I can’t remember but it was a small amount if extra. I remember I was definitely insured. BTW I took pictures of the car from many angles when I rented it at the rental office.
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I think the article is pretty reasonable and mostly aligns with my experiences. It doesn’t align with my preferences, because I’d never buy a house or a car here, even though I can afford it. A car is actually a huge burden here. Sitting in traffic, having to park it etc. In Taipei it simply isn’t needed when you have MRT, bus and Uber. If we want to go anywhere like camping for a weekend, just hire a car and driver which is cheaper than owning a car anyway.
One thing I like is that society as a whole is a lot less confrontational and violent than the UK. In the UK most city centres basically turn into a drunken warzone every Friday and Saturday night. It’s not a nice place to be with your family, with groups of people staggering through the streets at 8pm. In Taiwan that stuff only really exists in very specific areas and you have to be out seeking it. Otherwise Taiwan is generally a much nicer, safer place to be.
I also note that things like playgrounds, bus stops are vandalised much less here. Again, in the UK I’ve often taken my kids to a playground and it’s full of teenagers drinking.
Same with petty crime. I’ve never heard of any of my friends or family having things stolen in coffee shops, or phones grabbed out of hands on the MRT. In London that’s relatively common. In fact, Taiwanese seems to be victims of crime when they visit the US and I know a few friends who had phones, wallets, laptops etc stolen by being “careless” in Europe or America.
Access to healthcare in Taiwan is absolutely incredible compared to the UK. I have MANY friends and family in the UK who are waiting weeks, months and even years for MRIs, CTs etc. In Taipei I could get either of those in less than a week, no problem. Hell, in my home area you’d be lucky to get a GP appointment without waiting at least a week. It’s a lottery of trying to call at 08:01 and by 08:04 all the appointments are gone. In Taipei, it’s all online and you can almost always get an appointment for the same day, in my experience.
I also love the low income tax here.
As for police, in 8 years I’ve never had a single interaction with them. Maybe it just depends on the circles you hang out in.
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I don’t really understand why GP/family doctor is the norm in the West. I find them quite pointless. It honestly seems like a position invented to delay treatment so that medical personnel can work less hours instead of a system designed for patient’s welfare.
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Well, the lack of a GP system here—and generally speaking, the lack of preventative medicine—is one of the weaknesses in the Taiwan health system. Amidst the maze of specialists, no one is watching the whole shop, so to speak. General health check ups are expensive, not covered by jian bao, and not tax deductible (whereas if you wait and get something serious, expenses to cover that care are deductible—crazy!).
Guy
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I think Taiwan’s preventive healthcare resources are amazing. My wife is a health nut so she’s always signing me up for something where I’m being probed, punctured, or photographed inside “just to make sure” Whatever it is it costs a pittance of what it would cost in the U.
S. — if it’s even available there. It annoyed me in the beginning but now I really value the peace of mind it gives me. I shudder at the thought of being one of those people who ignored pain because they couldn’t afford healthcare and ended up having their natural plumbing removed because they waited too long.
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6000 of them in Taiwan, FamilyMart 4000.
In the US the market does and knows all.
Some insurance will offer health check at reduced price but it all depends on your workplace or insurance provider and all the in or out of network crap.
US healthcare is the worst in the developed world. At least third world shithole countries don’t have to pay a ton of money for it.
Bah. No one I work with complains about it or the ten dollar copay. There’s no such thing as some monolithic a “US Healthcare.” If you have a shit job you have shit coverage or none at all. If you don’t, you don’t.
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I 100% agree. Taiwan health care is not as good as what people pump it up to be. A least, not the NHI side of things. Pay doctors seem to be decent.
Comparing taiwan health care to the USA is so ridiculous, basically just a non starter. Why even bother? Its like comparing human rights or pollution to china…of course we look better lol. Why not compare a ferrari to a tractor on the 1/4 mile?
Taiwans NHI is better than many, but it still remains a for profit with lots of people abusing both the card swipes and the pill pushing. On both sides.
Good doctors advocate prevention. In most cases this is still a paid expense, not covered. Not that this is necesarrily a terrible thing (i dont want to enter the too entled territory). the costs of various things are still way out of whack when compared to basic salaries. If we want to truly applaud the health care systems, it shouldnt be that poor people get band aids after cancer because they cant afford to pay for proper check ups when the are young. (yes i know taiwan is good at cancer treatment…spare us. Thats the point they golained experience because of a huge problem and lack of prevention). This, in my opinion, is taiwans greatest flaw in health care. But, alas, i understand the governments problem with a nation of hypochondriacs and scammers that bleed the system dry due to mental illness (greed & paranoia) i doubt if any government could survive ifthey trimmed the fat on this one. As always, money is well spent on education (which leads to prevention) and controlling sources of diseases (food, pollutants etc). But taiwan is about quick export, not prevention or planning down the line. Round and round we go 
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Handicap? Hurrah! Fuck you! Helped save people in 911 as an emergency worker? hurrah! fuck you! sent to a war without hesitation? Hurrah! Fuck you! Not the most ideal pedestal, to be fair. Not the worst, but not good enough to even bat an eyelash at, lets be honest.
You summed it up nicely.
I’ve not once been able to use the NHS to get medical attention in 2 years. Over 500k people waiting right now.
And it’s not just the evenings when drunks go around, day drinking at pubs with people fighting and just doing annoying stuff is also a thing.
Not to mention the amount of stabbing, robberies, and sexual assault here in the Uk. I live in a safer town and every day someone is getting stabbed or robbed. Some poor girl was raped right by the church in town center the other day. It’s pure madness. I can’t even drive a nice car like a Range Rover without having to put GPS and a wheel lock on it. I see on FB someone posting their range got stolen all the time here.
Taiwan’s issue is more that you don’t get much person attention with the NHI but the trade off is that you can see any doctor the same day. And many drugs are not available in Taiwan because the NHI couldn’t come to an agreement with a drug company for them.
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Another thing with Taiwan is, because the country negotiates with drug companies on prices and based decisions based on efficacy on a cost benefit basis for the most part. Some drugs are not available in Taiwan. If they find drug A works on 75% of people vs drug B that works on 25% of the others. They sometimes just take drug A. So if youre the 25% that needs drug B, tough luck.
Shit job as in just about every job that isn’t CEO of Tesla?
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Am I the ceo of Tesla? No.
I go to the VA to see my rheumatologist, and my specialists for other stuff. Not super rich, just climbed the ladder, went to school, played the game and didn’t wreck my body with self destructive habits.
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I world disagree here. Even with a good job you still end up paying crazy amounts of money in deductibles and stuff that’s not covered by your insurance, insuring your family members, etc. And then don’t accidentally use a doctor or ambulance that was out of network or else you’re truly fucked.
Healthcare in the USA is a shit show for everyone but the rich.
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Again, hyperbolic rantings aside, not rich, family is covered, out of pocket expenses minimal. I’ll take what I get and what I pay for it over pretty much anywhere.
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It has pros and cons. GPs can solve a lot of your basic medical needs. And they can help to send you to the most relevant person.
For example, I think it’s pretty ridiculous that I need to see an actual cardiologist for some basic statins (cholesterol medication). A GP, or even a pharmacist, should be able to do that. That feels like a tremendous waste of time of a highly-trained specialist.
Also, I was having some jaw pain - so should I book the dentist, the musculoskeletal doctor, or the orthopaedic doctor? Again, that wasted a lot of time getting passed between them.
Health checks aren’t expensive at all! You can do a full panel of bloodwork for around 2,000NT unless you need really specific tests. Whole body MRI for around 30,000. And a lot of professional jobs provide 1 health check every year.
It’s not perfect, but I find that it varies a lot by where you go. Those small local clinics will give you 9 different medications for some sniffles. But the more “legitimate” doctors will tell you to go home and rest (which is the correct answer).
I do agree that it’s a Taiwanese thing to run to a doctor for absolutely everything. My kids get sniffles and the grandparents are instantly demanding I take them to a doctor. But I guess as long as the system has capacity and there aren’t huge waiting lists, it’s not a massive problem. Probably better than the alternative of not being able to get appointments and waiting forever.
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My wife and kids spend most of the year in the U.S. for school. When she showed her GP there the results of her annual, all day health exam in Taiwan we paid $800 for the GP was amazed at how thorough it was. GP said it would cost $10,000 in the U.S. healthcare system - if you could even find such a service.
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I suspect that’s unusually low in the US, even before the big move to high deductible plans.
It’s not shit jobs - it’s most private jobs. I’m in the top ~2-5 percent in income and we have high deductible plans. I pay out of pocket (other than preventative care mandated by the ACA) for the first $7k/individual, $13k total for family (that’s on top of premiums). The company subsidizes up to $1k into a HSA, if you do certain things each year (health screening, coaching, etc).
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