Most ominously, both Mr Gove and the Tories' leader, David Cameron, are fond of party-pleasing prescriptions, including policies for which proof of effectiveness is non-existent (school uniforms) or limited (insisting on synthetic phonics for teaching reading).
Walgreen currently operates at 8, 537 locations, including 8, 072 drugstores and competes for prescriptions with CVS Caremark and Rite Aid among others.
Free prescriptions were previously only available to certain groups, including the unemployed who no longer faced the extra cost of medicine if they went back to work, Mr Jones said.