LoL

This will alleviate a lot of ER clutter and free up the ER for those who need urgent medical care. I think this is a great idea, but I also think they're going to need more than 2 exam rooms.

Wow and this is news, its just stupid old walmart the rip off store

Let me get this straight. For the last two months, we have been told if we suspect we are sick with the flue, go to the doctors and avoid contact with others. Now these people are given a pager and go wandering through wal-mart for 45 minutes or so waiting to be paged. Brilliant. Simply Brilliant.

I bet 99% of the people who will use it are on Mainecare, every time they sneeze will stop by, and why not, they can submit the bill for the cost of travel to the state for reimbursement.

Gotta luv it boogyman, your right though.

My wife and I figure we drop about 3,000 a year at wal-mart. Not any more. If we wanted to be around sick people, we'd go to the hospital.

Very true i refuse to go to walmart now to buy anything. Buy most of my office supplies at Target or staples now. Screw walmart

Well put boogyman. The clientele at Wal-Mart is bad enough when they aren't actutely symptomatic. Now, in addition to being scary, they're also likely to be infectious. Reason number 1042 to avoid Wal-Mart at all costs.

My girlfriend's 16 y/o daughter had an infected tattoo on her lower back and...

j/k

Boogyman, you are brilliant. Can't figure out who I trust less with my healthcare...walmart or obama. I never shop at walmart. Yuck.

Yes, it is unfortunate. Prior to the Clinic at Walmart, sick people all stayed home and never went shopping.

Boogyman, how do you get your groceries, cause there's sick people shopping at Hannaford and Shaw's too (they have pharmacies, right?)

And no sick people ever go to the Mall, or the car dealerships, or the banks, or the movies, or the airport, or Target, or Staples. Oh yeah, only healthy people shop at those places.

You guys are just jealous cause you cant go to the Walmart Clinic to get the psychoactive drugs you so obviously need.

yeah i have to agree, im not sure i want to catch something nasty while im checking out at the checkout counter, LOL are u kidding me, what happened to having a good shopping experience lol, glad i dont shop at that wal mart

Most of you are so oblivious to what goes on everyday........YOU ARE ALWAYS AROUND SICK PEOPLE EVERYWHERE. Personally, I think that these clinics are GREAT IDEAS! Hopefully, many more will open in other locations run by other companies as well! It would be nice to go to a clinic, get an observation and a prescription for $40 rather than waiting in dirty and noisy ERs for 4 hours and being charged $400.

Sounds like Obama care.

Walmart cares about the community, but I question the wisdom of having EMMC as the proprietors of these clinics! Sounds like some backroom deal furthering their monopolies on healthcare.

The new Bangor Walmart needs something to lure people in(even if they are sick), IMHO it is one of the worst Walmart's I've ever been in, next to the one in Palmyra that is.

For God's sake, give credit where credit is due. A couple of businesses are attempting to do something good and they ought to be complimented not castigated.

This will be better than a goverment clinic..it will intersting to see how long they do this getting screwed on low payments from maine care and Medicare...suppose they will shift shortfalls to food prices..?? As much as some folks hate walmart...they did more to lower health care costs in the US last year than anyone when they went to the 3dollar copay ....everybody followed..let's see how this goes before we all pass judgement..

Ladies and Gentlemen: First of all, The Clinic at Wal-Mart is a brilliant business move by EMMC. These clinics will allow the hospital's services to be offered in a highly populated area at a relatively low cost compared to more traditional venues (ie: emergency room, urgent care, etc..). This cost savings is directly passed on to the consumer. If your child has an ear infection and you go to the E.R. or Urgent Care, you are will likely wait several hours to be seen, and you will definitely receive a bill for several hundred dollars - no matter how minor the issue. Your bill from the E.R. reflects payment for all of the overhead required to maintain that facility (x-ray,CT scan, ultrasound, personnel, etc...), whether you used those services or not. By comparison, The Clinic at Wal-Mart, because it is intended for only very low-acuity and brief visits, requires very low overhead to maintain. The price that you pay for treatment of an earache or sore throat will truly represent the cost of treatment for such a low-level visit. And because you are not competing with more critically ill patients who really do need the E.R./Urgent Care, you won't have to wait for hours to receive care. In addition, these clinics are providing wonderful career opportunities for the providers and staff who will be happily and proudly serving you via these clinics. Congratulations to all involved in the organization and openning of The Clinic at Wal-Mart - it is sure to be a tremendous success!!

We have walk-in health clinics at the CVS pharmacy's here in FL......works out fine.

Dadof2 is right...!!

The only reason walmart put this in, is for the money, you know the green stuff. Sam always alike the green stuff

Can't wait for the first person who severs their leg with a chain to rush into wal-mart bleeding profusely (and it will happen). That ought to be good for grocery sales.

Boogyman on a roll, lol, you can put a sign up that says no trespassing people will still enter, you can put a sign up that says this clinic only for minor medical problems and someone comes in with a chainsaw cut while i'm standing at register 10 with my children, lol, people will always try to stretch policy, if they're smart they will make an entrance to the clinic seperate from the stores entrances, i'm not worried about the sick running around the store, things you touch everyday in your own house are worse then what these people are carrying, but they need to seperate this clinic from shoppers and the people that need medical attention

It doesn't really matter if your on mainecare or whatever, its about people getting the attention they need, i went to the emmc walk in care on union street i faught a fever of 103 degrees for 3 days finally dragged my butt in there to wait 3 hours just to get an antibiodic, it was the worst 3 hours of my life, but if your eligible for maine care so be it, i know people that had a good job for 10 years and were laid off like there services were no good anymore and don't have insurance i hope that somehow they can find the help they need to get coverages people like that deserve it

I wonder if Wal-Mart will put in for any specials at the clinic on Black Friday! I hope so.

This is the start of Obamacare, don't be fooled by it. This is why WalMart publicly backed his healthcare plan months ago. They made this backroom deal and obvioulsy many of you are buying it. Personally if I am sick I am going to my Doctor, not an ER or a Walmart. I would also prefer to see a Doctor not a Physicians Assistant or Nurse Practioner. If you are sick with something minor that WalMart will treat, chances are pretty safe you can wait a day or two and get into the Dr. office. I don't believe in the one size fits all healthcare plan. If you haven't read the current healthcare bill just passed in the House you really should take a look at it.

Free boil lancing with every 50 dollar purchase.

Listen, I'm a capatilist pig, and proud of it. Of course EMMC and Wal-mart see dollar signs all over this. They know that many people (mostly on Maincare) will go into the clinic just because it is there and they have nothing better to do. A quick 5 minute visit and Mainecare gets billed for an office visit, if there is any prescription or reccomended "item" that needs to be purchased, wal-mart gets the sale. Ka-ching. Taxpayer gets the bill.

I seriously doubt that many people with private insurance are going to use this clinic.

with free healthcare coming for everyone we are going to need all the clinics we can get

I think it is a brilliant idea. Anybody who does anything to keep people out of the ER when all they need is a brief or maybe intermediate doctor visit. The last time I was in the ER most of the people just needed to see a primary physician. Maincare is going to pay anyway, so why not a $50 charge instead of $100's or 1000's?

Even when I go to my primary doc, most often I see a nurse practitioner, or physician's assistant. If it is something serious, the regular doc takes over. I prefer to see a doc, but with fees being squeezed by insurance companies, that is the only way the doc can make a profit. My doc said he was not going to participate in medicare or medicaid when they drop the fees paid 21% like the Obama care bill states. He said he made only 8% profit on medicaid/medicare, and the cut would make him lose 15% on each patient he saw. He said it would definitely make his business smaller because 2/3 of his patients are medicaid/medicare. He said he would bring in another specialist to share his office costs and just work less. He said he would begin to give discounts for CASH in the future.

So, if Walmart can turn a buck, and deliver healthcare, why not! After all discount healthcare is better than none at all - especially if it is affordable.

people with minor ailments such as sore throats, colds, etc shouldn't be clogging up ER's in the first place. ER's are for EMERGENCIES - unexpected and often critical ailments in need of IMMEDIATE attention - not coughs and sniffles. Much of why our current health care system sucks is because of the people who abuse the use of it...

Regardless, I think as a whole we are in need of more quick care clinics - to get these people OUT of our ER's - but I don't think that they should be in Wal-Mart... something about that just doesn't seem right.

How close is the in-store clinic to the in-store McDonald's?

50 bucks is 50 bucks. Twice my son (who has no healthcare insurance or primary doctor) has needed to get simple antibiotics..both times the bill was more then 300 dollars. When he gets sick, he suffers a long time before seeing anyone because he can't afford to go to the doctors..I applaud Walmart for making services to people who need it at a reasonable price. THANK YOU.

"They will prescribe some medications, but not narcotics or psychoactive drugs" Well most of the Walmart shoppers won't be using this clinic, so it should be pretty slow and you should be able to get right in and out! I went to my doctors the other day and was told that they were out of the flu vaccine (regular one) and I now have to wait until my appointment on November 30th, maybe I will go to walmart and get my shot today!

The hospitals, in larger towns in the country, are getting the people out of their ER's by offering a Fast Track service. It's for people who aren't going to need a bunch of diagnostic tests. You go to the ER and they tell you the approximate wait time and take your symptoms. They offer the fast track option. . They open at 7 and close at 11. It has cut the wait time down for true ER patients.. You see a real doctor, and are in and out in about an hour max. They take a doctor visit copay and not an ER copay. The hospital says it saves them money, it saves patients money.

Walmart has driven local businesses out of business. You buy cheap at walmart and you get what you pay for. Now it is obvious why walmat backed obamacare...you are correct Mainelifer. Walmart never did nothing that didn't involve profit.

Is it me or does it seem to be the same names that are so for capitalism that are knocking walmart for making a profit on medical care?

Haha!, I was reading this thread and was just about to stick up for you boogyman!

I was gonna say hey, boogyman's like the biggest milton friedmanite / free martketeer on these threads.

He just hates poor people is all. And the thought of shopping Walmart isles with poor, sick people, is just too much to bare.

Well, lovely. Judging by the number of empty storefronts in Bangor, I'd say that it won't be too long before Wal-Mart will be the only place you can go for anything. Funny how those who love to tout capitalism don't seem to know the definition of "monopoly."

Here it is by the way - pay attention to number 6 in particular: Monopoly

1. exclusive control of a commodity or service in a particular market, or a control that makes possible the manipulation of prices.

2. an exclusive privilege to carry on a business, traffic, or service, granted by a government.

3. the exclusive possession or control of something.

4. something that is the subject of such control, as a commodity or service.

5. a company or group that has such control.

6. the market condition that exists when there is only one seller.

I'd rather see many businesses benefit from capitalism than just one (especially those who are supposedly the "backbone" of our economy - i.e. small businesses). Hmmmm....

12:16 Correct

But Back to the story,

Is this the result, or evolution of United States Healthcare?

Or is this the result of society looking to free market capitalism to solve all our human needs?

Or maybe this is the result of an ever increasing number of Americans that are uninsured or under insured, and an ever increasing portion of American household budgets that is going towards private healthcare debts?

You know what's funny? Walmart will charge a $50 office visit fee but my insurer charges me $150 copay...i guess if I use the service, I better have no insurance, right? Right off the bat the insurer makes $100 bucks off me.

1:01 Maybe it's the result of the overmarketization of healthcare in general where we all go running to the doctor because we've just heard a commercial about a fantastic new drug that will help us cope with some ache, or a dire warning about a horrid new disease. Maybe it's because we now have a large and aging baby boomer population that will require more care, and we have to retool the system in order not to be overloaded to the point where we go broke. Perhaps we can do a little something for ourselves so that we don't end up having to run to the doc for a pill to cure whatever ails us. Let's take a moment to realize that yes, a virus can indeed make you feel like hell, but a trip to the ER is not going to fix it. Why charge your insurance company $400 for an ER doc to tell you to stay home and drink fluids? Maybe insurance companies can find a way to hire less people whose job it is to find out how they can deny a claim to a provider and thus force the provider to resubmit bills until it either actually gets paid, or it writes off the expense. Maybe we can work with businesses to provide some sort of incentive to add healthcare benefits to a decent paying job instead of mandating everything and taxing businesses out of Maine. There's plenty of ways to correct these inefficiencies; however, my guess is that there will be so much useless squabbling over "socialized" healthcare vs. "Capitalism" that absolutely nothing will get done. That's a plain and simple reality check.

Boogyman: Yeah, I already made the connection between Walmart Clinic = more (sick) people shopping at Walmart (buying crap they don't need with their welfare checks) = more Walmart prescription sales = more Maine Care / Medicare / Insurance company payments to Walmart. I'm flabbergasted that some of the shmucks in here think Walmart is doing this out of the goodness of their hearts. Sure wish you were my next door neighbor, Boogyman! You're a hoot!

Everyone wants healthcare, this is what it will come too.....

I would not care to go to such a clinic but maybe some would. They need to get a healthcare provider, though, as soon as possible. I do not care for that super Wal-Mart in Bangor anyway, I should say. I would not think walking around with a bad cold,etc., where there are lots of people shopping, as you wait for your name or number to be announced for the healthcare clinic there, is a very satisfactory method. It will keep me out of there all the more (not that I would be there hardly at all anyway.)

As an aside....way too many people walk around in public places when they are sick; people should be more considerate and responsible and minimize as much as possible spreading germs and illnesses around to others.

On 11/10/09 at 10:45 AM, webuddy wrote:

50 bucks is 50 bucks. Twice my son (who has no healthcare insurance or primary doctor) has needed to get simple antibiotics..both times the bill was more then 300 dollars. When he gets sick, he suffers a long time before seeing anyone because he can't afford to go to the doctors..I applaud Walmart for making services to people who need it at a reasonable price. THANK YOU.

--------------------------------------

Amen webuddy! A lot of the people posting here are assuming that everyone has health insurance. Many people between the ages of 20 and 40 don't. They also don't get sick very often, but when an ear infection or strep throat happens........isn't it better for people to walk-in, see someone in a timely manner and pay $50 instead of $400??? Some of you fools need to get a clue.

Instead of actually putting this clinic "IN" the Walmart they should have made a building off the the side of the parking lot for it, keeping all the "infected" people from contaminating the rest of the shoppers, the shoppers already do a good enough job of this already. Make them sit in the waiting area in this building until it is their turn to get service, DO NOT let them wander around the already germ infested Walmart store, have you seen some of the shoppers in there, dirty/stained clothes, dirty unwashed hair, wearing the tye-dye tweety bird t-shirts that say "Make my day" or the other cartoon character apparel they wear. The children of these people are no better with the dirty clothes, unkept hair, and snotty, crusty runny noses, and they cough and sneeze right at you not even covering their mouth and the parents don't even notice or maybe its they do not care, their hands look as if they have been palying in dirt all day long, just gross! I personally do not like this new Walmart anyway you almost need to take a day off from work just to run in to get dog/cat food, although it is no where near as bad at the Palmyra/Newport one, that my friends is a very scarey store, not really the store just the people! I do not go to Walmart unless it is an emergency, I would much rather go to Target, much more upscale version of Walmart and the prices are just as cheap if not more so, but don't tell all the Walmart shoppers as they will now start going there and ruining it, and making it as trashy as Walmart!

If healthcare wasn't such a quagmire to begin with, then this whole discussion wouldn't be necessary in the first place.

Just wait until Mainecare refuses to reimburse them in a timely manner (if they accept it in the first place) and see how long those prices stay low.

My guess is it'll be just like hospitals now: The insured will pay for the uninsured/underinsured. Insurance companies will "negotiate" to overpay Wal-Mart for services just EXACTLY like so many of them do with hospitals now. Those overpayments go to uninsured/underinsured so that the hospitals can pay their bills (What? You mean they actually HAVE to pay the electric bill just like everyone else?!!). Yes Virginia, and that's just how they do it. Of course here's the catch: You won't be able to find out why this happens because it will be a "confidential" contract issue that you, despite being a rate-payer, will not be privy to.

But you see, we are so busy fighting over "political agendas" that we don't really have time to look a little deeper and see exactly how things are run now. Meanwhile, people who can't afford health insurance don't get the care they need. Nice.

blueskiesaboveme and a few others>>nice compassionate understanding

The rest of you uneducated about healthcare and what is needed

Please go somewhere my Wife doesn`t work at

That would be all the hospitals in Bangor.

The Yahoo`ss really found something to even be more negative about then the Gay Marriage Issue

Most of you will be crying like Big Babies (which alot of us have seen before) as soon as you stub your freaking Toe

OMG 1//2 of Maine is such an ignorant class envy state.

One person said it very good.

There are very sick people all around you most of the time.

But the sickest is the hate filled person looking at himself in the mirrow.

And oh my there are alot of them here.

YAaaaHOooooo I can`t wait for one of these anti compassionate people get a bad cold

It must be a very close thing that they don`t blow that little pea brain out.

Well ya know ElectraGlide, some of us are just a wee bit sick of seeing how screwed up healthcare is. We don't like to see people come into hospitals wreathing in agony when their appendix is about to burst, but they waited until the last possible second hoping it would go away because they didn't have insurance. We don't like to see self-employed people who work their rears off having to come in for stitches because they almost sawed a finger off on a job, and are worried about how much it's going to cost them. Negative? Yep. I refuse to don rose-colored glasses anymore. I also refuse to hear people crab constantly about how welfare cheats are costing us so much money by sitting on the couch and collecting their paychecks for drugs, when there are many who actually work and qualify for Mainecare (oh, and btw, some Wal-Mart employees included in that number).

Reality isn't always pretty is it?

On 11/10/09 at 4:20 PM, sassyfrazz wrote:

My guess is it'll be just like hospitals now: The insured will pay for the uninsured/underinsured.

-------------------------

Or the uninsured will pay for THEMSELVES. Not everyone who is uninsured is a welfare recipient. Seems like some of you holier-than-thou insured should realize that some of us uninsured are actually helping to pay for some of YOU (the insured!),

And to the anti-Wal-Mart people........SHOP SOMEWHERE ELSE IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT! There's other stores......some of their names are TARGET, K-MART, and god forbid.......MARDEN'S (now's there's a real clean/disease-free store!......lol). OR go support your Mom n' Pops that you're always whining about!

I love free markets.......I have a CHOICE!

mainejeff: This has absolutely nothing to do with being "holier than thou' - quite the contrary. It has everything to do with how much horsehockey is flung about when it comes to who pays for what, and how bills are actually paid. You see, personally, I would prefer that people who work for a living have decent access to a healthcare plan that would not require them to give up their first born to pay for. If you pay cash within 30 days, you get a discount. Well that's just great if you can pay, but if you can't, then what? And as far as paying more - what I'm talking about is when a hospital charges an insurance company $150 and the insurance company pays out 3 times that because of "confidential" contractual agreements. This happens all the time, but no one ever seems to mention it. It's like the proverbial "white elephant" that sits in the corner. Anyone with insurance coverage can peruse their Explanation of Benefits to see if that's happening to you.

Fortunately, there are programs in place for qualifying uninsured patients to get some type of charitible care. I think this is a very good thing; however, I'm also a realist - how is the provider supposed to pay their bills when they can't even get fully reimbursed for their supplies/costs? Ask most providers how much they get reimbursed from Mainecare and Medicare and also ask them how they manage to pay the bills until such a time the state or feds decide to cut them a check (which can be anywhere from 6 months to 5 years). My insurance company pays them 3 times more than they originally billed. Why do you suppose that is?

You see, we get all caught up in "Obamaism vs. Capitalism" and waste all the more and more time fighting over politics and nothing gets accomplished. Meanwhile, there is a myriad of things that can be done that won't equate to socialism, won't destroy capitalism, and would allow people who don't have insurance the ability to be able to purchase it. I have no problem helping the uninsured (who, most of the time, through no fault of their own - their employers can't afford to provide benefits) to access care. I just want people to realize that there's a lot of misinformation out there, and spreading it just further mires the cog that'll get anything done about it.

As far as Wal-Mart is concerned - you may have a choice now, but each and every time you go to Wally World exclusively for your A. Food B. Clothing C. Eyecare prescriptions D. Auto work E. Pharmacy needs and now F. Healthcare, you (whether you want to believe it or not) are not supporting businesses that will allow you that CHOICE. Those businesses cannot compete with the buying power of Wal-Mart and they simply will close. BTW, Kmart would be gone by now if it weren't for it's merger with Sears. Be careful what you wish for - that's all I'm saying.

sassyfrazz~~I don`t know why you are screaming at me.

You got me a liitle lost with all the stuff in your articles

I support the walk in care in Walmarts

I do not know it you do or not.

I support healthcare for all with the right plan

I support affordible healthcare for all

My wife has worked at EMMC for 30 years

So i think i got a pretty good understanding of what the WIC is all about

Takin pressure of the ED`s in the State

I have no problem going to WIC at a Walmart for what they are designed to handle

And if I cut my finger off and was close to a Walmart that had WIC I would stop there

If they have a NP or PA there they are sure qualified to assist until an ambulance arrives

And all them that are freaded because someone came in all bloody

Well if it was them they would do the same

So what do you think now

ElectraGlide: Please do not take my comments personally. I am not "screaming" at you, and I apologize for coming across that way.

I am screaming at a broken down system - a system whereby I have watched year after year after year decent-paying jobs with healthcare benefits fly out of this state like nobody's business. I have watched people who worked in small businesses (most now closed) qualify for Mainecare because their employer could no longer afford to provide the coverage. I consider it insult to injury to have to listen to people complain about "shiftless welfare cheats" who are on Mainecare. Are there those who abuse the system? Of course! There are many who actually work too - they work at low-paying, 32 hour maximum per week jobs - many work 2 jobs (each with no benefits package).

I have watched Stillwater Avenue progress from a cow pasture to a chain store strip. I look around and see the massive waste of buildings (for example Shaw's plaza has nothing but a bank in it now, and an empty parking lot where they were going to build). Do you think that Wal-Mart's expansion added to the woes of that? Of course it did.

I've watched Kmart go from a decent store that employed many people (and many for since it's opening in 1972) offering full-time with benefits to a dump that got rid of all of their full-time employees and hacked the benefits for the rest. Were it not for it's merging with Sears, it would be gone now. That is not capitalism as it should be defined. That's what "consumerism" gets us.

I do not support healthcare clinics at department stores. Any departments store. They should sell me my underwear and that's it. I support it least of all at Wal-Mart because it's like shopping in a warehouse. It's too big, and it grabs too many resources.

I think it will free up ER for a while, but human nature being what it is, I'm reasonable sure we'll go back to status quo in short order because I have experience with sick and impatient people. I hope not, but I'm a realist.

Healthcare is one of the last bastions of decent-paying, benefitted jobs. We're turning it into "consumerism" and whether or not anyone believes it, that is not a good thing - and it certainly is one of the reasons that it's as screwed up as it is.

With that rant, I'm done.

So sassyfrazz~~We both were screaming at similiar things.

Have a great day~~BTW~~I lov that handle~~I know u take no Prisoners

And thanks for DAt

I don't agree that the clinic should be inside the store itself, however, I do think Walmart is on the right track with this cheap health care for minor issues. I think it is really great.

What worries me is that Sick people are encouraged to stay away from large crowds...Stay away from shopping centers...It makes me wonder how many of the people using the clinic will go shopping when they leave for it's convenient, everything they need is right there! What an easy way to spread your sickness to thousands of people....

In regards to sassyfrazzs' comment. It kind of sounds like what you Government is trying to you. I'll take capitalism any time .

Sassyfraz and the rest of you snobs- If you don't like Wal Mart, don't go there. Period. You people make me weary with your constant criticism of ANYTHING with which you don't agree. Personally, having worked in healthcare for nearly 30 years, and I think it's a great idea. Wal Mart is simply addressing a need in the community. If they weren't, they wouldn't succeed and it's not up to you or your little bourgeoisie friends to pronounce them unfit to do so. You can sit in the ER for four hours before being seen. I have better things to do.

I worked at a free standing clinic in Massachusetts from1983-1984, a concept very similar to the Walmart clinics. Unfortunately no HMO would pay for their clients' benefits because we were 'out of network'. We had to turn a lot of patients away because they could not use their insurance where I did work.No patient with a life threatening condition was ever turned away for financial reasons.

We charged less than half of what any hospital ER would cost and we did not accept Medicaid, not because of their low payment rate, but the form to claim with was 9 pages long, and we were filling all of our claim forms out by hand. Today, medical billing is a little more universal and those long forms are now automated.

For those on Medicare, this is Annual Election Period, and if Medicare is cut and your medical provider stops accepting Medicare you may have to travel to find someone who does. Now would be the time to look into a Medicare Advantage Plan or Medicare Supplement also known as "part C" unofficially. These private fee for service plans can cost anywhere from $0- to $200 a month. Some plans include travel in their plans. Most physicians will continue to accept these plans because Medicare pays your insurance provider and they pay your doctor at a higher rate than Medicare. They will also cover or cap your co pays especially for in patient care. Just a few days in the ICU will run in the thousands. I broke my wrist in 2008 so badly it required surgery and the bill was over $20,000. Twenty percent of that, my responsibility was just over $4,000.

Remember, any percent of a lot is going to be a lot. I strongly suggest buying or acquiring a plan NOW!

nurse54 - you can say I'm being critical until the cows come home. That is your right to do so, and I will respect it. I do, however, take exception to your description of my being a "snob." Please note I did not slam Wal-Mart's clients. I do not believe in looking down my nose at anyone. What I am, however, is a realist, and the reality is that until healthcare waste, abuse, and fraud is addressed, until we start taking responsibility for demanding lower and lower prices (you get what you pay for) and until the US starts taking job creation seriously, our government (which, by the way, I don't want ramming their noses into anything healthcare related at all) will indeed completely take over healthcare and won't it be a mess then.

BTW, I have nearly as much experience in healthcare as you do. If you knew how many times I have worked to help people find insurance coverage and/or ways to pay their bills then you would realize that there is nothing "bourgeoisie" about me.

Go right ahead and shop where you want - that is none of my business. Just do me a favor and run a little tally mark note each time you see an empty building and/or new construction that stopped at the paved parking lot level.

I have read all these posts and can't believe no one has thought of the obivious reason why the is sooo wrong.I would like to be able to go shopping without adding to the fact that people are in there shopping with a beeper to notify them of their turn with doctor.With them having who knows what for germs.With this flu season in full swing they are saying to stay home if you are sick and now they going to have them shopping at walmart spreading their germs all over.I can't even believe this would be an option.Sick people do not belong shopping in walmart.Come on people get a clue.I guess that is just a reason to shop at Target.