More than 80 percent of visits to clinics run by CVS Health or Walgreens are now covered by insurance, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Although retail health clinics used to be self-pay operations, commercial insurance and reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid have boosted the bottom lines for retailers and grocers with health clinics.
For instance, Larry Merlo, president and CEO of CVS Health, announced with the company's first quarter earnings that 84 percent of CVS Health MinuteClinic visits were paid for by third parties, which contributed to a 21 percent increase in the subsidiary's revenue.
Walgreens also confirmed that more than 80 percent of its clinic visits are now covered by insurance, according to WSJ.
In addition to being financially beneficial for retailers, receiving care is also more affordable for commercially insured patients at a clinic (costing roughly $110) when compared to the cost of receiving care at a physician's office ($166), an urgent care center ($156) or an emergency department ($570), according to a report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Manatt Health Solutions.
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