March 19, 2008
Unregulated Health Care?
Connecticut officials say the health clinics that are showing up in Wal-Mart and CVS stores may need to be regulated.
From Hartford Business:
Minnesota-based MinuteClinic, which was acquired by CVS in 2006, now operates in 16 CVS stores in the state. The clinics tend to charge between $50 and $80 per visit, making them highly attractive to uninsured patients who can’t afford more expensive trips to physicians.
“They are starting to pop up all over Connecticut and, as we see it, there’s no real oversight,” said Ken Ferrucci, director of government relations for the Connecticut State Medical Society. “We want to see how they’re going to fit in the public health discussion because right now we don’t like it that they are part of the system.”
Edited 3/31/08 - CVS has several MinuteClinics in the in the Cleveland area. A websearch found no WalMart clinics in the Cleveland area. However, Walgreens has several Take Care Health Centers in Northeast Ohio.