Got an owie? Take a number...

We keep hearing about the crisis of inadequate access to healthcare. There are two routes to fixing it: government action, and free market forces. The former apparently wants to ensure they are the only game in town:

(Boston) Mayor Thomas M. Menino embarked on a highly public campaign yesterday to block CVS Corp. and other retailers from opening medical clinics inside their stores, an effort that exposed a rift between Menino and the state's public health commissioner, a longtime ally.

Menino blasted state regulators for paving the way Wednesday for the in-store clinics, which are designed to provide treatment for sore throats, poison ivy, and other minor illnesses.

The decision by the state Public Health Council, "jeopardizes patient safety," Menino said in a written statement. "Limited service medical clinics run by merchants in for-profit corporations will seriously compromise quality of care and hygiene. Allowing retailers to make money off of sick people is wrong."

The panel took no action, but instructed the health agency's attorney to investigate whether it could adopt regulations forbidding stores with clinics from selling tobacco products, forcing them to make an untenable financial choice. The city says 31 CVS stores and 56 other pharmacies in Boston have city-issued licenses to sell tobacco.

So... forcing people who have minor health issues to stand in line in emergency rooms is a better option than allowing private retailers to open primary care clinics? Yeah, THAT'LL bring down health care costs! I can't image there wouldn't be regulation and qualification/licensing requirements for these "docs in a box," so what's the problem? It's the red word above (retailer). After all, only the health care industry (I didn't say "doctors," I said the bureaucratic healthcare industry) can be allowed to "make money off of sick people."

(HT: Instapundit)