The comments following the article made more sense to me than did the article itself.
and nothing about research and development which is costly.
There is a big difference in having a baby and having open heart surgery... I’ll stick with the US for that lol
nary a mention of malpractice attorneys
The libbies love their little anecdotes don't they.
Excuse me Mr. Smith but you have no right to use government as an agent of force to steal the product of my labor to subsidize your health care. And who exactly gets to decide if doctors are living a “too luxurious lifestyle?”
number on welfare, social history of younger family taking care of older, Social stigma of reliance on others...
This is total BS! I lived in Japan for 10 years and got stuck in the ‘system’. Was paying (in year 2000) $800 a month for myself and another $600 a month for my wife and child. This was pro rated for my income level, about $50k USD. Treatment was superficial and behind the times. Doctors hadn’t cracked a book or learned a thing since they took their finals, sometimes 50 years before. After 5pm, there were NO doctors available, anywhere. Go to a clinic or hospital and a person in a while coat would look at you. In the evenings, your insurance card was not accepted. Cold cash, baby, was the only thing that talked. Usually 10,000 yen (about a hundred bucks) per evening visit. You ALWAYS have to ask, if they will treat a gaijin. Many wouldn’t.
Dentists were the worst! I have seen one dentist working on 4 people lined up in chairs, and not washing his hands as he went from one to the other.
I still have a photograph, somewhere, of the front door of the largest hospital in Tokyo and family members were CARRYING an old lady in her wheelchair up the steps because there were no ramps for the handicapped.
We are in the best of all countries. Don’t believe otherwise!
Anyone who failed to turn in a homework paper or show up for an exam in school knows what a zero will do to your average.
My understanding is that Japan and many other nations have lower infant mortality because the death of premature infants are not recorded as deaths.
I also believe Japan and a number of European nations do not record infant deaths that occur for some period of months after a normal 9 month gestation period.
Meanwhile in the US, a few dead premature babies sure pulls down the average age of a room full of 90 year olds.
Anyone who failed to turn in a homework paper or show up for an exam in school knows what a zero will do to your average.
My understanding is that Japan and many other nations have lower infant mortality because the death of premature infants are not recorded as deaths.
I also believe Japan and a number of European nations do not record infant deaths that occur for some period of months after a normal 9 month gestation period.
Meanwhile in the US, a few dead premature babies sure pulls down the average age of a room full of 90 year olds.
My daughter-in-law is Japanese, living here now. We’ve talked about their medical care compared to here. She says they are only about 1/2 socialized and 1/2 non and it works well for them. But they don’t have illegal aliens eating up resources, or trial lawyers, etc....things like that that we contend with here.
Japan is different. Things that will work there won't necessarily work here. - tom
Adam Smith:
You are liar and given to writing synthetic narratives.
And you are an ignorant schmuck devoid of any knowledge or barest of lame curiosity.
Nurses hung clothes out to dry???
I’ve heard enough.
Also if you doubled every doctor’s salary/income in the country, it would be a miniscule percentage of US healthcare spending.
This writer is an idiot.
Oh, that and carrying tens of millions of people descended from slaves freed 150 years ago who still consider themselves victims, hold a grudge against values like education, competition based on ability and hard work, and expect reparations
Maybe if all the illegal aliens and “under-served” perpetual victim classes dumped the chips on their shoulders, worked like the Japanese, respected authority and this nation, and expected their kids to respect authority, prepare for work, and perform in school like the Japanese - we'd be able to really talk about being more like Japan
By the way they are also broke as hell and owe more than twice their GDP. IT is expected to reach 250% by 2015.
I'll give them that. Hospitals "complexes" seem to be the only construction that is happening in my neck of the woods. They look like great huge temples.
You're out of your MIND if you think this exists --indeed there is no place in the whole country where such births amount to even 10% of all births. The Japanese system does have a growing number of retirees sure, but they don't give the TINIEST sign of running a 30-ton tank packed full of illegal aliens across that rickety bridge.
Not in a million years.
There was a time 2 years ago during fire season where EVERY person in ALL burn units in ALL of Southern California were uninsured illegal aliens --the bill for treating EVERY one was born by Calif tax payers and each one was 1/2 a million dollars.
There are cases of Thai bar hostesses being thrown off 4th floor by Yakuza and then being driven for HOURS from hosp 2 hosp for emergency care but being refused by ALL --and then dying. The concept of inside vs. outside in Japan is focused on like a laser, and is never confused. Indeed, it almost a religion. Not only that, but the sense of community responsibility is far higher, and mostly for racial reasons.
It is lunacy for the author to suggest that practices viable for Japan could work in the USA --he is foolish.
It's worth asking; why have stupid communist systems lasted until even now in Asian cultures? They WILL eventually go aware, sure, but what accounts for their persistance in asia?
Is it some accident?
Maybe this works better in the homogenous culture that is japan. There are elements of other countries’ attempts to deal with health care that are fine, but their overall products when everything is factored in, aren’t good.
Bottom line that will start reforming things is to allow individuals to buy a healthcare plan that is theirs, just like every other insurance or service plan
We ought to call them “Health Service Plans” or “Health Maintenance Plans” rather than insurance, too. Insurance is to minimize risk of the unexpected. People want a service or maintenance plan for something they intend to use - accidents or not. Nobody plans to use their auto insurance because they decide one morning they are going to get into an accident. People do however plan to go to the doctor, or get pregnant, or get yearly checkups, etc and therefore that’s not insurance, it’s a service plan or maintenance plan type of item.
we are so screwed up in this country about health insurance. So screwed up. I have no confidence it will ever properly be addressed. The Republicans have no balls and the democrats are evil bastards.
Also since his example is about maternity care he should point out that it isn’t covered by their system. Most people pay about $15,000 out of pocket to have a baby. the govereenment kicks back about $5,000 a few weeeks later (if the kid survices, no money for dead babies).
Yes, illegal aliens get treated in Japan's system. But it is because some doctor or some hospital takes pity on them and treats them gratis, not because it is an invented "right." You can afford to do that when you don't have tons of them flooding the system as we do in Mexifornia and other places in the United States. At one point in our history, we could afford to be generous just like the Japanese.
Another thing libtards don't tell you about the Japanese system is that lawsuits are extremely rare. So are lawyers. We have more lawyers in downtown Los Angeles than in all of Japan. When people do collect damages from hospitals and doctors in Japan, there are generally real issues involved and the amounts are limited to the actual damages. How do you think our Trial Lawyer's lobby who contribute so much cash to the Democrats would like those apples?
Finally, you are expected to do a lot of the work yourself such as recording your bowel movements, minor clean up and the like. If you are too sick to do it, you are expected to provide a family member to stay with you. When my youngest was born in Japan, we didn't have a family member available, so the hospital had us hire an orderly to do this work. She was an older lady, competent at the job but, from the way she talked, I guessed she wasn't well educated. Her fee was also quite reasonable, about $80 per day she was with my wife in the hospital.
Yes, the accomodations weren't nearly as nice as for our first two daughters born stateside, but we checked out of the hospital with a healthy baby girl and a bill which I was able to pay out of savings rather than paying on for months and months afterward.
Oh, and one other thing which would make the Libtard's heads explode. Many of the bigger hospitals have a wide range of choices in accomodations, ranging from very basic Spartan style rooms which are priced slightly more than a capsule hotel on the way up to luxury suites which are priced like a luxury hotel. Hospitals actually use these type of things to compete for patients because there is no shortage of doctors in Japan and no shortage of hospital beds. They actually view patients as customers necessary for their success rather than as mandates imposed by the government.