick and tired of these assholes and are consistent pandering to them.

Enough is enough of this bullshit!

[BushOut06]

3. Health insurance doesn't cover dental work

Even if his mother had been insured, it might not have done much good. Years ago, I had an infected wisdom tooth that was causing me excruciating pain. So much so that I actually briefly contemplated killing myself. The next day I went to the dentist, but because I didn't have DENTAL insurance, and couldn't afford to pay up front, he wouldn't even touch it. He did grudgingly write a prescription for antibiotics, which I was able to get filled with my normal insurance.

This is one thing that I have never been able to understand. Since when did DENTAL insurance become a separate industry? Your mouth is part of your fucking body, why shouldn't it be covered along with everything else? You don't have to get respiratory insurance, heart insurance, dermatology insurance, bone insurance, etc. Even mental health is normally covered under health insurance!

[fasttense]

5. I've wondered about that myself.

I've always wondered why my teeth were not covered by my medical plan. Would they leave out your feet or hands? No, just your teeth, very strange.

The poor child what an awful fate. Even in the 1800's a barber would pull your tooth for $2. Not today. Our society will let a 12 year old die of rotting teeth, but make sure that a fetus is born to an overpopulated planet. Hell our government leaders are more worried about a bunch of frozen eggs then they are about a living child. They protect the unborn and the undead but not the living.

[Cobalt Violet]

6. Medicaid does cover extractions.

This is just sad.

[rodeodance]

7. Around the turn of the 20th Cent--the mouth was no longer part of the MD

curriculum.

[BushOut06]

8. Who made that brilliant decision?

Does seem kinda fucked up, if you think about it.

[rodeodance]

12. Dentists did as they became a Profession--as did feet Doctors and later

optometry-----the eye docs------all are separate from the body.

[BushOut06]

15. That only illustrates the tremendous need for comprehensive health reform in this country

It really is bullshit that you have to have separate insurance for health, teeth, and eyes (forgot about that one). I wasn't even aware that foot doctors had their own insurance plans!

[lwcon]

11. In most cases, yes, but of course (as you argue) it should n/t

___

Hey, the liberal light is always on at the Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy. Please stop by and say "hi!"

[MGD]

4. Too bad she didn't live close to the Mexican border,

she could have had both children's dental problems solved for about $100.00 in Mexico. What a splendid little shit hole of a third world country we have become.

[Benhurst]

9. So much for "that shining city on the hill."

The Democrats in congress should jump on this.

Oh, wait ... we'd better keep our powder dry.




:puke:

[truedelphi]

14. The Corporatists in Power can't offend the Lobbyists - regardless

If it's a "D" or a "R" after their name

[Burma Jones]

10. This is an awful story that illustrates so many wrongs

Obtaining and paying for health care is a ridiculously Byzantine process, even for the fully employed and insured. I have a Doctorate, and it takes me a lot of time and thought to figure out who is paying for what. So, when not one, but two of your kids have dental problems, you have a lot of crap to wade through. Not everyone is brilliant, about half of us are going to be of below average intelligence. If you make obtaining health care a big pain in the ass, a lot of us, especially if you're working three jobs and have to live in a neighborhood where you have to be constantly aware of what's going on around you, are not going to be able to hack it.

We have made obtaining services so difficult and confusing as to discourage people from availing themselves of the services that do exist. So Right Wingers can conveniently blame the bereaved and crow that we still offer free health care to the poor, well I call Bullshit on that.

We make getting a medical education so expensive that serving humanity will land you in Bankruptcy Court.

At the very least, better education of the benefits that do exist, geared to the working poor and their school aged children, are absolutely necessary.

American Health Care - Get a Job, Kill your Kid........

We have a lot of Ehrlich shit to clean up here in Maryland.

[Robson]

13. Worst Healthcare $$$$$$ Can Buy

This sad situation demonstrates how the US has the most expensive but not effective healthcare. There's no common sense in the overall process. What would have been a simple $80 inexpensive procedure ended up as brain surgery and death because there is no comprehensive healthcare plan.