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Re: Walmart is ending its telehealth service and closing over 50 health clinics

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On 5/20/2024 11:59 AM, Dave Wainwright wrote:
> On 5/20/2024 10:59 AM, Frank wrote:
>> On 5/20/2024 9:24 AM, Ed P wrote:
>>> On 5/20/2024 4:31 AM, Thanks Joe... wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> RASCOE: So, when people walk into a Walmart, they'll usually find a
>>>> pharmacy, maybe vision care, but these clinics that we're talking about
>>>> were much more than that, right?
>>>>
>>>> JAPSEN: Yes, they started about five years ago. And Walmart - a lot of
>>>> people don't realize this, but Walmart has done some innovative 
>>>> things in
>>>> health care over the years. Years ago, they had this market-moving 
>>>> move on
>>>> $4 prescriptions. So they thought, you know what? We're - in the 
>>>> markets
>>>> that we operate, which were at one time rural, we're going to expand 
>>>> and
>>>> get into the health care business and start retail clinics. So the 
>>>> first
>>>> clinic they opened in Dallas, Ga., which Dallas, Ga., maybe 20 years 
>>>> ago,
>>>> was rural. Now it's a booming suburban market. They opened a 10,000-
>>>> square-foot health center. It would have primary care doctors. It would
>>>> have X-rays. It would have mental health support - all sorts of 
>>>> services,
>>>> and it went well enough. They ended up in five states, and then just a
>>>> month ago, they told me, yeah, we're expanding, you know, we're 
>>>> going. And
>>>> then they reached out and said that they were getting out of it.
>>>>
>>>> RASCOE: Yeah, well, so, what - 'cause, you know, Walmart is obviously
>>>> legendary for maximizing its profit margins and keeping its eyes on the
>>>> bottom line. So is this simply a question of profitability? Like, 
>>>> why did
>>>> they go from announcing expansions to now saying they're going to 
>>>> shutter
>>>> the whole thing?
>>>>
>>>> JAPSEN: Well, that's a great question, because they basically said 
>>>> this -
>>>> after the pandemic, we have a very tight labor market. In healthcare,
>>>> you've had a lot of burnout and hospitals have had to pay a lot of 
>>>> money
>>>> to attract and retain primary care providers. And Walmart basically 
>>>> said,
>>>> for right now, they don't see a sustainable business model because 
>>>> health
>>>> care costs are going up. In some cases, reimbursement is not keeping 
>>>> up.
>>>> They're trying to go into the primary care business when they're 
>>>> competing
>>>> against big hospitals and health care systems. And meanwhile, you know,
>>>> Amazon, Walgreen, CVS - they're all going into - trying to go into this
>>>> primary care market.
>>>
>>>> https://www.npr.org/2024/05/05/1249231441/walmart-is-ending-its-
>>>> telehealth-service-and-closing-over-50-health-clinics
>>>>
>>>
>>> Yes, much of our healthcare is a mess and getting worse.  Some of the 
>>> Medicare Advantage plans are running into similar problems and people 
>>> will lose them.
>>>
>>> There are shortages of healthcare workers too.  Seems they are in 
>>> great need and can walk into a hospital and just say, "I'm a (fill in 
>>> skill) when can I start working here?
>>
>> Humana Medicare Advantage is no longer accepted by the biggest 
>> hospital system in the state.  State retirees were totally pissed when 
>> the state tried to switch them to an advantage plan so the state 
>> backed off.
>>
>> Socialized medicine sounds attractive but a friend that worked in the 
>> UK for several years just told me that a friend of his in the UK had 
>> to wait two years in pain to get a hip replacement and then they 
>> botched it.
>>
>> A manager in the UK I worked with left the company to go on his own 
>> and coworkers told me he would lose his health insurance.  When I told 
>> them I thought they had socialized medicine they told me this was a 
>> supplemental policy the company gave to get prompt health care.
> 
> It's the same in Canada per some reports.  Two or three years to get a 
> knee replacement and they've cut back on pain killers because of oxy 
> abuse in the US.  Figure that.  Canada began rationing their people 
> because a completely unrelated situation in another country.

"The median waiting time for an initial orthopedic consultation was two 
weeks in the United States and four weeks in Ontario. The median waiting 
time for knee replacement after the operation had been planned was three 
weeks in the United States and eight weeks in Canada."

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8090168/

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Walmart is ending its telehealth service and closing over 50 health clinics "Thanks Joe..." <thanks@joe.biden> - 2024-05-20 10:31 +0200
  Re: Walmart is ending its telehealth service and closing over 50 health clinics Ed P <esp@snet.n> - 2024-05-20 09:24 -0400
    Re: Walmart is ending its telehealth service and closing over 50 health clinics T <T@invalid.invalid> - 2024-05-20 09:56 -0700
      Re: Walmart is ending its telehealth service and closing over 50 health clinics Frank <"frank "@frank.net> - 2024-05-20 14:53 -0400
        Re: Walmart is ending its telehealth service and closing over 50 health clinics Ed P <esp@snet.xxx> - 2024-05-20 16:53 -0400
          Re: Walmart is ending its telehealth service and closing over 50 health clinics Frank <"frank "@frank.net> - 2024-05-20 17:19 -0400
        Re: Walmart is ending its telehealth service and closing over 50 health clinics pothead <pothead@snakebite.com> - 2024-05-21 20:31 +0000
    Re: Walmart is ending its telehealth service and closing over 50 health clinics Frank <"frank "@frank.net> - 2024-05-20 13:59 -0400
      Re: Walmart is ending its telehealth service and closing over 50 health clinics Dave Wainwright <nospam@comcast.net> - 2024-05-20 11:59 -0700
        Re: Walmart is ending its telehealth service and closing over 50 health clinics Frank <"frank "@frank.net> - 2024-05-20 17:13 -0400
        Re: Walmart is ending its telehealth service and closing over 50 health clinics Bob F <bobnospam@gmail.com> - 2024-05-20 15:10 -0700
          Re: Walmart is ending its telehealth service and closing over 50 health clinics Don Shenkenberger <donald.shenk@gmail.net> - 2024-05-22 14:20 -0400
        Re: Walmart is ending its telehealth service and closing over 50 health clinics Akidasar <ak@no.spam> - 2024-05-20 16:48 -0600

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