[il-talk] FW: Walgreens providing free clinic services to unemployed/uninsured

[David Meyer]

  _____  

From: Lauri Dishman [mailto:lauri at guildfortheblind.org] 
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 10:18 AM
To: Lauri Dishman
Subject: FW: Walgreens providing free clinic services to
unemployed/uninsured



 


Please share with colleagues and clients.  


Walgreen to offer free health care for jobless, uninsured


March 31, 2009 

(AP) - Drugstore operator Walgreen 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. 

Deerfield, Ill.-based Walgreen 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 Walgreen 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 Walgreen. 

The program is expected to last through the end of 2009. Walgreen 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. Walgreen 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. 

Walgreen 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. 

 

Maria Balderas

Chicago Workforce Board

Chicago Workforce Center at Pilsen

an Illinois workNet Center

(312) 243-5100 ext.275

www.illinoisworknet.com <http://www.illinoisworknet.com/> 

 

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