By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    physical health
    5 Ways Playing Games Can Improve Neural and Physical Health
    September 9, 2022
    Reasons For Hair Loss and Its Treatment
    Reasons For Hair Loss and Its Treatment
    February 16, 2022
    healthcare organization
    5 Actionable Strategies For Healthcare Organizations
    August 15, 2022
    Latest News
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    August 3, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    4 Reasons Chris Cornell’s Death Raises Medical Ethics Questions
    December 19, 2018
    What If You Could Sell Your Vote?
    August 24, 2017
    The Sleepy American
    September 12, 2017
    Latest News
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 22, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 22, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 22, 2025
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Free Health Care
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Business > Free Health Care
BusinessPolicy & Law

Free Health Care

JohnCGoodman
JohnCGoodman
Share
6 Min Read
SHARE

This past weekend, Wal-Mart was offering health care screenings to male customers at no charge. Sam’s Clubs across the country gave any customer willing to take the time:

  • BMI Index measurements,
  • Blood pressure tests,
  • Cholesterol readings,
  • PSA (prostate cancer) tests, and
  • TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) tests.

And that’s not all. Sam’s Clubs have more free screenings planned for the future. Here’s the schedule:

This past weekend, Wal-Mart was offering health care screenings to male customers at no charge. Sam’s Clubs across the country gave any customer willing to take the time:

  • BMI Index measurements,
  • Blood pressure tests,
  • Cholesterol readings,
  • PSA (prostate cancer) tests, and
  • TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) tests.

And that’s not all. Sam’s Clubs have more free screenings planned for the future. Here’s the schedule:

More Read

Flying “Eye” DC-10 Hospitals Give the Gift of Sight
3 Tips To Getting The Best Results From Your Independent Medical Reviewer
Pfizer Joins Microbiome Movement with Second Genome
OCR HIPAA Audits Finally Kick Off – Do They Matter?
Person-Centered HealthCare: Prevention Starts in Kindergarten
  • July: Kids Health Screenings
  • August: Vision Health Screenings
  • September: Diabetes Screenings
  • October: Women’s Health Screenings
  • November: Digestive Health Screenings

Further, at the store I visited there was no waiting. And if there happened to be a wait, I suspect it would be handled the way Wal-Mart handles prescription drugs. In order to reduce both the time cost and the money cost of care, Sam’s Club Pharmacy promises:

  • Hundreds of generic prescriptions for just $4,
  • Prescriptions filled in just 20 minutes, and
  • Text alerts to tell you when your prescription is ready, so you can shop while you wait.

Now if this doesn’t knock your socks off, you must be living in a cave somewhere. Certainly, you haven’t been paying attention to health policy news.

 

How many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn’t see.

 

Under the health reform bill that was enacted last year:

  • In just three years you are going to be forced to buy insurance coverage for the very services Wal-Mart is giving away for free!
  • My rough guess is that you (though your premiums) and your health plan (directly) will pay $500 to $1,000 for these services alone; and if you can get them with only 20 minutes of waiting at a doctor’s office or community health center, be sure and tell the rest of us your secret.
  • I would also guess that after getting your blood drawn at a conventional site, you will wait at least a week before you learn the results — in contrast to the almost immediate feedback at Sam’s.
  • As for the drugs, ObamaCare will probably force you to buy first-dollar coverage for a whole slew of generics and the cost will be a lot more than Sam’s $4 charge.
  • Texas Medicaid, for example, pays a fee of more than $7 to pharmacists just to dispense a prescription — on top of the cost of the drug!

What’s happening at Sam’s Clubs is yet another instance of a general trend I have noticed. Almost all of the things health reformers say they want to happen are already happening — outside the third-party payer system. They are happening not because of the third-party payers, but in spite of them! Consider that:

  • Concierge doctors are consulting by email and telephone, keeping electronic medical records (EMRs), prescribing electronically and offering same day or next day appointments — all characteristics of the Commonwealth Fund’s vision of ideal primary care.
  • Walk-in clinics are posting (transparent) prices, using evidenced-based medicine by following computerized protocols, and keeping EMRs as well.
  • Cosmetic and Lasik surgeons routinely offer “bundled” prices, compete for patients based on price and quality and have lowered the real price of their services over the past decade.
  • There are lots of successful examples of coordinated care, integrated care, managed care, medical-home care and home-based care (see, for example, here) — almost all of it developed despite third party incentives not to do so and in some cases saving third-party payers millions of dollars without a dime’s worth of compensation.
  • And now we have primary care without deductible or copayment!

Isn’t the lesson here obvious? There’s nothing wrong with the market for health care. It’s the third-party payers, stupid.

Now I want you to close your eyes and try to imagine how a rational world would deal with all this information. Here are some of my fantasies:

  • Commonwealth Fund press release: “Karen Davis Praises Wal-Mart; Says ObamaCare endorsement was a mistake.”
  • HHS press release: Secretary Cancels Millions in Pilot Project Funding: “Why spend money looking for answers Wal-Mart has already found.”
  • Texas HHS press release: “State to Contract out Medicaid Services to Wal-Mart.”
  • New York Times Economix blog: “I was wrong” is the lead for the latest Uwe Reinhardt column.
  • Incidental Economist post by Austin Frakt: “On Wal-Mart, show me the evidence.”
   

Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

travel nurse in north carolina
Balancing Speed and Scope: Choosing the Nursing Degree That Fits Your Goals
Nursing
September 1, 2025
intimacy
How to Keep Intimacy Comfortable as You Age
Relationship and Lifestyle Senior Care
September 1, 2025
engineer fitting prosthetic arm
How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
Health care
August 20, 2025
a woman explaining the document
How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
Public Health
August 20, 2025

You Might also Like

Heroism in Harm’s Way

February 21, 2015

Medicaid to Fund ‘Stay-Healthy’ Incentive Programs

April 7, 2011
BusinessFinanceHealth ReformHospital AdministrationPolicy & Law

Unless You Are The Lead Dog on the Sled, The Scenery Never Changes

January 14, 2014

Specialty EMR Company Lands $14M to Take on New Markets

August 21, 2013
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?