Me too... but we do NOT have a "health care system"... In America we have a "health care industry"... it is a commodity. It is not a "system".

Absolutely correct.

Great Idea, But...
 

I think the Walgreens idea is terrific. If all the big companies in America did something similar, it seems to me that would go a long way towards making working people healthier and reducing the cost of healthcare.

But there are two key words in my complimentary statement..."big companies" and "working people".

If the idea of company-sponsored healthcare became common, that would be great. But the number of people it would affect would be too small, I think. How many people these days work for companies that can afford such a program? Even if they do work for a large company, do they work in an office of sufficient size to justify an on-site medical professional? Then there's the question of "working people". What happens when the employee who has grown to trust and depend on the company program gets laid off, quits or retires? What do they do then?

Overall, I think what Walgreens is doing is wonderful. But it a supplementary program, not the total answer to healthcare for the wide range of working and non-working Americans.

The idea with regard to Walgreen's is ok at best. The clinics like many other "minuite clinic" set ups are staffed primarily by nurse practitioners and are primarily (even according to their own site) for minor conditions such as colds, flu, upper respiratory track infections, and minor skin conditions. While any or all of these may be bothersome most don't require any treatment beyond symptomatic relief from over the counter medications. The setting provides decent potential for profitability because of just those reasons and the fact that an NP is paid less.
As much as it may be magnanemous and somewhat innovative on their part, it really does very little to address issues with our health care industry at large. It could be considered wasting resources by knowledgable people as is much of the rest of our system. What it does not address is the incredibly large problem of people with multiple co-morbidities (the diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, heart disease collection that so many have for example). There are also so many other things that a system like this can never adaquately address.
This for the most part is sort of "feel good" medicine that appeals the segment of society (pretty large I think) that thinks they need a doctor and a pill for everything or they just are not getting their money's worth. That's what I mean by waste.
I bring none of this up to knock their program, but to make sure some other aspects of it and the system at large are factored in.

I think a clinic like Walgreen could act as a good triage because an experiences nurse could detect things and advise patient to seek further help.
People with those ailments would probably already have their own source for treatment. they would not bother going there.

You could be right, though my experience tells me otherwise.

Many people use the emergency rooms as their prime care physician. These clinics are certainly less expensive then ER's. Have you ever seen an ER bill for a relatively simple procedure?
I do not have many answers to the health care situation but they say that 70% of treatments-ailments could have been avoided using preventative medicine.
Maybe some courses in high school could go a long ways.

I don't think there was an issue regarding whether these clinics would be cheaper than the E.R. Have I ever seen the the E.R. bill? Yeah, and then some. As a physician that has practiced in the E.R. setting and the inpatient hospital setting for some time now I feel fairly familiar with this. That really wasn't the thrust of my post though.

I don't know about your 70% statistic, might be pretty close though I'm not sure how that figure came about nor what all it refers to.

To reiterate, my point was not denigrate their plan, simply to shed more light and perspective on it.

OK..I didn't know you were a saw bone. My only medical experience was courtesy of the US army. In their infinite wisdom they determined that I would make a good combat medic. I was privy to many triage and ER type situations due to the many patients and few doctors. I had to do alot of on the job training.
As for the 70% figure..I have seen it many times in articles but could not really offer a link to anything official. I have seen it many times in real life, though. I have seen the effects of bad lifestyle choices. On the other hand, I have seen the smaller percentage, too. There are people who think they do everything healthy but still succumb to cancer, heart disease etc.
Still, I firmly believe in educating people on preventive medicine.

Could not agree more. Perhaps a little accountability along with the education? Do you get to keep getting repeat cardiac caths or bypass surgery if you continue to smoke? Do you get unlimited hospitalizations for continued alcohol abuse and it's complications if you refuse treatment for the addiction? Do you get another knee rplacement at age 50 if you didn't lose part of the 300 lbs that caused the first one? A lot of people don't care for this philosophy but I think it warrants discussion.

On a separate note, my thanks for your service to this country and my admiration for doing it in such a difficult role. Appreciate it.

And a sincere welcome. I know it is very difficult to change human behavior so more emphasis on preventative health at an earlier age seems prudent. Of course, I also believe that a course in basic business in high school should be mandatory. Knowing how to balance a checkbook and some simple investing would go further then algebra. IMHO

Again, speaking from my experience only, a very small select few will actually learn an attempt to participate in preventive care, because it too will require change and adhering to certain behaviors.

How many of you speaking with such venom about the Federal Government's inequitable distribution of wealth, and it's botching of all things federal willingly receive Medicare, Veteran's Benefits and Social Security?

If you've spent more on your Medicare than you've paid in- welcome to Socialism, as you define it. If you have received more Social Security than you paid in- welcome to socialism, as you call it.

It seems only fair to me, as a baby-boomer, that you should not get one penny more than you have put into our "Socialistic" systems. Isn't that what you're saying- as long as it's someone else?

Our Declaration states that "Life" is one of the cardinal responsibilities and gifts given by our creator. Somehow, it gets lost when that affects some greedy geezer's pocketbook.

Hmmmm Sounds like an anger issue to me. How about this? I will take every penny I put into it with compound interest since the government started taking it out of my paycheck and not ask for another dime. How's that? 46 years of my money earning interest. I'll take it and never ask my government for another "hand-out". OK? Oh yea, my wife has been self-employed for the last 22 years so she has been paying the Social Security tax of approximately 15 % I would like her's compounded too.
Oh, wait a minute..we had to pay for Johnson"s "War on Poverty." How did that work out? Oh yea, the government decided to "borrow" from the SS money to pay for that little expenditure....tell us again how many SS billions were borrowed for the infamous "War on Poverty"?
Oh...wasn't it the same administration that decided to borrow more money from social security to pay for the Vietnam war that a democrat started?
Let's see..who went over there to fight the Kennedy-Johnson War? Oh yea...THE GREEDY BABY BOOMERS. Imagine that.......

As far as Veterans Benefits go, they have been earned and many who receive them would gladly love to have the clock turned back and swap places with anyone who complains about the cost.

As far as Social Security goes, the odds of ever fully collecting back what has been placed into the fund are very long indeed.

As far as Medicare is concerned, have no idea whether what I've "contributed" to Medicare will match what I receive in care. Time will tell.

With regards to anyone in the previous generation(s) who do depend on Social Security, Medicare or anything else, before you condemn those "greedy geezers," first thank them for letting you grow up in freedom and not having to speak German, Japanese or Russian as your national language. They sacrificed a lot - more than most folk will ever appreciate - so that their progeny would not live under tyranny, and it's beginning to look like the subsequent "me first" generation(s) lack respect and appreciation.