Submitted by CARPE DIEM

There are nearly 1,000 retail health clinics in the nation, a number that is expected to rise dramatically in the next few years as chains like Wal-Mart, CVS, Target and Walgreens add more clinics. A recent poll predicted that there will be around 2,000 retail clinics by the end of 2008.

One company that offers retail health care is MinuteClinic, which currently has 505 locations in 25 states across the country and more on the way. The company was started by Rick Krieger when he got the idea after he took his son to urgent care in 1999 in Minneapolis for a strep throat test and ended up waiting two hours.

~From NBC4.com in Washington, D.C.

Comment: Never underestimate the power of a frustrated consumer, turned entrepreneur, to fix a problem and change the world in a real, positive way with a market solution. Never underestimate the failure of a politically-motivated government solution to fix the same problem. Health care is a good example. While politicians argue about how to make health care more affordable with government solutions, the market is opening thousands of retail healthcare clinics, with convenient hours (7 days per week, no appointment needed) and affordable prices (starting at $29), for basic health care.

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