Thursday, September 3, 2009

On Free Antibiotics

Giant Eagle has announced that it will be offering free antibiotics this Fall.

Which is a great slap in the face for anyone without health insurance.*

Why? Because you need a prescription to get your free serving of antibiotics. Getting a prescription costs a doctor's appointment which is way more than the previous cheap cost of $4 per generic antibiotic.

But I can just hear the anti-health-care propagandists now: "Why are people complaining about the cost of health care??? You can get free prescriptions! Down with socialist ideals!"

Giant Eagle's ploy is about giving folks a $4 coupon to shop in their store. It does not make antibiotics more accessible to those without health insurance. (Of course, I doubt whether they should be too accessible given the wide range of microorganisms developing resistance to antibiotics.) It makes good business sense, but it does not make health care more accessible for most of us.

*Note: I do have health insurance. I'm not one of "those people" dragging down our society by not having health insurance I can't afford.

1 comment:

Jami said...

Walgreens is offering free healthcare at their take care clinics to jobless and uninsured until the end of the year.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/31/walgreen-free-care-for-jo_n_181178.html