1st myth healthcare is free: healthcare is not free. also, you most likely need to be employed to enjoy NHI. each visit costs you 200 to 400 ntd whatever your visits may be (including a 2 minute consultation)… which leads to the 2nd myth
2nd myth doctors are good and serve your best interest: most doctors are forced into being doctors. they’re usually the brightest in class. they’re told that their scores can get into med school but if you combine greed and intelligence, you get unethical doctors. those who ask you to schedule excessive multiple visits and force you to pay in cash to evade tax. dont get me started on the “treatments” outside of NHI.
3rd doctors make good husband/wife: most often girls jump on doctors laps. most nurses i met know that doctors are cheaters. few decades ago, alot of doctors stay unmarried on paper but have kids from at least two women. next time you go to a fancy night club and see a bunch of nerdy looking men with hot girls pouring Champagne on their VIP table, think twice why that is.
Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.
Although I agree with the premise of your argument, all of your supporting claims and evidence are silly over generalizations.
Health care sucks here but not for the reasons you claim. It’s because the system is stretched too thin and there’s no focus placed on patient experience. So they just throw meds at you and run the quickest heuristic tests as possible which means they end up neglecting any issues that aren’t easy to diagnose.
It’s just an issue of 1. Training and 2. Over saturated clinics. But these sane issues are in the American system at 10x the price
NHI is far from perfect. There’s always a trade off when you nationalize healthcare.
But at least you can see a doctor.
Try living in the UK. NHS is expensive and you can’t even see a doctor without waiting weeks to months. Half the time they tell you not to come. I just end up going private. Wish I could just opt out.
Eh NHI is fine. It’s better than most.
NHI gets expensive when you have family and a high earner in Taiwan (and don’t use a union scheme ) because it’s mandatory. Govenrnent just dipped into my salary and took some money that they determined I owed them before telling me.
Very powerful agency they know you better than any other govenrnent agency. How much you earn , your family status, when you came in or out last.
No discounts for kids at least first two anyway, they pay the full amount.
I think healthcare is generally good enough here but if you need to diagnose a disease a lot of doctors dont give it the tine and effort it needs to do that properly. Cancer care and in patient care is also poor here.
Pros and cons.
Access to healthcare is good, but people abuse it and see specialists unnecessarily.
I like that it doesn’t come out of general government revenue and is setup like government run insurance. I think premiums would be better paid through a tax return than trusting dodgy bosses.
I like that everyone has to pay into it, you don’t get nothing for nothing. I also like how costs are managed by the government negotiating with hospitals. I think co-payments are also a good idea to manage unnecessary visits, these are all pretty low too.
I think it’s good that it only covers the minimum medical necessity as it keeps costs low, looks after people without private insurance and also provides a reason to get private insurance.
Wait times are also great in Taiwan compared to other public systems (Australia, UK, Canada all have wait time problems)
The thing i like about it the most is that dental is covered. Dental isn’t covered by Australia’s medicare system and seeing a dentist is expesiiiiive
My mom had excellent cancer care. And I think she didn’t need to pay any costs per visit for a few years after her treatment like the usual 200nt.
Sometimes it depends on hospital to hospital and doctor to doctor like in every country.
When I was in Italy I has brought to a hospital my girls uncle was the head of a department and had excellent care. But the south of Italy is a disaster from what I’ve heard.
Nobody subscribes to your first myth. How could they when, as you point out, everyone in Taiwan pays their NHI contribution each month and for each consultation.
Your second myth is, again, one unlikely to be held by anyone. The phenomenon of doctor-shopping in Taiwan is, in my experience, popular. Even if there are doctors who match your description, nobody could mount a convincing argument that all doctors are like that. The thing to do is try different ones until you find one who suits. In my own case, I’ve had a specialist turn up at 8 a.m. on a Saturday to do an ultrasound he could’ve left to a technician because he wanted first-hand knowledge of my condition so he could take immediate action or reassure me without delay. If what you write were true, that wouldn’t happen.
Your third myth is too far outside my experience to comment upon, but planting the idea that if a group of men are enjoying themselves then they are sure to be doctors, well…
Probably depends a lot on the experience, I’ve been 4 times and it seems fine
First time, health check for motorcycle, in and out in 20 minutes, easy. Had to pay something, not expensive. And no appointment
Second time, thought my rib was broken. Made an appointment with a GP, he said he’d send me for an x-ray but better to take that to a bone doctor. No charge. Saw the bone doctor right after the x-ray. Almost no waiting for the entire process. I guess i paid a little something in the end, peanuts
Third, full checkup, company paid, it was a few hours but thorough and effficient
Fourth, dental checkup and cleaning. A bit of a wait this time, but otherwise thorough and efficient
Really, can’t complain. I always had good experiences in Canada, too. Dentist was WAY more expensive though, not covered under provincial health insurance
I think a huge plus in Taiwan are also so many clinics. Some even specialist clinics that are all covered as well. They are quick to go to for the most part and you can always see someone the same day.
Cost of medication is cheap, even out of pocket. Even many out of pocket testing is cheap like STD and blood tests.
The downside I’ve mentioned is too many people go for no real reason and abuse it. Doctors feel like they need to prescribe something when they really don’t to make ir seem like they did something. And they have less time per patient because they have too many.
Another downside with many national healthcare systems is that the government determines what medicines and treatments are allowed because it all has to be negotiated with prices. This causes 2 issues.
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Some new medications and treatment are slower to arrive. Where as US you will always get the latest stuff.
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Some medications and treatments are just not available not matter what even out of pocket. If the government sees that medication A works better for 90% of people. They might not negotiate for medication B. It sucks if you’re one of those that do better with B. I’ve seen this with thyroid medicines and you’ll probably find searches of people here saying they can’t find the same medication they had back or just another one that is treated for their condition.
I will also add this. It’s really good to see. It is very rare to see any national healthcare cover this.
thats nonsense : first of all, doctors dont have time to go to clubs with their hospital shifts. Second, todays top earners are engineers, not doctors. the guy is kust ranting…
Private care in Taiwan is great. Worked for a high tech company that provided annual tests…10 nurses walking me to each station…amazed at how hairy my chest was lol.
good summary, but:
absolutely not. private insurance in the US absolutely also determines what medications and treatments are covered.
The big issue in America is that your insurance is usually determined by your employer so it’s always a race to the bottom instead of to the top
Private insurance yes. But on your own, no. Taiwan doesn’t matter if you pay out of pocket.
Who ever said NHI was free? AND you have to WORK? Man, my mom never asked me to work for food! This is bullshit!
So, all the brightest kids in class become doctors? SHOCKING! Only the dullest and most pure mouth breathers should become doctors because they know the life of the common man!
Don’t worry yourself sick. I sure won’t ask.
So, all doctors are MEN in your world? And the nurses are Benny Hill nurses and hop on them?
No. Sir, friend, fellow forumosan, you need to sit back, reread what you wrote and consider seeing someone for some talk therapy.
Is that free? I mean, we could do it here for free.
Happy New Year!
No, you need not.
In a hospital bed?