One day last week, as I sat here holding my cheek and popping ibuprofen like they were Tic Tacs, two other people were on my Facebook page complaining of the same thing: the dreaded toothache.
I kept mine hidden from social media, but the truth is, a toothache is a whole new level of stress and anxiety to folks who are struggling. You see, health insurance is expensive and even state health insurance (Medicaid covers adults) doesn’t provide dental care. And getting dental care when you’re just scraping by is damn near impossible.
Root canals and fillings? What are those? Because usually there’s one option: find a dentist who will pull it and not charge more than the cash in your pocket. And that’s always a last resort because who can afford to take the time off work for a tooth extraction?
Somewhere on the Internet is a video clip of me speaking at a rally for the WV Poor People’s Campaign. The rally had a lot to do with health care because that’s one of the biggest battles for working class/working poor folks. I said something like, “Meanwhile, I’m treating this pain in my side with essential oils and prayer.” And I did/am doing the same thing with this toothache except I’m chomping on cloves instead of oils.
The lack of afforable healthcare is one thing, and the money it costs in co-pays and deductibles? Whew. I’ll never understand why adults can’t use CHIP or a model of CHIP. It’s based on a sliding scale and was designed for people who make too much for Medicaid yet don’t make enough to afford private insurance, AND you can have a nice income and still have your kiddos covered. I don’t know enough about the health insurance racket to know why CHIP isn’t used as a model, but I do know that CHIP works.
My kids have always been covered by state healthcare, Medicaid and CHIP, depending on my financial health, and they have six-month dental checkups and annual physicals. They go to the doctor when they’re sick. My last doctor appointment took place for $75 and I was diagnosed (actually, I had diagnosed myself) and heading to the pharmacy for an antibiotic.
I was in a conversation about obesity the other day and stated that most weight isn’t from lack of exercise but lack of nutrition and health care. Can’t afford to buy healthy foods and can’t afford to have our bodies taken care of, and mine isn’t the exception but the rule.
But anyway, back to the teeth.
My friend’s girlfriend spent over $2,000 recently to have a back tooth fixed. We made snide comments about it because we weren’t raised to drop that kind of money on a back tooth. It’s yet one more social class difference. I know more people without all of their back teeth than those with them, and that’s because good teeth take money. And money is needed for bills and food.
We live in the richest country in the world and people are suffering without health care. I’ve met mothers who have lost their daughters to cancer because it took too long to get coverage and then to fight to have tests scheduled and treatments given. I’ve listened to single moms tell of losing their insurance because of increases and they’ve had to stop taking their lifesaving meds because they can’t afford them. A group of West Virginians recently took a bus trip to head to Canada to buy insulin because the prices here are unaffordable and it’s a matter of life and death.
There’s a lot of momentum building behind Medicare For All. Again, I don’t know enough about the insurance system to discuss it, but I do know that something must be done. Surely, in a country full of experts and researchers, someone can figure this out. We deserve a healthcare system that we can sink our teeth into, right?
