Market-Based Health Care Reform
WALL STREET JOURNAL -- Walgreen's will market a network of pharmacies, in-store clinics and company health centers to corporate and government employers nationwide. Under the drugstore chain's "Complete Care and Well-Being" program, participating employees at work would be able to get checkups, preventive care and other services, such as dentistry and optometry. Walgreen's Take Care health clinics would be available for basic services outside of business hours, and the chain would offer discounted prescriptions at Walgreen pharmacies. Retirees and employees' family members also would be eligible for the services. In addition, the customers would receive a 15% discount on Walgreen's private-label products such as toothpaste and diapers.
Walgreen is targeting employers for its new program, having gained the largest market share of work-site health centers with acquisitions last year. Its services at those health centers often extend beyond the basic care that in-store clinics provide.
"Everyone today is looking to control health-care costs," and the Walgreen program "can be a big part of helping to reform health care in this country," company President Gregory Wasso.
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Speaking of Walgreen's, they're also mentioned in this article looking at how Maricopa County is taking steps to control its health care costs:
In an attempt to battle rising health-care costs, Maricopa County on Tuesday opened a health clinic and Walgreens pharmacy for its employees. About 12,500 county employees and their dependents are eligible to use the services.
The government clinic/pharmacy is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation, county officials and health-care experts said, and it could save Maricopa County about $575,000 yearly in health-care and prescription costs.
I just hope private market medicine has a chance to get started before the lefties start to nationalize the parts that remain outside Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, SCHIP, etc. I believe going back to the "company store" version of medicine is worth a try, at least for the majority of routine treatment and preventive care cases. I see there is now a "drive through" clinic in San Francisco.
I think it is insane that the US has so many (45 million by some estimates) without health insurance/health care. we should be able to solve this without throwing the entire system in to fed's hands (just think of it!). WalMart and Walgreens both have very inexpensive generic Rx prices. Nurse practitioners can do most of what my family doc does.
this problem seems solvable--which suggests to me few in DC really want it solved. they just want to be the ones who move my money around.
Hmmm, does this mean that the cute little blond at my local Walgreen's could soon be administering my annual digital prostate test? I wonder if she'll have to be eighteen?
. . . I'd better forget about it, the government will certainly ruin the whole thing with limitations.
Walgreen's keeps expanding, but it can't even dispense drugs correctly. They put the wrong pills in my bottle twice in a four month period. I spoke with my physcian, and he said that I was the fourth patient in a week with the same complaint. (The four patients used different Walgreen's branches, so it wasn't just my branch.) I stopped using Walgreen's and won't trust them with anything.
These aren't the people I would want running my health care program.
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