Thread: Opinions On Gov. Sponsored Health Care Outside of the USA

Originally Posted by Pyment

Can you tell I'm worried?

- Mark Twain's Speeches, "The Weather"


Clemens didn't think much of congress and I am leery of putting my health care in their hands.

The purpose of this thread is to get opinions from people outside of the USA on their health cars systems. Australia is 17th in infant mortality per capita. The USA is 33rd behind Cuba. I can see why you're worried. Here is a thread where USA folks can vent without disturbing this one. Have fun.

I will do so.

Happy with the Danish government run system.

I had an extra tooth in my upper middle part of my mouth the back one pushing the tooth in front of it outwards - yes it looked ridiculous

Also had corrective "whatever it's called" in my lower mouth done.

All at the handsome sum of 0,- DKR.

A few broken bones here and there and I had some issue with my thumb "locking up" at times where I then had to sort of force it so it would work again =)

All of it fixed for free.

Aside from that I've only had vaccinations and consultations I think. But Those I assume are free overthere as well, actually they probably aren't now that I think of it. Dunno though.

Thanks again for starting this post, Jimmy. I'm very interested in the perspective of others who can comment. I'm posting this if I may only to ask an additional question to the non-U.S. group:

Can anyone speak to their country's healthcare system in regard to the care of the elderly, those with potentially terminal disease (cancer) or disease requiring continuous care to ultimately stay alive? Do you/have you known anyone in these positions first hand and can you comment on how you viewed the care they received?


Thanks

Chris L

Originally Posted by ChrisL

Thanks again for starting this post, Jimmy. I'm very interested in the perspective of others who can comment. I'm posting this if I may only to ask an additional question to the non-U.S. group:

Can anyone speak to their country's healthcare system in regard to the care of the elderly, those with potentially terminal disease (cancer) or disease requiring continuous care to ultimately stay alive? Do you/have you known anyone in these positions first hand and can you comment on how you viewed the care they received?


Thanks

Chris L

My mother had cancer, and the care and treatment she recieved at the Peter Maccallum Cancer Clinic in Melbourne was excellent in all respects.
My mother inlaw is in a high care home for the aged, she has her own room that has a nice view of the Warberton Ranges, her old age pension is used to cover this cost. Unlike terminal diseases, Long term old age care is paid for depending on your personal finacial situation.(eg.how much you can contribute)

Originally Posted by ChrisL

Thanks again for starting this post, Jimmy. I'm very interested in the perspective of others who can comment. I'm posting this if I may only to ask an additional question to the non-U.S. group:

Can anyone speak to their country's healthcare system in regard to the care of the elderly, those with potentially terminal disease (cancer) or disease requiring continuous care to ultimately stay alive? Do you/have you known anyone in these positions first hand and can you comment on how you viewed the care they received?


Thanks

Chris L

I can't speak from personal experience, but Japan has a LOT of old people, and they get taken care of. Even now, when the economy is tanking, the government is relieving the elderly of ALL medical expenses...health care is a given.

My wife and I took out private insurance for life-threatening/major illness, but that insurance only has one purpose: to pay for daily living expenses incurred because of the loss of work, and to cover "voluntary" services like a private room etc. Essential hospital care is covered.

As for allowed/disallowed treatments--this one I have to do some more research. I do know that there have been cases where Japanese people were diagnosed as brain-dead in the USA and they were brought back to Japan and put into hospital care here, all covered by insurance...so terminal care is not skimped on as a rule, but I can't speak to specifics.

One thing about this is, at the end of people's lives in Japan they tend to stay at home--it is a very, very important part of the culture that you be with your family at the end. But they still get care. For example, my wife's grandfather died of cancer three years ago, and he was at home for the last two or three months of his life. He had in-home nursing care and medical equipment, and it was all covered by the insurance. Even the 30% monthly deductible was reimbursed.

The more I think about this, the more I love this country...

Jim your satisfaction with Japan's healthcare coverage intrigued me enough to spend about two minutes googling. I thought these were worthwhile links:

From McKinsey & Company - Perspective - The challenge of funding Japan's future health care needs - May 2008:

At first glance, Japan's health care system, like its people, seems to be in remarkably good shape. The country's National Health Insurance plan provides generous universal coverage. ... But Japan, like many other economically advanced countries, faces mounting health care expenses that will be difficult to support using current methods. MGI research suggests health care spending in Japan could double as a proportion of GDP within 30 years, with advances in medical technology, growing wealth, and demographic changes driving the increase. The financing gap is so large that policies on which Japan has relied in the past, such as increasing co-payments, will not be sufficient to close it.

And from FRONTLINE: sick around the world: five capitalist democracies & how they do it | PBS:

Average family premium: $280 per month, with employers paying more than half.
Co-payments: 30 percent of the cost of a procedure, but the total amount paid in a month is capped according to income. ...

What are the concerns? In fact, Japan has been so successful at keeping costs down that Japan now spends too little on health care; half of the hospitals in Japan are operating in the red. Having no gatekeepers means there's no check on how often the Japanese use health care, and patients may lack a medical home.

It's interesting! And I'm glad it's working so well and hope it continues to do so. It seems like a well run system from what you've said and the little I've read so far

is it safe to assume that all these programs (in whatever country you live) have become a sacred cow?

are there talks about budgets?

are there programs that are sinking?
would you even know?

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

Jim your satisfaction with Japan's healthcare coverage intrigued me enough to spend about two minutes googling. I thought these were worthwhile links:

From McKinsey & Company - Perspective - The challenge of funding Japan's future health care needs - May 2008:
And from FRONTLINE: sick around the world: five capitalist democracies & how they do it | PBS:
It's interesting! And I'm glad it's working so well and hope it continues to do so. It seems like a well run system from what you've said and the little I've read so far

Interesting information. I was aware of the impending problems to the national pension system resulting from the aging of the population (the Japanese lead long healthy lives...) but of course, that's an approaching problem. It's difficult to accuse the government of mismanagement of a problem that hasn't happened yet, and I am hopeful in this case.

As far as half of Japanese hospitals being in the red, well, that's a private market problem; most hospitals in Japan are privately run clinics.

Actually, that snippet really intrigued me--there are a LOT of hospitals in Japan (any private doctor's office is classified as a hospital), and I've often wondered at their profitability. So I did a little more digging, and I couldn't find a single bit of corroboration that "half of Japan's hospitals are in the red". I did find this:

The results clarified the low growth rate and low profitability of the Japanese private hospitals, although their financial situation was relatively stable. However, the efficiency of cost has been stalled in recent years and profitability has been declining due to the low turnover rate of capital. According to the CVP analysis, the Profit volume ratio of the investigated hospitals has been increased to the level of 95%. This situation means that, in the current financial situation, more than half of the Japanese private hospitals will go into the red if revenue declines 5% due to some short term change in the managerial environment.

That's from the abstract to an academic study of hospitals in Japan...in 1996.

I also found a reference in an opthamology journal saying that "74% fo Japanese hospitals will be in the red by the 21st century". It was dated 1995.

So, I think that someone forgot to do some fact checking.

Do I believe that the health care system in Japan is perfect? Of course not. There is a severe shortage of doctors in some areas (ridiculous working conditions like 60 hour shifts lead to this) , for one thing, and real problems with resource distribution (adding to the poor working conditions). But the problems people point out are known, and the Japanese government is taking them seriously, and I have faith that the system will survive, in one form or another.

I have that faith because the fundamental assumption in Japan is that people take care of the weak. In America, I would say that is not at all the case...I get much more of the "I got mine, Jack, so screw you" vibe these days.

Originally Posted by gratewhitehuntr

is it safe to assume that all these programs (in whatever country you live) have become a sacred cow?

are there talks about budgets?

are there programs that are sinking?
would you even know?

yes, yes, no and yes, Shaun!
Economy has quite an impact on it but giving the program up is impossible.

I'm waiting for a date with "my" doc for two months now.
Thats because he's on holidays at the moment.
I could have gotten an emergency date three days after my call on a monday morning by just going there and waiting for a slot, but I prefer to wait, cause mondays around 8 I'm crap and he's probably, too, LOL
I could also have gone to another doc of the same expertise and get a date the next day, but I'm picky cause I don't go well with stupid, hehehe