Walk-in Clinics a Viable Health Care Option

Published May 23, 2007

Dear Editor:

I was displeased with the May 7 article, “Doctors push law on clinics in stores.” It is unfortunate that another consumer-driven health care innovation is being demonized by doctors as not providing “quality care.”

Medicaid, Medicare, HMOs, and other third-party payers have not led to better quality of care, but simply increased costs and bureaucracy. By promoting direct payment by consumers, walk-in clinics will strengthen the doctor-patient relationship instead of insulating health care providers from the demands of consumers.

The only way to get quality care is to allow out-of-pocket spending by consumers for routine medical services, instead of mandating involvement by a third-party provider.


James Rottet ([email protected]) is a legislative specialist for The Heartland Institute.