Once a year, Stuart, a long-haul truck driver, visited a physician to get a signature on the forms that allowed him to continue driving his 18-wheeler. Over 8 years, he had never seen the same physician twice, in large part because of a lack of health insurance. Upon seeing him for the first time, I assured him that we could make financial arrangements, and he subsequently became my continuity patient. Two years later, we both looked forward to his impending 65th birthday, allowing Medicare to ease his fiscal health care burdens. His unexpected death made me ponder how a lack of access to affordable health care profoundly affects patients and their clinicians.
© 2015 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.