Remote Area Medicine

According to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, one out of three working age adults with chronic illnesses like diabetes, hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have joined the ranks of the uninsured. Many of these estimated 11.4 million either go without care or come into emergency rooms, often with critical problems that could have been averted had they been seen earlier. Lead author Andrew P. Wilper, M.D., of the University of Washington in Seattle, and colleagues, used the government’s National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) of 12,500 adults ages 18 to 64 for this study. The researchers found that close to a third of these uninsured with chronic illness had not been to a doctor in the past year compared with less than 10% of insured patients. The implications of this report is that many of these otherwise productive working people are more likely to become disabled at a younger age or may even die due to lack of care.

This study highlights what is becoming an increasingly critical problem in our country. That’s why we decided to donate all the royalties from our book, Rabbit in the Moon to Remote Area Medicine (RAM, a not-for-profit charity that provides free medical care to needy Americans. Thanks to all of you who have bought the book and helped make a contribution to this worthy cause!!