What do you buy when you shop at Walgreens? You might be there to pick up your prescription medication. Maybe you are buying things like shampoo, toothpaste, or a greeting card. Soon, you could be going to Walgreens to buy health insurance.
In 2014, the health insurance exchanges are supposed to be up and running. It is expected that thousands of people will use these exchanges in order to find affordable health insurance. This is still a few years away.
In the meantime, private insurance companies are working on creating their own private exchanges, (which are not government run). Their plan is to put insurance kiosks into places like grocery stores and pharmacies.
Walgreens is basically a pharmacy, that has had a store grow up around it. It is the largest drugstore in the United States. Walgreens is planning on selling health insurance to customers, beginning as early as this fall. The store is going to sell several types of health insurance products, with different prices and coverage levels, to consumers across the country. It will be done through a private health insurance exchange, that will be located inside the Walgreens stores.
For now, it seems that Walgreens is being a bit coy about this plan, and not giving news agencies too much information about the details of it, or exactly when it will begin selling insurance. They are not the only retailer to be interested in getting on board with this new trend in how health insurance will be sold.
Companies that provide financial services, grocery stores, retail stores, and companies that provide payroll processing services have all taken an interest in this new idea. In general, these companies are attracted to this idea because they believe it will be a way to drive more customers to their businesses. If their exchanges appear before the state run exchanges do, then it could mean that the private kiosks will attract a large amount of consumers who don’t want to wait until 2014 for health insurance options.
When you think about it, a private health insurance exchange kiosk might fit right in to the Walgreens stores. This drug store has already been providing some health care services to its customers. A person can go there to have a minor illness treated, to get a flu shot, or to get certain other types of vaccinations at the Walgreens “Take Care” Clinics.
It is worth noting that the private insurance exchanges will be a separate entity from the government run insurance exchanges that are being put together in many states right now. People who make low income will be able to get a government subsidy to help them to pay for health insurance. The subsidy cannot be used with the private insurance exchanges, only on the public one.
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