How Bad is it in Georgia?

Besides fielding numerous phone calls- these were some of our patients just today:

• An HIV (+) woman who had a recent cervical cancer diagnosed at our clinic.
•  Two uninsured women in their mid-20’s came together- for the FIRST ever exam and Pap smear 
•  A 19 year old man in to treat chlamydia.  We tested him at our free chlamydia screening day last week.  He now reveals that his girlfriend was known (+) and she was treated in February.  He went to the Floyd County Health dept. and they refused to treat him until he (an uninsured and unemployed young man) paid $140.00 -now she is (+) for chlamydia again.
• An uninsured, unemployed woman needed her Implanon removed and the Dr’s office that inserted it required $350.00/up front before they would see her (this procedure takes just a few minutes and about $5.00 worth of supplies).
•  A 23 year old, uninsured- with a urinary tract infection came here instead of the E.R. for treatment 
•  An uncontrolled insulin dependent diabetic smoker with high cholesterol came in for her overdue Pap – she likely has an STD 
• I called a 26 yr old, uninsured to let her know that her cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL were all elevated

That's how bad it is!  W.O.R.T.H. is a preventive health care clinic but preventive healthcare is almost impossible to obtain for the uninsured in Georgia.  As a result, the follow-up medical care our patients need is much more expensive for both the patient and the taxpayers.