Remote Area Medical In the USA

Last Sunday, 60 Minutes did a story about an American relief organization that airdrops doctors and meds into the jungles of the Amazon. It's called Remote Area Medical, or RAM and now it is treating our uninsured.

Being uninsured for a good many years of my teen/adult life I feel like I know what these people must be going through. I've also witnessed that the best insurance is usually only great when you're not using it. Even some of the deductibles are too much for people to afford.

This story was amazing. I was thrilled to see everything they can offer for relatively little money and the wonderful (276) volunteers that spent the weekend helping people from all over. Hundreds, if not thousands of people waited in line, in the cold for dental, visual & medical services. All free. "RAM operates on a shoestring budget of about $250,000 a year. Yet, last year, it treated 17,000 patients."

Stan Brock is the founder of Remote Area Medical. Some of you might remember from "Wild Kingdom." He was the good looking guy that did all the crazy animal stunts like run with lions. I'm not sure if he actually did that but I do remember watching him in the 70's and I thought he was so cool. Well, guess what? He still is. ;)

Check out this wonderful story as I'm sure I'm forgetting great details.

RAM Story on 60 Minutes

This is such a wonderful thing to witness but it's so sad that we need it in our country.