I'm going to the store for some paint, a pair of jeans, and ... a blood test.

Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott announced that contractors will open up to 2,000 medical clinics inside Wal-Mart stores over the next 7 years. The retailer has hosted clinics for the last 18 months, but this new move will be a significant expansion. Currently, there are 76 such clinics in stores in 12 states.

Services will likely address routine concerns such as allergies, sinus infections, and cholesterol screenings. (As someone who is allergic to September, I can appreciate the health and business significance of treating allergies.)

The company estimates that close to 15 percent of people who use their existing clinics would have gone to an ER had a clinic not been available. That's a lot of unnecessary spending--and diversion of time on the part of ER staff. The company also says that half of the clinic's customers don't have insurance. This likely means that the clinics could actually contribute to the total amount of health care spending, if the clients would otherwise stay home. But there should also be health and productivity benefits of, say, getting that allergy medication.

Wallyworld is a favorite punching bag of the political and economic left, of course. It isn't unionized, it's low-brow, and so forth. The new clinics will be criticized on several grounds, including the fact that it's somehow wrong for a company to make a profit from providing health care. Presumably, many people who obtain prescriptions at the clinics will fill them at ... the Wal-Mart pharmacy.

What will the impact of these new clinics be? Two writers for the Chicago Tribune speculate "Given enough scale, it could put pressure on other big retailers to follow suit, which in turn could force primary-care physicians to become more competitive on pricing."

Getting to a competitive market in health care will require many steps away from the current quasi-socialist, bureaucratic, top-down, red-tape-encrusted entity that we now have. Given the ubiquitous nature of Wal-Mart, and the fact that roughly half of all Wal-Mart stores could have have a clinic in time, introducing an easily identifiable price list for common services at the giant retailer could serve to deflate pressure for a complete government takeover of health care. Perhaps that's one reason why you'll see criticism of these clinics.

Along with the Wal-Mart venture, by the way, other companies in the quick-treatment business include CVS, Walgreens, Cub Foods, Minute Clinic, and RediClinic.