Walgreens is giving free care to Jobless and uninsured

Associated Press * 3/31/09

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.

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 Walgreens.

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.

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.