Thursday, August 14, 2014

is this a game changer

IS THIS A GAME CHANGER
back in the 90s walmart leased its pharmacies to private
pharmacists
i remember one of the popular ones was the superpharmacist
who would dress like superman when he did ads on tv
then
walmart decided to take over all its own pharmacies
see ya is what they said
the superpharmacist flew off into the sunset

then walmart started their $4 a prescription for generic drugs
a game changer is what that was
eventually many pharmacies now have that $4 a prescription
for generic drugs
dropping the cost of drugs for thousands of folks
especially as more drugs went generic

now

here it comes folks
$4 a visit health care in their new retail health clinics which
like the pharmacies before were ran by private groups
now
walmart is running the clinics and will expand what they will
take care of
a more complete primary care clinic

of course that $4 a visit is for their employees
for the rest of us it will be $40 cash price since they are not
accepting private insurance
but
you can bet that will change soon

ive thought about this a lot
this could be a game changer to start changing how we receive
medicine in the us

first theres a walmart everywhere
especially in rural communities where the medical care is sparse
they are manned by nurse practitioners
who will be taking over the health care delivery system anyway
in the future
this i predicted several years ago and its slowly becoming a reality

lets call the health care system being developed
walmacare

so youll sign up for walmacare
go to walmart for your clinic visits
pay a copay mybe it will be only $4
see the np
get your care
go to their pharmacy and pay $4 for your prescription

so i see the doctor twice a year for my health care
for high blood pressure high cholesterol and acid reflux
things a nurse practioner could easily take care
keeping me referred out to my neurologists for my possible
alzheimers disease

then my wife she
she would go in for her annual visit
and for her high blood pressure and her high cholesterol
get her prescriptions for her medications
go to the pharmacy for $4 get her prescriptions
and still see her endocrinologist for her thyroid pills
and also get her mammogram under the np orders

good health care given
i would have no problem with that

so what if many of the insurance plans or large employers join
in on this walmacare health care system
it will be a game changer for sure
im sure costco walgreens cvs etc wont be far behind

it could be the thing that pushes our health care system into a
lower cost system like those of most industrialized countries

yes walmacare
maybe the time is right for this to happen

the organicgreen doctor

2 comments:

  1. TOGD,
    do you foresee this to be an up and coming trend, like we already see many urgent care facilities, will there still be a need for general doctors, or will they begin to specialize in more specific areas?

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    Replies
    1. yes more stores will follow like walgreens target cvs etc. no there will always be family doctors but there arent enough being produced thanks to the cutbacks on funding years ago. also most students are going into specialties.
      the more specialists you have the higher the costs of care.
      togd

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