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Walgreens offers free clinic visits to jobless and uninsured patients
NEW YORK — Drugstore operator Walgreens will offer free clinic visits to the unemployed and uninsured for the rest of the year, providing tests and routine treatment for minor ailments through its walk-in clinics — though patients will still pay for prescriptions.
Walgreens said patients who lose their job and health insurance after March 31 will be able to get free treatment at its in-store Take Care clinics for respiratory problems, allergies, infections and skin conditions, among other ailments. Typically those treatments cost $59 or more for patients with no insurance.
The program is expected to last through the end of 2009. Walgreens runs 341 Take Care clinics in 35 markets around the country, including Chicago, Atlanta, Miami and Cleveland.
Hal Rosenbluth, chairman of the Take Care Health Systems division, described the plan as something close to an experiment: He said Walgreens isn’t sure of patient demand or how much providing the services might cost the company.It’s likely to generate more attention for the clinics, however. Rosenbluth said a typical Take Care patient tells eight other people about his or her experience.
So far, about 30 percent of Take Care patients were new customers to WalgreensThe program is expected to last through the end of 2009. Walgreens runs 341 Take Care clinics in 35 markets around the country, including Chicago, Atlanta, Miami and Cleveland.
Free services will be offered only from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.Walgreens said it will not offer free checkups, vaccinations or other injections because it is focusing on providing services patients might otherwise get at an urgent-care center or even an emergency room.
Patients must present proof they are unemployed, including a federal or state unemployment determination letter and an unemployment check stub. They will have to sign a form at the clinic saying they have lost their jobs and health benefits. If they find a new job or get new health insurance, they will no longer be eligible for free care.Spouses and children are also eligible for free services if they don’t have insurance of their own.
Medical lab operator Quest Diagnostics is participating in the program by offering free tests for step throat and urinary tract infections.Walgreens bought the Take Care clinics in May 2007. Take Care says it has seen about 1.2 million patients since its launch in November 2005 and estimates that up to 30 percent of them were uninsured.
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Posted by Veterans Today on Apr 3 2009, With 0 Reads, Filed under Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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I have just resently started attending College out of the Military in Jan 09. There is a new club with my college that is called the Student Veterans Union. We are hoping to start fundraising and volunteer work with our local community of Veterans and Active Duty members. If there is any helpful tips that you can give me on how to start a community wide or college fundraising tactic that would be great. Or even if there is so useful information about Health and Fitness available to Vets and Active Duty members that I could brief in our meetings that would be so appriciated. Thank you, Kimberly Icenhower
HealthDirSVU@gmail.com