Free health clinics hindered by state laws

60 Minutes Overtime RAM's free clinics full of needy patients, but slowed by red tape .chip { background-image: url('/fly/bundles/cbsnewscore/images/chip-bgd/chip-bgd-60-minutes-overtime.jpg'); } By Brit McCandless Farmer April 5, 2026 / 7:00 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Each weekend across the United States, thousands line up before dawn for free medical care at pop-up clinics, but a patchwork of state laws is preventing volunteer doctors from helping as many people as they could.Despite those constraints, Remote Area Medical (RAM) makes life-changing differences each week.At a recent clinic, Dave Burge raised a hand-held mirror and took in his reflection, smiling. His teeth had been knocked out twice. First, he explained, they were damaged in a head-on crash caused by a drunk driver. After two years of rehabilitation, he returned to his construction job. But when his drill struck rebar, the recoil snapped back into his mouth, breaking his teeth all over again.Now, seated in a dental chair, Burge got his first look at a new set of dentures, created and fitted by RAM. They transformed not just his appearance, but his confidence. "It's amazing," he said.Moments later, he put it more simply: "That gave me my life back."Burge is one of thousands of patients served by RAM, a volunteer-run charity providing free medical, dental, and vision care to underserved communities across the United States. About half of the patients have no insurance. The rest have insurance they can't afford to use because of co-pays and deductibles.This week, 60 Minutes revisits the organization, nearly two decades after first highlighting its work. Correspondent Scott Pelley first reported on RAM in 2008, when the group operated about a dozen pop-up clinics each year. The response to that broadcast was immediate and overwhelming: $4 million in donations poured in, and thousands of volunteers signed up. Today, RAM hosts roughly 90 clinics annually.The organization was founded in the...