We Need Single Payer 0
The chain, which also operates as Happy Harry’s in Delaware, said it will drop out of the state-federal health insurance program for low-income people as of July 6. The chain has 66 Delaware locations, the most of any pharmacy chain in the state.
Not taking a stand on this particular contretemps–follow the link for an article that sets out the arguments of both the state and Walgreens, the issue here is really something else.
Both federal and state governments have been attacking their budgetary costs for medical aid at the wrong end, by limiting payments to doctors, hospitals, drugstores, and other providers.
The issue is at the other end, where the care starts, not where it ends, with a system that pushes the costs for doctors and drugstores and nurses and so on much higher than it needs to be. The University of Maine reports the following (PDF–click on the excerpt for the full report; it’s chock full of facts):
It’s not the cost of doctors and nurses and pharmicists that’s outrageous. It’s the cost of admininistrators, particularly “insurance” administrators, and prescription drugs (PDF) that are out of control. Reducing payments to doctors, nurses, and pharmacists mops up the blood without stopping the bleeding.
