Constant Opinions

I just read about one of those tragedies that should have been very, very preventable if only this country worked harder on providing coverage for the poor. A young man in Maryland died due to a brain infection that was the result of a tooth abscess.

Health coverage in the United States for the poor is not very good at all. Medicaid helps some, but it can be hard to get care, especially dental care. Many dentists are simply reluctant to deal with the low payments they get for caring for Medicaid patients and the amount of paperwork involved. It’s frankly horrible.

Some of the worst of this comes simply from how hard it was for the mother to get basic dental care for her children. The mother had to search hard for care, and when a mistake caused their coverage to lapse, she was stuck.

I hope this tragedy helps lawmakers realize that more needs to be done. If this boy had been cared for early on, it would have been very simple. Instead he died, leaving behind huge medical bills. Talk about symptoms of a broken system!

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