It is clear that the United States needs universal healthcare for everyone.
In the U.S., you cannot have healthcare without a fulltime job. This is very limiting to people like myself who want to work in specialized fields as teachers, freelance writers, etc., that don't always have fulltime positions with benefits.
I've lived in Japan on and off for the past 10 years. Here I've been able to get affordable health insurance through the government under $400 per month, which can be less or more pending my annual income. If I were to get full coverage for my family in the United States even at a lower income than what I make in Japan, it would cost close to $600 a month with employee subsidized insurance and over $1000 if I were to pay it on my own.
Once when in the U.S., my health insurance costs went up 20 percent from one year to the next, while my wages did not increase at all. This great of an increase can only be explained by the insurance industry's desire to exponentially increase the return to their stockholders, as well as by the absurdly high salaries they pay some of their workers. I feel healthcare is not a commodity, but the right of every person.
It makes sense that people who make more should pay more in taxes to help subsidize the cost of services for all. Most people are hard workers, and there is only so much a person can do in one day no matter if they are billionaires or making under $20,000 a year. Both deserve the same right to live. If both were lost in a snowstorm climbing a mountain together, we'd send the same rescue team and put them both on the same helicopter, wouldn't we?
We are all climbing the same mountain.
Thanks.
Adam H.
Japan
Wisconsin
Thursday, March 12, 2009
An Opposing View
I do so as a twenty one year resident of Japan and also as someone who has had and continues to have extensive medical problems including asthma, slipped disc in back, pinched nerve in neck, herniated esophagus , hernia, gout and a disease of the liver. In spite of all these problems I manage to lead a very active life as a university lecturer and owner of a small business.
I think it is impossible to talk about health care in Japan without talking about health in general in Japan. The Japanese are the longest lived people in the world (in spite of their smoking habits) and I attribute this largely to the fact that these people eat a healthier diet than Americans, eat LESS than Americans, Weigh less than Americans, and are far more physically active than Americans. Can you really just talk about their national health care system without talking about the fact that Japanese have access to the best mass transit system in the world? What does that mean? It means that millions of Japanese walk to their train stations, walk up the stairs to the platform, down from the platform and walk to work. I don't know the national statistics but I do know that I walk an average one hour a day just getting to and from work and doing my shopping and daily errands. Consider how much slimmer and healthier New Yorkers (subways!) are than people in Mississippi (take the car to the mailbox). I would say more than half of Japanese use the mass transit system which goes some way to account for their fitness. Do we have decent mass transit in America?
Certainly Japanese have acquired bad eating habits from the West (especially America) but they still have a measure of portion control unheard of in the U.S.. The reason American housewives are the size of sumo wrestlers is because they (and their husbands and kids) eat as much as sumo wrestlers. I have been with Japanese friends in America who thought the portion they were served was actually for everyone at the table (four people). America, take the fork out of your mouth!
America does have the edge where smoking is concerned, but the Japanese are catching up rapidly. Smoking is definitely losing it's cachet with the young.
So what I want to say here is that the reason the Japanese are healthy is because of their lifestyles, not because of their health care system which is deeply, deeply flawed. True, everyone is eligible, but WHAT are you eligible for? You cannot talk about health care in Japan without actually talking about the quality of that care. Access alone is not the only issue. It is access to QUALITY health care that matters and the Japanese do NOT have it. In twenty one years of living here and using Japanese doctors (not to mention teaching doctors English at the University level) I have been consistently shocked at the almost total lack of accountability within the system. Doctors are a pampered elite here who are never questioned and never , never contradict each other. The system is such that if you do ask for a second opinion you are banished forever from the clinic where the first doctor made his diagnosis. Malpractice is common...and deadly, I have two close friends who were very seriously injured by malpractice here...both of whom had to return to the U.S. to have their problems taken care of. People die here because of the very, very serious problems in the system. They die (and are maimed or suffer) because the system
is a failure. The system here fails from top to bottom. Medical schools regularly accept the sons of doctors as a matter of course whether or not these people are qualified to be in medical schools or not. Medicine is a family business here. PLEASE do not even begin to think that the admissions system is honest (I am on the faculties of FIVE Japanese Universities and should know). Doctors graduate medical school with poor training and an even poorer idea of their responsibilities to their patients and communities. This pattern continues throughout their careers.
Let me provide just one example of how bad the system is. As far back as the 18th century Tobias Smollet (a medical doctor himself) was decrying the practice of doctors owning dispensaries. There is a clear conflict of interest if the doctor profits from prescribing medicines he sells. That is exactly what happens here. Medicines are (dangerously and expensively) over prescribed. The best evidence of this I know is that doctors regularly prescribe a stomach medicine to alleviate the symptoms caused by taking too much medicine! For a simple cold I was once prescribed ELEVEN different medications (remember the tax payer foots the bill so patients have little incentive to complain). Yet, the medicines prescribed are often
ineffective because the dosage of active ingredients is much lower than that sold in the U.S. (and this is where Japanese drug companies help themselves at the public trough).
I would argue that one thing that keeps the Japanese so healthy is the certain knowledge that if they get sick they will have to go see an incompetent doctor.
One of the aspects of our system Americans love to hate is the fact that lawyers drive up the cost of health care through their lawsuits. Try living in a society where a doctor can maim, cripple or kill you and there are no lawyers to help you find redress. Oh, there are good lawyers in Japan, (quite the opposite of their medical brethren), but they have very ,very little success challenging the medical system.
What I conclude from my twenty one years of experience here is NOT that national health care is a bad idea or that we should not try it, but that we need to look at GOOD models (France and maybe Germany?) not failed models (definitely Japan). We need to learn from the mistakes of others not simply assume these mistakes are inevitable.
But if you ask me whether I think America should change it's health care system to be more like Japan's, all I can say is
you should call the suicide hotline and have them talk you out of it.
Jeffrey Tarlofsky
Japan
California
I think it is impossible to talk about health care in Japan without talking about health in general in Japan. The Japanese are the longest lived people in the world (in spite of their smoking habits) and I attribute this largely to the fact that these people eat a healthier diet than Americans, eat LESS than Americans, Weigh less than Americans, and are far more physically active than Americans. Can you really just talk about their national health care system without talking about the fact that Japanese have access to the best mass transit system in the world? What does that mean? It means that millions of Japanese walk to their train stations, walk up the stairs to the platform, down from the platform and walk to work. I don't know the national statistics but I do know that I walk an average one hour a day just getting to and from work and doing my shopping and daily errands. Consider how much slimmer and healthier New Yorkers (subways!) are than people in Mississippi (take the car to the mailbox). I would say more than half of Japanese use the mass transit system which goes some way to account for their fitness. Do we have decent mass transit in America?
Certainly Japanese have acquired bad eating habits from the West (especially America) but they still have a measure of portion control unheard of in the U.S.. The reason American housewives are the size of sumo wrestlers is because they (and their husbands and kids) eat as much as sumo wrestlers. I have been with Japanese friends in America who thought the portion they were served was actually for everyone at the table (four people). America, take the fork out of your mouth!
America does have the edge where smoking is concerned, but the Japanese are catching up rapidly. Smoking is definitely losing it's cachet with the young.
So what I want to say here is that the reason the Japanese are healthy is because of their lifestyles, not because of their health care system which is deeply, deeply flawed. True, everyone is eligible, but WHAT are you eligible for? You cannot talk about health care in Japan without actually talking about the quality of that care. Access alone is not the only issue. It is access to QUALITY health care that matters and the Japanese do NOT have it. In twenty one years of living here and using Japanese doctors (not to mention teaching doctors English at the University level) I have been consistently shocked at the almost total lack of accountability within the system. Doctors are a pampered elite here who are never questioned and never , never contradict each other. The system is such that if you do ask for a second opinion you are banished forever from the clinic where the first doctor made his diagnosis. Malpractice is common...and deadly, I have two close friends who were very seriously injured by malpractice here...both of whom had to return to the U.S. to have their problems taken care of. People die here because of the very, very serious problems in the system. They die (and are maimed or suffer) because the system
is a failure. The system here fails from top to bottom. Medical schools regularly accept the sons of doctors as a matter of course whether or not these people are qualified to be in medical schools or not. Medicine is a family business here. PLEASE do not even begin to think that the admissions system is honest (I am on the faculties of FIVE Japanese Universities and should know). Doctors graduate medical school with poor training and an even poorer idea of their responsibilities to their patients and communities. This pattern continues throughout their careers.
Let me provide just one example of how bad the system is. As far back as the 18th century Tobias Smollet (a medical doctor himself) was decrying the practice of doctors owning dispensaries. There is a clear conflict of interest if the doctor profits from prescribing medicines he sells. That is exactly what happens here. Medicines are (dangerously and expensively) over prescribed. The best evidence of this I know is that doctors regularly prescribe a stomach medicine to alleviate the symptoms caused by taking too much medicine! For a simple cold I was once prescribed ELEVEN different medications (remember the tax payer foots the bill so patients have little incentive to complain). Yet, the medicines prescribed are often
ineffective because the dosage of active ingredients is much lower than that sold in the U.S. (and this is where Japanese drug companies help themselves at the public trough).
I would argue that one thing that keeps the Japanese so healthy is the certain knowledge that if they get sick they will have to go see an incompetent doctor.
One of the aspects of our system Americans love to hate is the fact that lawyers drive up the cost of health care through their lawsuits. Try living in a society where a doctor can maim, cripple or kill you and there are no lawyers to help you find redress. Oh, there are good lawyers in Japan, (quite the opposite of their medical brethren), but they have very ,very little success challenging the medical system.
What I conclude from my twenty one years of experience here is NOT that national health care is a bad idea or that we should not try it, but that we need to look at GOOD models (France and maybe Germany?) not failed models (definitely Japan). We need to learn from the mistakes of others not simply assume these mistakes are inevitable.
But if you ask me whether I think America should change it's health care system to be more like Japan's, all I can say is
you should call the suicide hotline and have them talk you out of it.
Jeffrey Tarlofsky
Japan
California
The Japanese system is easy to use and transparent
Eye infection
I was on vacation last summer and left my contact lense in a little bit too long. My eye became red and stayed pretty red even after the lense had been removed for a couple of days.
When I returned to Japan, the redness persisted so I decided to visit an eye specialist. Japan's Universal Health Care system allows participants to go to any doctor at any clinic/hospital, many of which are private; there are no 'health care networks' here like there are in the US. You simply go where ever you'd like to go (freedom!). In my case, it was an eye clinic 2 minutes' walk from my office.
I presented my health care card (monthly premiums are deducted directly from my pay in the same manner as social security in the US) to the receptionist and was seen by the doctor after a 20 minute wait.
The doctor gave me an eye exam and two different types of eyedrop medication. The cost for the visit & medication was $20. The entire ordeal took less than an hour and my eye returned to normal about 4 days later.
I like the Japanese system a lot. It's easy-to-use and transparent. As both a user & business person, I find it highly affordable and hassle-free. I would recommend a similar system to anyone.
Mike Stensrud
Tokyo (via Oregon)
I was on vacation last summer and left my contact lense in a little bit too long. My eye became red and stayed pretty red even after the lense had been removed for a couple of days.
When I returned to Japan, the redness persisted so I decided to visit an eye specialist. Japan's Universal Health Care system allows participants to go to any doctor at any clinic/hospital, many of which are private; there are no 'health care networks' here like there are in the US. You simply go where ever you'd like to go (freedom!). In my case, it was an eye clinic 2 minutes' walk from my office.
I presented my health care card (monthly premiums are deducted directly from my pay in the same manner as social security in the US) to the receptionist and was seen by the doctor after a 20 minute wait.
The doctor gave me an eye exam and two different types of eyedrop medication. The cost for the visit & medication was $20. The entire ordeal took less than an hour and my eye returned to normal about 4 days later.
I like the Japanese system a lot. It's easy-to-use and transparent. As both a user & business person, I find it highly affordable and hassle-free. I would recommend a similar system to anyone.
Mike Stensrud
Tokyo (via Oregon)
Over 70? don't worry about paying for hospital fees
As a young American woman in Japan 30 years ago I remember
commenting to my husband, an M.D., on the reason for the longevity of
women in Japan. At the time, the life expectancy was 83 for women and
79 for men. Japanese women outlived, not only Japnesse men, but as a
national group had the longest life expectancy in the world. I said
that it must be due to the diet. He corrected me immediately saying
that it was the health care system.
Recently I was even better able to understand the meaning of
this. My friend and former Japanese language teacher who had not been
feeling well was hospitalized for tests. They did a 24 hour
electrocardiogram on her saying that the usual 15 minute one was not
enough. She was told that during the night her heart had stopped
beating for six seconds and that had this happened during the day while
she was up and around rather than lying in bed, it would have been a
massive heart attack.
She had to have open heart surgery. In order to do this they had
to open up the chest cavity by forcing her ribs to open. Then they
took the heart out and inserted a mechanical valve inside one of the
main arteries. There were three surgeons in attendance and it took
more than four hours. She had to stay in hospital for a whole month.
And of course she had visits to the doctor afterwards. She's fine now.
The doctors said she went through it well because, although she was 71
years old, all her other internal organs were in good health. They
also commented on her positive outlook as a factor in her recovery.
The total cost of all of this was 1,800,000 yen, which comes out
to almost $17,000. In Japan all people under six and over seventy have
100% medical coverage. We have a national health care system
here. This means that in old age you don't have to worry about where
the hospital expenses are going to be coming from.
Dorothy A. Dufour
Japan
commenting to my husband, an M.D., on the reason for the longevity of
women in Japan. At the time, the life expectancy was 83 for women and
79 for men. Japanese women outlived, not only Japnesse men, but as a
national group had the longest life expectancy in the world. I said
that it must be due to the diet. He corrected me immediately saying
that it was the health care system.
Recently I was even better able to understand the meaning of
this. My friend and former Japanese language teacher who had not been
feeling well was hospitalized for tests. They did a 24 hour
electrocardiogram on her saying that the usual 15 minute one was not
enough. She was told that during the night her heart had stopped
beating for six seconds and that had this happened during the day while
she was up and around rather than lying in bed, it would have been a
massive heart attack.
She had to have open heart surgery. In order to do this they had
to open up the chest cavity by forcing her ribs to open. Then they
took the heart out and inserted a mechanical valve inside one of the
main arteries. There were three surgeons in attendance and it took
more than four hours. She had to stay in hospital for a whole month.
And of course she had visits to the doctor afterwards. She's fine now.
The doctors said she went through it well because, although she was 71
years old, all her other internal organs were in good health. They
also commented on her positive outlook as a factor in her recovery.
The total cost of all of this was 1,800,000 yen, which comes out
to almost $17,000. In Japan all people under six and over seventy have
100% medical coverage. We have a national health care system
here. This means that in old age you don't have to worry about where
the hospital expenses are going to be coming from.
Dorothy A. Dufour
Japan
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...
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...
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Long-term Hospital Stay in Spain
I had gotten a call from the daughter "M" of a fellow teacher, who I was helping while she was going to school, "K" is her apartment mate in this true story.
I got a phone call,"I don't know what to do, "K" is unconscious." "M" went to a neighbor and they called for an ambulance.
The next call from "M" was, "I am in the ambulance and we are on our way to Val D'Hebron Hospital." (In Barcelona) I left Sitges and was at the hospital within an hour and worked my way to the emergency room. There was "M" in utter shock and "K" was unconscious and being prepped to be moved to intensive care........
The doctors and nurses wheeled her up to intensive care and "M" and I waited about two hours before a doctor called us in to an office. She asked if we were relatives. We said no.....Fortunately "M" had grabbed "K's" purse. The doctor told us that "K" had suffered a sodium depletion and had aspirated her vomit and that her lungs had become totally infected......"You have to call "K's" mother immediately and get her here, we do not know if she will make it."
"M" and I phoned the mother from the hospital and explained the emergency, but did not mention the possibility that "K" might not make it. (To emphasize the emergency I told "Ks" mother, "I don't care how much you have to spend on the ticket, you have to get here.") I met "K's" mother at the airport the next morning and took her right to the hospital. "K" was on tubes and unconscious.
"K" was unconscious for at least three weeks and remained in intensive care for five weeks. She was then transferred to the General Hospital for a week when she suffered a pulmonary embulism and was put back into intensive care for a week and back to the general hospital for two more weeks.
When she was released, she was ambulanced back to the hospital several times for therapy.....
I was at the hospital every day of the first five weeks to help the mother and to translate with friends of "K"......
"K" Suffered from a sodium depletion, ARDS (Acute Respiratory Disorder Syndrome), Pulmonary Embulism........The only reason she survived was because she was a cross country runner and ran almost every day, she never smoked, and she never did drugs. She was well educated and is working on her PHD today.
She is a U.S. Citizen and was attending a university and working part time..........Tecnically she should not have been covered by the social security system here, but the University got that adjusted.
She was taking extensive amounts of drugs for a long time (Antibiotics, Anticoagulants etc.) She was monitored for about six months and eventually was released from hospital care with her "Alta". Once, after a trip to the U.S., she discovered a blood clot in her leg and learned that she had to inject herself with an anticoagulant prior to any flight...........
What was her bill at the end of all that ? "0" I believe the most she had to pay for any prescriptions after release from the hospital was 2 euros.........
In seven years of living in Spain, I have paid "0" towards my healthcare......I can join the social security system for 48 euros a month , approximately $68. However, even if I am not in the system and in an emergency, they will take care of me and worry about billing later......
Doctors are paid 42,000 to 46,000 Euros, about $54,000 to $59,000 a year (And probably work 20 hours a week for Spain) ........I have a friend who is a doctor. Since he is a capitalist, he has his own private clinic in two separate cities and makes about $125,000 a year total.
If I were President: I would make all licensed doctors participate in an annual national licensing program that they must serve 20 hours of service at a Nationalized Hospital......They would all receive $100,000 for that service.
What hospitals should be nationalized? County and state hospitals and private hospitals that are going out of business or not making it........Remember, Religious Hospitals get wicked tax breaks that private hospitals can not compete with.
Unless the United States takes the burden of healthcare off the American Businesses, Governmental bodies, school districts, wages can not be competitive with the rest of the world?
President Obama claims that, "We must impove the system we have." I disagree you must remove the system we have and build a new one......Yes, "We can rebuild America without greediness and corruption!"
Herbert Chersonsky
Spain
I got a phone call,"I don't know what to do, "K" is unconscious." "M" went to a neighbor and they called for an ambulance.
The next call from "M" was, "I am in the ambulance and we are on our way to Val D'Hebron Hospital." (In Barcelona) I left Sitges and was at the hospital within an hour and worked my way to the emergency room. There was "M" in utter shock and "K" was unconscious and being prepped to be moved to intensive care........
The doctors and nurses wheeled her up to intensive care and "M" and I waited about two hours before a doctor called us in to an office. She asked if we were relatives. We said no.....Fortunately "M" had grabbed "K's" purse. The doctor told us that "K" had suffered a sodium depletion and had aspirated her vomit and that her lungs had become totally infected......"You have to call "K's" mother immediately and get her here, we do not know if she will make it."
"M" and I phoned the mother from the hospital and explained the emergency, but did not mention the possibility that "K" might not make it. (To emphasize the emergency I told "Ks" mother, "I don't care how much you have to spend on the ticket, you have to get here.") I met "K's" mother at the airport the next morning and took her right to the hospital. "K" was on tubes and unconscious.
"K" was unconscious for at least three weeks and remained in intensive care for five weeks. She was then transferred to the General Hospital for a week when she suffered a pulmonary embulism and was put back into intensive care for a week and back to the general hospital for two more weeks.
When she was released, she was ambulanced back to the hospital several times for therapy.....
I was at the hospital every day of the first five weeks to help the mother and to translate with friends of "K"......
"K" Suffered from a sodium depletion, ARDS (Acute Respiratory Disorder Syndrome), Pulmonary Embulism........The only reason she survived was because she was a cross country runner and ran almost every day, she never smoked, and she never did drugs. She was well educated and is working on her PHD today.
She is a U.S. Citizen and was attending a university and working part time..........Tecnically she should not have been covered by the social security system here, but the University got that adjusted.
She was taking extensive amounts of drugs for a long time (Antibiotics, Anticoagulants etc.) She was monitored for about six months and eventually was released from hospital care with her "Alta". Once, after a trip to the U.S., she discovered a blood clot in her leg and learned that she had to inject herself with an anticoagulant prior to any flight...........
What was her bill at the end of all that ? "0" I believe the most she had to pay for any prescriptions after release from the hospital was 2 euros.........
In seven years of living in Spain, I have paid "0" towards my healthcare......I can join the social security system for 48 euros a month , approximately $68. However, even if I am not in the system and in an emergency, they will take care of me and worry about billing later......
Doctors are paid 42,000 to 46,000 Euros, about $54,000 to $59,000 a year (And probably work 20 hours a week for Spain) ........I have a friend who is a doctor. Since he is a capitalist, he has his own private clinic in two separate cities and makes about $125,000 a year total.
If I were President: I would make all licensed doctors participate in an annual national licensing program that they must serve 20 hours of service at a Nationalized Hospital......They would all receive $100,000 for that service.
What hospitals should be nationalized? County and state hospitals and private hospitals that are going out of business or not making it........Remember, Religious Hospitals get wicked tax breaks that private hospitals can not compete with.
Unless the United States takes the burden of healthcare off the American Businesses, Governmental bodies, school districts, wages can not be competitive with the rest of the world?
President Obama claims that, "We must impove the system we have." I disagree you must remove the system we have and build a new one......Yes, "We can rebuild America without greediness and corruption!"
Herbert Chersonsky
Spain
Thursday, February 5, 2009
I have No medical horror stories
I've been living in Japan for 33 years
3 of my four children were born here (the eldest child was born in Denmark -- that cost me $26.00)
Last year I had a 3-hour surgery and stayed in the hospital for 3 weeks.
I/my family have never had difficulty paying any medical bills.
I have NO medical horror stories to tell.
Karen
Japan
California
3 of my four children were born here (the eldest child was born in Denmark -- that cost me $26.00)
Last year I had a 3-hour surgery and stayed in the hospital for 3 weeks.
I/my family have never had difficulty paying any medical bills.
I have NO medical horror stories to tell.
Karen
Japan
California
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Socialized Medicine is Exciting!
In honor of Michael Moore's movie SICKO that's getting tremendous attention everywhere, I thought I'd share a personal experience of my own. I just got home from the most amazing experience, it's called..... (drumroll)... SOCIALIZED MEDICINE!!! It was so exciting.
About 2 weeks ago I slammed my knee running for the train (late as usual). The concrete step crashed into the middle of my kneecap, and I could barely bend it for 2 days. Although it improved, I was worried cuz it was still hurting sometimes. I didn't want it to heal weird, and start throbbing every time there was a rainstorm, or something like that. So I asked the lady at my foreign-students dormitory where I could get it checked out. She gave me a list of doctors in our neighborhood (about 15, all covering different specialties). We agreed I should go to the orthopedic surgeon; "no appointment is necessary, just show up" she said. I went at about 5 p.m. today on my bike.
Oh my goodness!!!!!! It was about the most divine customer-service experience of my LIFE! Dr. Maeda's office was a little drab, but functional and clean. Not luxurious-looking like hospitals in the U.S., with lots of fake plants and plaques with donors names. Just wood-panel walls and old magazines. I gave a written description of my problem to ease the language barrier, and after filling out one short form (basically contact info only) and handing over my government health insurance card, I took a seat.
SIDENOTE: Did you catch that part? GOVERNMENT HEALTH INSURANCE CARD!!! It is a cute blue affair that comes with a free plastic cover. I got it the week I arrived in Japan. Fresh off the boat, new immigrant, terrible Japanese. Still, I qualified for inclusion and was so happy to finally be fully insured I hugged and kissed the dude in the City Office, jumping up and down and yelling as he sweated in his polyester shirt. It was the best experience of my first month in Japan. But I hadn't had a chance to use the card until today...
So Dr. Maeda called for me from behind a door. Only wack thing about the office: the walls don't touch the ceiling! So I guess they don't care about patient privacy. Everyone can hear everything, so if you have something embarrassing I guess you write it down and slip the paper across the table, like a bank robber.
Anyways, I sat down and put my purse in the basket conveniently provided for this purpose. Dr. Maeda is a cheerful, tanned Japanese Santa Claus type. I wish I took a picture of him. He was laughing and practicing his English on me: "You run for train! Haha! Is dangerous! Don't you listen to warning in station? Haha!" After a few minutes of poking and prodding my knee, he said "We do x-ray now."
He took 2 x-rays and I waited another 5 minutes. Then he called me back into his office. "No break! Just contusion! Haha!! No jogging please!" He thoughtfully looked the word "contusion" up in his ancient dictionary while I was waiting. There was no interpreter but we got along ok with my so-so Japanese and his enthusiastic English.
He called the nurse to put a medicated stretchy patch thing over my whole knee, and cover it with a short white netting thing. Wrote a prescription for more of the disposable patches and sent me on my way with a laugh, saying in Japanese "If you were younger it would have healed faster! Haha, just kidding! Stop running for the train, ok? Haha!" I was glad to provide him with a source of hilarity for the afternoon, and stepped out of the office smiling. I sat back down on the bench to wait for the bill. I had been reassured "it won't be too much!" but I had no idea what to expect.
Soon the secretary called me up. "Forenbaum-san?" She returned my health insurance card, and gave me a new laminated one to use if I return to Dr. Maeda's. Then the bill: $13.24 (JY 1,610). That's it!! I'm on the "30% plan," which means the government pays the other 70% of the office visit. That includes 2 x-rays, meeting with the doctor, and getting one patch applied. No appointment, no waiting, excellent service, an immediate diagnosis, everyone's friendly. The whole affair took 30 minutes, out the door.
As for the prescription for the patches, those of us in from the medical hinterlands called the United States know that getting a prescription filled can be the most painful part of being sick. I remember as a kid waiting for hours in the Kaiser pharmacy, in a packed waiting room with screaming kids, dope fiends in rehab, people with rashes, and lots of coughing. As I started to leave Dr. Maeda's, I was grateful I could put off filling the non-emergency prescription for the knee patches. But the secretary told me: "There's a pharmacy just around the corner. Across from the 7-11. Take this there." I hopped on my bike. "Feel better!" she waved as I pulled away.
At said pharmacy, I walked in and handed the paper to dude. He took it in the back. 4 minutes later, emerged with my stuff. Grand total? $2.80 (JY 340). 2 weeks of treatment, silver plastic bag, my receipt. I'm dumbfounded, but the pharmacist is looking at me like I stole something. "Uhh, do you need anything else?" "Uh, I guess not..." Nutrition posters and bottles of Shiseido shampoo line the walls as I walk out.
Riding my bike home, I felt re-energized. Enthusiastic!! Healthy!! When did I last feel that way leaving the doctor's office... Maybe it was the warm reception I received (despite being a grammar-mangling foreigner) or maybe it was the unknown drugs in the stretchy patch thing. Or maybe it was the fact that my life wasn't interrupted by this minor injury, and society seems to agree that pro-active care for my knee is a pretty good idea. That's calming. I pedalled down the hill to do some grocery shopping. I'm not worried about my knee, or any other part of my health, and can focus on my work and life.
Nina Fallenbaum
Kanagawa, Japan
California
About 2 weeks ago I slammed my knee running for the train (late as usual). The concrete step crashed into the middle of my kneecap, and I could barely bend it for 2 days. Although it improved, I was worried cuz it was still hurting sometimes. I didn't want it to heal weird, and start throbbing every time there was a rainstorm, or something like that. So I asked the lady at my foreign-students dormitory where I could get it checked out. She gave me a list of doctors in our neighborhood (about 15, all covering different specialties). We agreed I should go to the orthopedic surgeon; "no appointment is necessary, just show up" she said. I went at about 5 p.m. today on my bike.
Oh my goodness!!!!!! It was about the most divine customer-service experience of my LIFE! Dr. Maeda's office was a little drab, but functional and clean. Not luxurious-looking like hospitals in the U.S., with lots of fake plants and plaques with donors names. Just wood-panel walls and old magazines. I gave a written description of my problem to ease the language barrier, and after filling out one short form (basically contact info only) and handing over my government health insurance card, I took a seat.
SIDENOTE: Did you catch that part? GOVERNMENT HEALTH INSURANCE CARD!!! It is a cute blue affair that comes with a free plastic cover. I got it the week I arrived in Japan. Fresh off the boat, new immigrant, terrible Japanese. Still, I qualified for inclusion and was so happy to finally be fully insured I hugged and kissed the dude in the City Office, jumping up and down and yelling as he sweated in his polyester shirt. It was the best experience of my first month in Japan. But I hadn't had a chance to use the card until today...
So Dr. Maeda called for me from behind a door. Only wack thing about the office: the walls don't touch the ceiling! So I guess they don't care about patient privacy. Everyone can hear everything, so if you have something embarrassing I guess you write it down and slip the paper across the table, like a bank robber.
Anyways, I sat down and put my purse in the basket conveniently provided for this purpose. Dr. Maeda is a cheerful, tanned Japanese Santa Claus type. I wish I took a picture of him. He was laughing and practicing his English on me: "You run for train! Haha! Is dangerous! Don't you listen to warning in station? Haha!" After a few minutes of poking and prodding my knee, he said "We do x-ray now."
He took 2 x-rays and I waited another 5 minutes. Then he called me back into his office. "No break! Just contusion! Haha!! No jogging please!" He thoughtfully looked the word "contusion" up in his ancient dictionary while I was waiting. There was no interpreter but we got along ok with my so-so Japanese and his enthusiastic English.
He called the nurse to put a medicated stretchy patch thing over my whole knee, and cover it with a short white netting thing. Wrote a prescription for more of the disposable patches and sent me on my way with a laugh, saying in Japanese "If you were younger it would have healed faster! Haha, just kidding! Stop running for the train, ok? Haha!" I was glad to provide him with a source of hilarity for the afternoon, and stepped out of the office smiling. I sat back down on the bench to wait for the bill. I had been reassured "it won't be too much!" but I had no idea what to expect.
Soon the secretary called me up. "Forenbaum-san?" She returned my health insurance card, and gave me a new laminated one to use if I return to Dr. Maeda's. Then the bill: $13.24 (JY 1,610). That's it!! I'm on the "30% plan," which means the government pays the other 70% of the office visit. That includes 2 x-rays, meeting with the doctor, and getting one patch applied. No appointment, no waiting, excellent service, an immediate diagnosis, everyone's friendly. The whole affair took 30 minutes, out the door.
As for the prescription for the patches, those of us in from the medical hinterlands called the United States know that getting a prescription filled can be the most painful part of being sick. I remember as a kid waiting for hours in the Kaiser pharmacy, in a packed waiting room with screaming kids, dope fiends in rehab, people with rashes, and lots of coughing. As I started to leave Dr. Maeda's, I was grateful I could put off filling the non-emergency prescription for the knee patches. But the secretary told me: "There's a pharmacy just around the corner. Across from the 7-11. Take this there." I hopped on my bike. "Feel better!" she waved as I pulled away.
At said pharmacy, I walked in and handed the paper to dude. He took it in the back. 4 minutes later, emerged with my stuff. Grand total? $2.80 (JY 340). 2 weeks of treatment, silver plastic bag, my receipt. I'm dumbfounded, but the pharmacist is looking at me like I stole something. "Uhh, do you need anything else?" "Uh, I guess not..." Nutrition posters and bottles of Shiseido shampoo line the walls as I walk out.
Riding my bike home, I felt re-energized. Enthusiastic!! Healthy!! When did I last feel that way leaving the doctor's office... Maybe it was the warm reception I received (despite being a grammar-mangling foreigner) or maybe it was the unknown drugs in the stretchy patch thing. Or maybe it was the fact that my life wasn't interrupted by this minor injury, and society seems to agree that pro-active care for my knee is a pretty good idea. That's calming. I pedalled down the hill to do some grocery shopping. I'm not worried about my knee, or any other part of my health, and can focus on my work and life.
Nina Fallenbaum
Kanagawa, Japan
California
Monday, July 21, 2008
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