Yup, as if Aetna, CIGNA, WellPoint, Humana and United HealthCare weren't putting enough junk-surance -- high-deductibles coupled with outrageous cost sharing -- on the market, now Walgreens wants to get in on the game, according to CNN:
Walgreens, the nation's largest drugstore chain, is planning to start selling health insurance to customers this fall.
Deerfield, Ill.-based Walgreens (WAG, Fortune 500) will sell health insurance products with different price ranges and coverage levels from coast-to-coast through a private health insurance exchange, according to people familiar with the matter.
Yup, just like Farmacias del Ahorro does in Mexico -- whenever you walk into an FDA pharmacy, a flat-screen TV offers junk insurance for cancer screening and general health care.
I say this not to attack Mexico, but to paint a picture of our health care "non-system" -- in America, health care continues to be a commodity to be exploited for profit, just like in Mexico, a country with even more financial exploitation of the poor (if you can believe that) than the United States.
Do you really think Walgreens "insurance" is going to cover expensive cancer care at the first dollar?
Nope, Walgreens is almost certainly planning to sell the kinds of high-deductible, junk-surance policies that keep people from seeing a doctor until they're on their death bed. Of course, the big-profit bloodsuckers love these policies, because they think Americans are too greedy about health care, and need to be disciplined by having "more skin in the game."
So, excuse me for being cynical, but I'm just not sure that the same pharmacy chain selling $5 flu shots for about $20/pop is actually going to be providing Americans with the health care we need -- and deserve.