Wal-Marts open walk-in clinics (in Alabama)

[Doondoo]

Non-emergency medical help will be available at walk-in clinics opening today inside eight Wal-Mart stores in Alabama.

The CheckUps clinics, staffed by nurse practitioners, are scheduled to open at 9 a.m. today in two Wal-Mart stores in Huntsville and one each in Trussville, Gardendale, Hartselle, Athens, Bay Minette and Mobile.

The nurse practitioners, who work with local physicians, diagnose common ailments, provide routine pediatric care, blood screenings and immunizations, and can write prescriptions, according to a company news release.

A routine visit for a medical problem such as a cold or flu costs $65, while routine child and adolescent health care ranges from $30 to $50, according to the CheckUps Web site, which lists charges for its various medical services.



http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070214/NEWS02/702140348/1009

[OwnedByFerrets]

1. Is this a good thing

or a bad thing?

[China_cat]

3. Good thing for everybody but their employees

who won't be allowed to use it...or able to afford it.

[XNASA]

2. "What is it this time, Tyler?" nt

[TheMightyFavog]

4. Great. They don't even get to see a REAL Doctor.

I wouldn't trust one of these clinics as far as i could throw them.

[KansDem]

10. I thought the same thing: "Health care by proxy"

Now, I have the greatest amount of respect for nurses. They do a tough job with little recognition. However, I don't think they can fill in for doctors.

We need universal health-care...now.

[sarge43]

11. Yes agree. A NP writing scripts?!

The last time I heard only MDs could do that.

[kestrel91316]

12. Here in CA the NP who works at my ob-gyn writes scripts for

my birth control. They, and physician assistants, are permitted to do so. That way the ob-gyn can deal with serious stuff. Routine problems, minor illnesses and injuries, gyn exams.........it's all PERFECT for a NP or PA. That's what they are there for.

[bleedingheart]

13. NP's can write scripts

in fact a lot of NP's have far more clinical experience and are as good if not better than some GP's

However, I think an MD should be at these clinics.

[sarge43]

14. Thanks for the info. n/t

[Bunny]

19. Nurse Practitioners write scripts here too.

They are under the supervision of doctors. I would gladly see an NP for a routine illness.

[nodehopper]

32. NPs can write prescriptions in 48 states, if I recall correctly.

[cut.your.crap]

24. Physician's Assistants & Nurse Practitioners

Most larger practices and emergency rooms, that's all you see. This is nothing new.

[Megahurtz]

33. And they're Charging about the Same Price

as a real Doctor, which is too much for some people. Such affordable Health Care. :sarcasm:

[Bluestar]

5. Ahh--the great melding

Of the crooks from Wal*Mart with the crooks from the medical establishment. This is good news for the general public, as the two behemoths eat each other and are distracted from their systematic, methodical rape of the American public.

[Megahurtz]

34. Pretty much! n/t

[GenDem]

6. Gas sales, banking, and now doctoring

I don't mean to be cynical, because maybe this is a good thing -- but all I can think of is that they are trying to profit on their uninsured employees, and/or trying to give them a one stop medical service to keep them from taking a sick day.

[manic expression]

7. It was inevitable

soon Wal-Mart will have a full-fledged brothel.

[Demit]

8. The idea of Wal-Mart health care sends chills down my spine. Ugh.

[all.of.me]

25. yeah, kinda like wal mart broccoli...

creepy...

[napi21]

9. Perhaps I shouldn' tbe bit*hing already, but WHY $65.00????

The people I know who don't have health ins. can't afford it, and they can't afford $65 either!

Let's assume they take care of 15 paitents per hour. That would be $7,800 in an 8 hour day...EVERY DAY! Somehow I can't believeit costs THAT much to run something like that! They would have very limited equipment, andsince they're in WM, the rentshould be very low to non existent!

What's wrong with $25 per visit? To the very poorthat's still a lot of $$, but is doable most of the time.

Geesh, even whenprivate industry tries to do something good, they screw it up!

[Mnemosyne]

18. Wally World pays itself rent, in many instances.

http://walmartwatch.com/blog/archives/wal_mart_cuts_taxes_by_paying_rent_to_itself/

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

WAL-MART CUTS TAXES BY PAYING RENT TO ITSELF

As the world’s biggest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. pays billions of dollars a year in rent for its stores. Luckily for Wal-Mart, in about 25 states it has been paying most of that rent to itself—and then deducting that amount from its state taxes.

The strategy is complex, but the bottom line is simple: It has saved Wal-Mart from paying several hundred million dollars in taxes, according to court records and a person familiar with the matter. And Wal-Mart is far from alone.

The arrangement takes advantage of a tax loophole that the federal government plugged decades ago, but which many states have been slower to catch. Here’s how it works: One Wal-Mart subsidiary pays the rent to a real-estate investment trust, or REIT, which is entitled to a tax break if it pays its profits out in dividends. The REIT is 99%-owned by another Wal-Mart subsidiary, which receives the REIT’s dividends tax-free. And Wal-Mart gets to deduct the rent from state taxes as a business expense, even though the money has stayed within the company.

Partly thanks to sophisticated financial strategies like these, states’ tax collections from companies have been plummeting. On average, Wal-Mart has paid only about half of the statutory state tax rates for the past decade, according to Standard & Poor’s Compustat, which collects data from SEC filings. The so-called “captive REIT” strategy alone cut Wal-Mart’s state taxes by about 20% over one four-year period. Now several state regulators are trying to crack down on the strategy, used largely by retailers and banks, and some other states have changed their laws to try to end the practice. Yesterday, New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer included elimination of the loophole as part of his proposed budget, a fix he said would bring the state $83 million a year.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


Wally World does nothing that doesn't involve profit for them somehow, never. It's all about the money, always. "$7,800 in an 8 hour day". :grr:

[Book Lover]

15. Oh goody. One more barrier to doctor-led healthcare.

What exactly does "work with local physicians" mean? When a patient presents with something that is not clear-cut, that case goes to the doctor for review? What's that process and how long does it take? And what about when a patient presents with something whose cause could be several things? Does that go for doctor review? Or do we wait for the patient to undergo whatever treatment the NP recommends and then re-present in a few days when the original illness continues to progress?

[silverweb]

16. For-profit health care.

Just another commodity -- just another cash cow for investors to get richer off the misery of others.

I'm all for walk-in clinics and universal accessibility, but not when the purpose is just to pad the bottom line for investors and filthy profiteers.

Some services should never be for profit -- and health care and education are chief among those.

[tanyev]

17. Let's just add a maternity ward and a cemetery out back, and then nobody

will ever have to leave Wal-Mart.


I was born one mornin' when the sun didn't shine
I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mine
I loaded sixteen tons of number nine coal
And the straw boss said "Well, a-bless my soul"

You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store

[MichiganVote]

20. And the morning after pill? Has anyone checked to see if they are offering that?

[tabasco]

21. Anybody that thinks we have the best health care in the USA is delusional.

My German girlfriend's elderly parents can go in for a checkup anytime for free and see a DOCTOR.

[superconnected]

22. Yeah, I want walmart to start competing with the clinics

And overtake them with lower prices and cheaper doctors, and run the real ones out of business. :sarcasm: (as if you need a sarcasm tag)


What next, walmart hospitals? Underpaid doctors who are actually 1st year med students compete for patients with the medical graduates that charge so much. I can see it now. Go for the undergrad for the savings, it's only your health(life).

Bet they end up selling insurance too.

[Porcupine]

23. What idiot gives WalMart a medical history? nt

.

[cut.your.crap]

26. Have any of you ACTUALLY worked at Wal-Mart???

I spent about six months there. I spent six months at Target. Here's a news flash for you... Both pay nothing. Both offer no benefits to the majority of employees. At Target you don't work quite as hard.
I was a truck driver at a firm for over a decade. They cut about half the staff in 2004, including me. In 2005, I drove trucks for a bunch of jerks that gave a very low per diem for lodging and eating on the road (you can only bring so many sandwiches with you). Once it got cold, I decided I could no longer sleep in the cab (not a sleeper cab) three nights out of four on the road.
I held my nose and went to Wal-Mart. I thought I saw the grass greener over at Target a few months later and switched. I soon found out it wasn't. Even with my employee discount, Target pharmacy was more expensive than Wal-Mart without the discount.
I've been driving a school bus since September (another crappy job with no benefits) and once school is out in June, my 40 hour week (which takes 55 hours including layovers to complete) will be reduced to 16 hours or so. At which time I hope to get back into trucking. Fortunately, I live in NY and through Healthy NY, low to moderate income people like me can get insurance at a reasonable cost.

[Moloch]

27. Now all you have to do is put Southern Baptist churches...

in the Wal Marks and the bammynecks would never leave....

[Telly Savalas]

28. Bash Wal-Mart all you want, but they have the cheapest kidneys you'll find anywhere

[Strawman]

29. Can that really be far behind?

Imported vital organs from China available at WalMart?

I'm all for cheap, accessible preventive care, especially in communities with shortages of practitioners. But I don't trust Walmart.

[flying_wahini]

30. I know that it's Wal-Mart and all the baggage that goes with that, BUT

I think it is a good thing whenever there is more medical care available for ambulatory care..
I think these are exactly the kinds of patients that clog our ER's and send medical costs
thru the roof. Too bad that we don't have more of these clinics available to the
uninsured......
I think that Nurse Practitioners are greatly underused and that we need lots more of them.
And as far as it being Wal Mart, I think they are expanding into an untapped market,
too bad it's Wal Mart, tho.

[flying_wahini]

31. and another thing, Getting your NP certification is Very Tough

and these people are very sharp, this is not a slacker group.
The clinic I go to uses NP's and I think they are wonderful.
As a retired nurse, I will stand behind a NP before some of the
MD's I have worked with........ and if the NP has any problems he or she can always
just refer to the DR. The nurse prac. I have worked with would Never take a
chance with a patient.... their license is too precious for that.