Photos: Radhika Chalasani

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The Public Option

Remote Area Medical was founded in 1985 to treat isolated villagers in the developing world, but the nonprofit has also seen a desperate need for its services in America. In July, RAM provided free care to 2,715 people during a weekend at Virginia’s Wise County Fairgrounds (pictured), where many slept in their cars to nab a spot in line. In August, the volunteers set up for eight days in the Forum near Los Angeles, where they did 8,775 medical checkups, cleaned 1,889 people’s teeth (extracting 2,274 rotten ones), conducted 2,266 eye exams, and filled 1,984 eyeglass prescriptions.

The Public Option

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We were built for times like these

Russian bots are impersonating us. Trump and his allies want to silence us. AI wants to (and does!) steal our content. The list goes on. But with 50 years of experience, we know we were built for this moment: We’re ready to keep diving deep and uncovering the truth, then getting that to you right here, completely accessible and never behind a paywall.

While our work is free to read, watch, and listen to online, it’s incredibly costly to make. Court documents, travel, research: It all adds up. Because we’re a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on reader support to fund our investigations. Will you stand with us in these extraordinary times, as headlines clamour for our attention and disinformation is rampant? We can’t get the truth out without you.

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