My first day in Japan, I got sick. Yes, off of alcohol. I should know my limits by now, but in my defense, I had no idea that Korean Sake doesn't hit you till it's too late. Anyhow, I kept on thinking it would get better, but I knew I was in trouble when I started to feel some tingles down my arms, legs, and lower body. Gavin was so angry he didn't want anything to do with me. So, in my delirious state of mind, called 104- Information and asked for a taxi company. They gave me a toll free # which turned out you can’t use it from a cell phone. So I had to call back again and ask for land line #. To make the long story short, I went into the clinic, got some IV fluids, and some antemetics and acid reducers. After total of 4 hours, I was on my way home with a bill of $160. The glory of this story is that with that $160, I only didn’t have health insurance, but I received a care for a blood work and a 500ml of IV fluids with additives. That’s not all. I was seen by a doctor on a Saturday (considered emergency hours) and prescription drugs for the next three days. I love Japan: thank you for having socialized medicine.
3 Comments:
Someone has to pay for it... Those fluids weren't free, the lab tech isn't a volunteer and I'm pretty sure doctors get paid well, even in Japan.
You're getting your money's worth, but I wonder if the average Japanese person (who paid for your medical care) got theirs.
Oh, there's the incentive problem, too. What if you went to the ER in the States and it cost you a thousand bucks or 15 hundred dollars. Would you be more or less likely to poison yourself with alcohol in the States versus Japan?
And that's why we don't have any problems with alcoholism in the States. People take really good care of themselves here, because they know that it's all on them to stay in shape, exercise, and eat right.
So, unlike those freewheeling Canadians, Brits, Japanese, French, Brazilians, Italians, Germans, Belgians, Swedes, Norwegians, Dutch, etc., Americans just don't take stupid risks, ever. We're also much safer, more efficient drivers.
This healthy conservative lifestyle also makes American men really well endowed in the "package" department.
Actually, emergency rooms here are legally required to assist you even if you don't have insurance. You won't necessarily get preventative or follow-up care or anything, but they are legally required to treat you.
If your insurance won't cover the treatment, they may sieze your assets to cover the bills.
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