You are thinking of just you.
Now imagine if you had a family you also had to consider. And also if you were older.
Anyway I’m not saying it is perfect but it’s really a very much positive than negative in my book.
There are many other issues on the other hand that make Taiwan unattractive for foreign professionals medium to LONG term.
I am also thinking of being insured - to me on public health insurance Germany or Austria or travelling as a tourist with E-111 in Europe it seemed better in Europe. Besides living in Germany/Austria I’ve seen hospitals in Spain and Italy from inside after sports accidents. As for private stuff I’ve seen rates and Taiwan is definitely way more than the private clinics in places like Poland, Hungary or Turkey (all popular places for medical tourism in Europe).
I pay like $200nt for an MRI. And another $40nt for a copy of it. Plus the $250nt to see the specialist. So less than $500nt total. It sounds like you’re on a tourist health plan. Not a work covered health insurance program with a health card.
Now if you had health insurance the things you’d be able to access would blow your mind. Instead of going to the sports clinic and paying full price you could go to your regular doctor, get to know them, ask them what services they provide like blood tests and targeted things, referrals to specialists that they know won’t jerk you around, and heavily subsidized medicines that are generally covered in the cost of your visit. The little local clinic likes you to come back after 3 days but you don’t really need to. Just tell them to give you the full 7 or 10 day treatment and you pay for it on the way out and pick up your meds individually packaged for morning lunch and night.
The hospital doesn’t want you coming back in 3 days. They don’t even want you coming back in 2 weeks if you don’t need to. So they give you your meds for what you need in the expectation that you’ll follow their instructions. Maximum cost for me, including blood tests at the hospital, has been less than $600nt. And that’s 3 months worth of meds included.
I dunno about you, but I plan to live forever in my perfect state.
In Austria and Germany that would be free! And the wait for MRI in Taiwan is like 3-4 weeks, that’s similar to Germany in public health insurance.
In Austria it’s about 2 weeks wait for MRI if public insurance, and walk in if private (6000ntd). In Taiwan 1 day wait private MRI is like 20-25.000 - inquired that last year.
With co payment and private insurance after accident Austria was a dream. MRI in 10 minutes after arrival, surgery 2 hours later for ACL. Well if you paid that privately it would be 3000 euro yourself, 3000 euro the public health insurance for surgery in private clinic with 48h hospital stay in double room and visits to the doctor for follow ups included.
Where do you get 3-4 weeks? Most I’ve ever waited was 2 or 3 days. I’ve been offered it the same day on a number of occasions.
Taichung last year. Phoned around dozens of places and quickest below 10.000 ntd was 3.5 weeks, quickest for 25000 was 2 days
I think you’re going to a private sports clinic in Taipei. The numbers you’re saying don’t match anything I’ve experienced here in Taiwan. And I’ve been so sick I was laying in the emergency room corridor floor up against the wall while they were sticking needles in me. There’s like a million hospitals in Taiwan and then all the little clinics. $25,000nt for an MRI is like full price Australian costs. US can be ten times that. Taiwanese don’t even pay that much to give birth with an emergency c section.
So you’re ringing up for an MRI without a referral from a specialist. That’s why you’re paying full price. Also why are you wasting your time doing this in Taichung? Catch the train to Taipei. Choose a hospital and see the specialist you need to see. NTU Hospital is usually pretty good. You’ll get x-rays and MRIs pretty much on the same day.
But all of this is useless if you don’t have health insurance. I don’t know what tourist health insurance you paid for but you should probably read the fine print and see which hospitals and procedures are covered.
Yes, for monster cars high tax , but make smaller more eco friendly cars less expensive , so cars are not only for the rich.
With Hon Hai and Yulon releasing electric cars that go for about the same as a gas powered cars, it won’t be a worry going forward anyways. How the power is generated at the plant will be the concern.
They are replacing gasoline cars and they are more efficient also and not locally polluting. So it’s not a major concern. It also requires large amounts of energy to refine gasoline.
x-rays you get within a wait of an hour or so in Taiwan. I went to Taichung Veterans hospital - overall it took me 5 hours to register - get to see a doctor - be sent to X-Ray even though I knw it’s not needed and told them so - see the doctor again - he determining needs MRI (the reason why I went there to get a referral) - and getting the referral.
It was about a knee problem that suddenly appeared in the evening after doing sports. I think my travel health insurance would have covered it - but it’s soo much paperwork I would only send in bills over 5000NTD.
Then I called around various clinics - or better my then girlfriend did - to get an MRI appointment in Taichung with a referral - but paying privately.
Thanks - that was an horrible experience. Plus those quick MRI for 25.000NTD would have surely been rejected by the insurance - it states only reasonable to local prices costs will be paid.
Level 3 hit and I flew to Europe so never got the MRI (had an appointment with 17 days wait for I think 8000). In Austria you pay 6000 without referral at private places including assessment for a full knee MRI. In Taichung they would not even accept me without referral - hence the 5 hour hospital trip for nothing but an referral.
Actually yes - all that would have been identical on taiwan public health plan, except of course paying much less money. Well the hospital bill for essentially nothing but an referral were like 2000NTD.
In mainland China a private MRI is like 1500NTD. A private CT is like 300NTD - crazy cheap rates there.
(in the end it turned out to be cartilage damage - so not a sudden thing - only popped up suddenly - travel health insurance surely would not have paid for MACI/ACI/ or whatever cartilage replacement surgery - most cost effective was to get minced cartilage 2nd generation treatment (Arthrex Autocart) in Austria - all up privately paid no insurance 6000€ - in Cyprus they only offered me a full knee replacement which I did not want or microfracture/nanofracture/Amic (fully covered by my work health insurance) which is just the rubbish treatment on offer in Taiwan too (not sure if you need to pay for it privately - I guess looking at people limping around it’s not even paid on public health insurance or only if you put a lot of pressure). For me only a one step non fracture surgery was viable, so Denovo NT or Arthrex Autocart - Denovo NT only being available in the US - and likely 50.000 USD or so. Could have gotten Autocart at public hospital in Austria for 4000€ - but preferred a worldwide known specialist on cartilage so paid 6000€ plus no wait or whatsoever)
Agree German and especially Austrian health care are better. I paid covid antigen in Taiwan 6000 twd and in Austria 10 euros (which was refund by health care). My wife gave two births in Germany, both in new build public facilities, alone in the room. Such birth in Taiwan would cost 100k at least. Spain and Czech health care are excellent too. North of Italy too.
There are dozen countries with better health care than Taiwan. Is good and mostly (not always) cheap, but not with best quality.
well people in South Tyrol love to drive to Innsbruck for health care - because it’s way better than in Bozen / Italy. The waiting times are enormous even in North Italy. Italy for me is a failed state.
You must have at least one X-ray before MRI is covered by insurance.
So you have long term ongoing issues with at least one knee and have been treated in multiple countries for it yet it’s recurring. In Taiwan you have to get an x-ray before they’ll send you for an MRI. Sure you think it’s a waste of your time but they don’t want to waste their hospital resources. X-rays are cheap. MRIs are not. It also sounds like you don’t have insurance. As for 5 hours waiting in a hospital in Taichung that also doesn’t sound right. Was it a Friday night or weekend? Was it an emergency? Like you split your cappella in half doing something stupid? Even if you had a slight ligament tear what are they going to do? Refer you for surgery? From the sounds of it you’ve been through this quite a few times so why wouldn’t you just ask for the tramadol that you wanted and go home and put and ice pack on your knee? Beyond a ligament or cartilage replacement there’s not much that can be done. It’s a bit like breaking a rib.
5 hours was normal that day. But you could go home after registration and watch on internet the numbers to proceed… But I needed 1 hour or so for registration. Then 3 hours waiting to see a doctor (2hours of that I went to a cafe). Then 1 hour for x-ray and waiting. And then 30 minutes waiting again to see the doctor to get that referral paper. Then still running around the hospital to pay and get receipt
And as it was clear I pay privately it should be possible to get referrals without x-ray. I had several ACL surgeries before, but then 5 years nothing. Perfectly fine. I thought I had ripped my meniscus as a friend checked out all ligaments to be fine (physiotherapist). But turned out to be way worse. I didn’t know it before MRI however.
Overall I think actually it took even longer. I registered for morning session, but my number got postponed to afternoon. And then I was out at closure of hospital… Some people said better directly arrive for closure as usually they don’t turn you away
Exactly.
When I came here eons ago, my first job was in a local company for NT$45,000/month.
After all my small costs of rent (NT$5000/month), food, scooter gas, etc., I still was able to save MORE than my college classmates who graduated with the same BS degree (like myself) and who were making 2.5 TIMES what I was making.
I knew then and there that Taiwan was a hidden gold mine for those foreigners who could read/speak Chinese and get into the right industry job.
My college classmates are still working in their science jobs in Bay Area, and I’m now working part-time, having saved a lot more money than they did over the decades.
if your quality of life was greater of will be greater that is perfect. For me living quality in Taiwan is not as good as in Europe. But yes I also sea that fluent Chinese will be nearly as mandatory as fluent English in the future. If for your not just because things are cheaper here - life quality is better - then I say right decision. For me climate and environment are simply not comparable in Taiwan - but I like cold weather and hate hot humid weather, I would die soon in Taiwan summer. But winter is good enough.