A Japanese Hospital Experience
I had a first-hand demonstration today of what a government-run "socialistic" healthcare system is like. I went to a hospital in Tokyo for a checkup and spent several hours witnessing the "horrors" of Japan's healthcare system. There were lines one or two people deep, waiting periods of several minutes for tests, hallways that hadn't been cleaned in an hour or so, and a small co-pay at the end of the patient's visit - and no follow-on bills. How could these poor souls live with such a system? Why was there a look of contentment on everyone's face? Why was the staff so cheery and polite?
Ok, ok - I have to admit it was all very impressive. The doctors were very good and spent up to 30 minutes explaining everything to me and answering all my questions without rushing out the door for their next patient. Once, when an unexpected test was needed, the doctor scheduled it immediately. "You're lucky you are in Japan," he said. "If we were in New York (where he had trained) it would take a week to schedule this test." A sophisticated communications system tied everything together and each doctor immediately knew what the previous doctor had done for me. I was guided from area to area by terminals that I would stick a card into and it would tell me where to go to next. It was all so easy - even in a foreign language!
Of course since I don't have Japanese national insurance I had to pay for my services but I was treated no different from the Japanese citizens, all of whom were getting nearly free or low cost healthcare because of their nationalized system. They pay an annual fee based upon their income but my Japanese friend said it costs him a couple of hundred dollars a year.
Witnessing this I felt sad that America doesn't have a healthcare system like this. How absurd it is that our recent debate over healthcare in the US was (and is) marked by so much misinformation. How crazy it must look to the Japanese, the Europeans and even the South Koreans who have had government-operated healthcare insurance for years - even decades.
It might be a good idea for us to look at what actually works before we start pulling out all the scare tactics next time.
Ok, ok - I have to admit it was all very impressive. The doctors were very good and spent up to 30 minutes explaining everything to me and answering all my questions without rushing out the door for their next patient. Once, when an unexpected test was needed, the doctor scheduled it immediately. "You're lucky you are in Japan," he said. "If we were in New York (where he had trained) it would take a week to schedule this test." A sophisticated communications system tied everything together and each doctor immediately knew what the previous doctor had done for me. I was guided from area to area by terminals that I would stick a card into and it would tell me where to go to next. It was all so easy - even in a foreign language!
Of course since I don't have Japanese national insurance I had to pay for my services but I was treated no different from the Japanese citizens, all of whom were getting nearly free or low cost healthcare because of their nationalized system. They pay an annual fee based upon their income but my Japanese friend said it costs him a couple of hundred dollars a year.
Witnessing this I felt sad that America doesn't have a healthcare system like this. How absurd it is that our recent debate over healthcare in the US was (and is) marked by so much misinformation. How crazy it must look to the Japanese, the Europeans and even the South Koreans who have had government-operated healthcare insurance for years - even decades.
It might be a good idea for us to look at what actually works before we start pulling out all the scare tactics next time.
posted by Kevcham at 5:13 AM
2 Comments:
How many illegal aliens does Japan have who utilize the Healthcare system, but do not directly contribute to funding it?
Hello. This is my first comment on your blog. I am a Japanese physician living in the U.S. temporarily. The U.S. health care system seems to me all related to capitalism. I think that wealthy American doctor are not willing to have universal health care system in Japan. The average salary of Japanese doctors have not been changed for last several decades, and all specialty earn almost equal in Japan. Japanese health care system is good for patients, but doctors begin to be exhausted. We are thinking about how to improve our system. For example, we try to educate patients to avoid visiting ER for unnecessary reason. You are lucky to meet the doctor. The doctor trained in NYC should be an elite doctor.
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