Deb Richter: The time has come for primary care for all

Editor’s note: This commentary is by Deborah Richter, M.D., a practicing physician who lives in Montpelier.
Way back in 1990 I treated a patient in the inner city of Buffalo. He was an electrician in his mid-30s who had waited until complications from his diabetes rendered him blind and in end stage kidney failure. He waited because he had no insurance. At the point I first saw him, he was unable to work and was finally eligible for Medicaid. Unfortunately the diabetes had taken its toll o