As of May 1st of this year - 2014 - residents of California, who meet certain criteria, are now eligible for dental coverage under the Medi-Cal program. Children and pregnant women have been the only ones with dental coverage since 2007 when most adults were dropped from the program. But, thanks to a bill signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown, approximately 1.6 million adults are now covered again.
I'm one of those adults. Back in March, in anticipation of the new benefits to start in May, I called the only dental office in my area that is accepting new Medi-Cal patients to make an appointment to fix a cavity in one of my top molars.
The soonest they could get me in to see a dentist was July 11th.
So, after waiting four months for an appointment, I drove more than 30 miles to be there early. By this time, my cavity was a hole. Every time I chew on that side, food gets packed into the hole. It's uncomfortable to say the least.
But that wasn't my only problem.They took eighteen x-rays of my teeth with that thing they stick in my mouth and they tell me to bite down on it while they take the pictures as it cuts into the roof of my mouth with it's square corners, bruising the roof of my mouth.
Anyway, as it turned out, by the time I able to see the dentist, I needed 7 fillings, a root canal and a crown.
But, root canals and crowns are only covered for front teeth - not molars. I could pay to have it done somewhere else or come back first thing in the morning anytime during the week and have it extracted for free. I was hoping to avoid losing any more teeth but, unfortunately, I don't have $1200 laying around nor do I expect to in the near future..
But instead of focusing on what couldn't be done, I decided to find out what could be done. She told me that they could make me another appointment to come back and get a filling done.
A filling? One filling??
Apparently, their policy is to do one filling per visit, but the first visit is just x-rays and an exam. Great.
So, after 4 months of waiting for an appointment, I wasn't going to be able to get any work done on my teeth.
It gets worse. Since they are the only dentist in a 50 mile radius taking Denti-Cal patients, their schedule is booked solid until October. This is July. I called in March. So I asked the dentist, "Won't my x-rays be out-of-date by then?" Somehow she didn't think so. "So why didn't we just use my x-rays from last year when I was here so we could use this appointment to fix my teeth?"
She thought I was trying to be funny. Whatever.
Back at the receptionist's desk I am told I can only make 2 appointments at a time. So, I ask for my next two appointments. As expected, the soonest they can get me in is October. But they'll only give me ONE in October. My second appointment, she tells me, is in March. MARCH!
But it gets worse.
Apparently, the March appointment is for a cleaning! I NEED FILLINGS! That's a full year from when I called for an appointment in the first place! So what's the chances that my x-rays will still be usable by the time they get around to doing my second filling? Which means my 3rd appointment will have to be x-rays again.
At this rate, it'll take about 4 - 5 years to get all the fillings I need. Unfortunately, we live in a world where teeth continue to decay until they are fixed. What is the point of having coverage if you can''t get anything done in a timely manner?
I don't blame Obama for this problem. At least he tried to get help for all of us poor people who don't matter to the Republicans. Maybe if the Republicans could be more focused on how they could help make the system more usable for the citizens of this country, instead of spending all their time and energy on on how to derail Obama and make him look bad every chance they get, maybe - just maybe - this whole experience wouldn't have to feel so futile.
It's frustrating enough that I work two jobs and still can't make enough to pay for my necessities. But it's nothing compared to the frustration of being treated like I don't deserve decent health care. Apparently, decent health care is only for the greedy bastards who have screwed the rest of the country over to make their millions - or who were elected to Congress.
(Except my congressional representative, Lois Capps. She's fabulous and truly a representative of the people.)
Anyone who claims America has the "best healthcare system in the world," as I have heard Republicans claim time and time again on FOX News, is completely DELUSIONAL! We have got to vote out the Republicans if we are going to have ANY CHANCE at improving our quality of life in this country!! Their mindset is outdated and dangerous to the citizens of this country. Ideology should NEVER trump the well-being of decent, hard-working Americans like you and me.
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