Mass. plans to pay clinics.

Massachusetts health plans in will join plans in two dozen other states in covering visits to urgent care clinics in chain drugstores, a CVS Caremark Corp. spokeswoman said. "We expect that both national and regional players in the state" will add MinuteClinics to their networks, spokeswoman Carolyn Castel said in an interview. In January, the Mass--achusetts Public Health Council gave CVS Caremark permission to open the clinics, and ordered new regulations governing how the clinics are run in response to concerns by physician groups that the clinics could, for some patients, replace an ongoing relationship with a physician. CVS Caremark intends to open 15-28 MinuteClinics in Massachusetts by the end of this year, and hopes to have 100 clinics operating in the state within 5 years, Ms. Castel said. The company is negotiating for coverage of clinic services with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the state's largest health insurer, she said.