When our twins were born, we received a cash payment ...

In Japan, when our children, twin girls, were born, we received a direct cash payment equal to the full amount a typical hospital would charge for each birth, not some unrealistic fraction of the amount. Our daughters, now toddlers, will receive free health care until their mid teens -- vaccinations, coughs and colds, emergency care, major care if they need it.

We can use virtually any doctor or hospital, and their regular pediatrician is a Japanese version of a Normal Rockwell small town family doctor.

I feel like we get something worthwhile for my tax money in Japan -- not just the Rumsfeld-Cheney war.

Eric W. Sedlak
Tokyo