http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_Japan
In the Japanese health care system, healthcare services, including screening examinations for particular diseases at no direct cost to the patient, prenatal care, and infectious disease control, are provided by national and local governments. Payment for personal medical services is offered through a universal health care insurance system that provides relative equality of access, with fees set by a government committee...
...all elderly persons have been covered by government-sponsored insurance. Patients are free to select physicians or facilities of their choice.
And then the kicker...
...patients have universal access to any facility, though hospitals tend to charge higher for those without a referral. However space can be an issue in some regions. More than 14,000 emergency patients were rejected at least three times by Japanese hospitals before getting treatment in 2007, according to the latest government survey. In the worst case, a woman in her 70s with a breathing problem was rejected 49 times in Tokyo...
Rejected at the emergency room 49 times! Sounds like something I want to pay an extra 10% out of my income for everyone to have!
In the Japanese health care system, healthcare services, including screening examinations for particular diseases at no direct cost to the patient, prenatal care, and infectious disease control, are provided by national and local governments. Payment for personal medical services is offered through a universal health care insurance system that provides relative equality of access, with fees set by a government committee...
...all elderly persons have been covered by government-sponsored insurance. Patients are free to select physicians or facilities of their choice.
And then the kicker...
...patients have universal access to any facility, though hospitals tend to charge higher for those without a referral. However space can be an issue in some regions. More than 14,000 emergency patients were rejected at least three times by Japanese hospitals before getting treatment in 2007, according to the latest government survey. In the worst case, a woman in her 70s with a breathing problem was rejected 49 times in Tokyo...
Rejected at the emergency room 49 times! Sounds like something I want to pay an extra 10% out of my income for everyone to have!