Now we know who is going to dispense health care under ObamaCare. If you're lucky the health care providers might even speak a variant of english.

CVS to Stop Selling Cigarettes
Pharmacy Chain Says Tobacco Products Don't Fit With Push as Health-Care Provider
Timothy W. Martin And Mike Esterl
Updated Feb. 5, 2014 10:27 a.m. ET

CVS, the nation's second-largest pharmacy chain, said Wednesday that it would stop selling all cigarettes and tobacco products nationwide by October, saying they have no place in a drugstore company that is trying to become more of a health-care provider.

The move is a bold and expensive one for CVS, a unit of Woonsocket, R.I.-based CVS Caremark Corp. CVS -0.61% It reflects a major push by retail pharmacies away from simply dispensing drugs toward a more integrated role of providing basic health services to Americans—including millions of newly insured—amid an expected shortage of primary care doctors.
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CVS sees its future in making its in-store clinics a convenient health-care alternative to long waits at the doctor's office, along with CVS pharmacists counseling patients. That strategy was increasingly at odds with racks of cigarettes, cigars and chewing-tobacco residing behind the cashier's counter, said Larry Merlo, chief executive, in an interview.

"Cigarettes have no place in an environment where health care is being delivered," said Mr. Merlo, a 58-year-old former pharmacist who became CEO of CVS Caremark in 2011. "This is the right decision at the right time as we evolve from a drugstore into a health-care company."

"We value the long-term relationship we had with CVS and respect their commercial decision. We will work with them as they transition out of the tobacco category in the coming months," said David Howard, a spokesman at Camel cigarette maker Reynolds American Inc., RAI -0.58% the second-largest U.S. tobacco company.
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The CVS move drew praise from the White House.

"As one of the largest retailers and pharmacies in America, CVS Caremark sets a powerful example," President Barack Obama said. He added CVS's decision "will help advance my administration's efforts to reduce tobacco-related deaths, cancer, and heart disease, as well as bring down health care costs."
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Like Walgreen, CVS has expanded its number of in-store clinics, staffed by nurse practitioners, where sick patients can get treated for a range of common conditions. CVS pharmacists are also encouraged to counsel patients on their health.

CVS has more than two dozen relationships with health systems across the U.S., including Cleveland Clinic and Emory Healthcare in Atlanta. But in the initial discussions, doctors immediately ask how CVS can still sell tobacco products, said Troyen A. Brennan, CVS Caremark's chief medical officer. "They're a little bit suspicious of us because we sell cigarettes," Dr. Brennan said. "This move gives us a competitive advantage because it shows our commitment to health care."

CVS is launching this spring smoking cessation programs at their pharmacies and in-store clinics—in effect, trading smokers for those people wanting to quit. About 7 of 10 smokers indicate they want to quit, with about half attempting to stop every year, and opportunities exist, especially with health insurers, for partnerships, Dr. Brennan said.


more:
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10...363520905849600

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CVS to Stop Selling Cigarettes
Pharmacy Chain Says Tobacco Products Don't Fit With Push as Health-Care Provider

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Attributed ti Ben Franklin:
"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

And it's healthy because it's light beer. ROFL