This Is What Real Healthcare Looks Like

I'm assuming that most of you can't read this, so I'll give you a rough translation. In the upper right in orange is written: 1. specific health exam coupon.  2. contains a cancer examination coupon. (For holders of national health coverage in Utsunomiya city between the ages of 40 and 74). And get this...it's free. I don't remember getting anything for free health wise in America.  On the other hand I don't remember ever paying for health care based on my ability to pay either. That's another benefit I have in Japan. You never realize how good medical coverage can be until you live under a single payer system.

Case in point. I had an MRI late last year that I paid out of pocket. In Japan the government pays 70% and the patient 30%. This would still end up being exorbitantly expensive in the US as the government cannot use its clout to regulate drug prices or fees for services. But Japan is not the US. My bill was a whopping 6,000 yen. (Approximately 60 dollars). And there were no copays. Just the MRI which was done in a very modern, clean, friendly hospital and the consultation to inform me of the results.

The Japanese seem to take their health care service for granted. Some even grumble about how much they have to pay until I tell them how much I pay for my wife's and my health insurance in the US. Their jaws drop. They stop complaining. They ask me how I can afford it. I let them know that a lot of our discretionary income gets sucked into a health insurance black hole.

I'm fortunate to live in a country where I pay what I can afford for health insurance. I look at the cost of living in the States and see how much it has grown in the past few years. I can pay my American health insurance for the time being. I'm just wondering how everyone else is managing. My guess is that they're not. A lot of them are hoping that they don't get sick or they just manage with critical care. Can I afford to return to America? The answer to that question seems less clear every year.