Many countries, many health care systems

I think it is an unfortunate situation that there are many people in
the United States who do not have adequate health care coverage, and I
think many other countries I have lived in do much better in this
regard...

In Austria, for more than 3 decades, I was covered by state health
insurance, which was quite complete coverage, and the system seems to
work well. You could have supplementary health insurance in
addition, but it did not really seem necessary. When I had
appendicitis in Austria in 1981, the hospital dealt with it well, and
I didn't have to pay anything at all - it was covered by state health
insurance, and almost nothing in the way of paperwork either..

In Japan the state health insurance provides basic health care
whenever I have a visa to stay in Japan for a year or more. But,
there may be some "loopholes" - it may be better to have some
supplementary - and I have not always found a solution that I am
really satisfied with. Short-term OK, but long-term still not really solved for me.

In the Netherlands, where I lived for 3 years, I didn't understand the
situation very well really, but I think it was better than in the US,
even now. Since they thought I was "well-paid", my employer said I
should buy into "private health insurance", required, which was
considered "adequate", I suppose.

Jimmy Macnaughton

Dates: I have not resided in the US since 1971.

Netherlands: 1971-1974

Austria: since 1974 except for time living in Japan

Japan:
1981
1990-1992
2001-2004 1/2 time in Japan
up to end of 2004, no problem with state health insurance in Austria

2005- present 9 months a year in Japan...

National Health Care Paid for Premature twins

In 1999, my twins were born in a hospital in Japan, 14 weeks premature. My first thought, after I found out that they had been stabilized in the NICU, where basic costs were 80,000 yen per day, was that my husband and I would have to sell our house and that we would probably be forever in debt. As a native of a country without universal healthcare, this was the only outcome I could imagine.

Happily, national and supplemental insurance covered my twins' four and five month hospital stays. Japanese national insurance also covered my daughter's subsequent hospital stays (she was hospitalized at least ten times after she got out of the USA due to hermias, and respiratory infections which required stays in the very expensive ICU, HCU and CCU.)

Although I love my country, I believe that my family can not afford to live there. Without the Japanese national healthcare system, my family would have been rendered impoverished.

Suzanne Kamata
Japan
South Carolina

National Health Care--No wait, easy sign up, cheap

In praise of universal coverage

The issue of health care is front and center these days due in large part to Michael Moore's new film. His documentary, "Sicko" shines a light on a dysfunctional health care system that does more to serve the interests of for-profit insurers than it does for the average American citizen. One of the most absurd features of the US for-profit health care system is denying someone access to treatment or a procedure based on a pre-existing condition.

I recall trying to explain the concept of pre-existing condition to a friend from another country. This person could not fully grasp the concept as applied to health care because in his reality it did not exist - a reality where every citizen has access to high quality and affordable medical and dental care and would never be denied treatment based on past treatment, or a present medical condition - isn't that when people would most need care - to treat a present medical condition? Of course it is.

I am privileged to be able to share a view on this issue as a resident of a country that has an excellent universal heath care system, and thankfully NO pre-exisiting condition exclusions. In Japan, where I work and live, I am fully covered under a comprehensive universal coverage scheme through my city office. The process of enrolling was straightforward and painless. I presented myself at the city office, answered a few questions regarding visa status (I hold a work visa), last year's income in Japan (I had none as I had been in the US) and then I waited for a few minutes. The clerk came back with a new health insurance certificate for my family and informed me that I would receive my insurance premium invoice in a few weeks.

Sure enough, in a few weeks I received my insurance premium invoice in the mail. The annual premium was approximately $300.00 US dollars. I had to look again and confirm this with a Japanese friend - there was no mistake. I had the option of paying in ten installments or in a lump sum. At that premium I opted to take care of it all at once and viola, our health insurance was paid up for a year. Of course, our premiums were nominal due to not having any income to report in Japan for the previous year; this year they are higher but still much lower (around $230.00 per month for two people) than what I would pay for a private policy for my family in the US - another excellent feature of this plan is that the premium also includes long-term care insurance for adults over the age of 40.

There is nothing like the feeling of security that comes from knowing that when necessary, you and your family have access to affordable medical and dental treatment. Having been without such coverage in the US and having experienced the accompanying anxiety, I feel fortunate to be able to participate in a system that is, unfortunately, and sadly, out of reach for 47 million Americans, many of whom are children.

Gregory
Japan
Seattle, Washington

See the original post here
http://broaderview.blogspot.com/2007/07/in-praise-of-universal-coverage.html

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