How is Japan not in the discussion? I am not a specialist in medical issues, but I lived in Japan for many years. The health care was great for me. Doctors ar

How is Japan not in the discussion? I am not a specialist in medical issues, but I lived in Japan for many years. The health care was great for me. Doctors are relatively autonomous. They get paid by the government (single payer?) plus a relatively small co-pay depending on your insurance (mostly based on employer). Contributions from individuals vary from about $100 a year (for low income) up to maybe 4-5% of income at salaries most Japanese make ($25k to $100k usd). Employers also contribute. I never felt financially fleeced, unlike the US (with great insurance, no less). I almost never had to wait -- just once for a few days for a minor surgery. The costs for treatment and meds were reasonable. The quality of care seemed comparable to or better than the US (for a young person, at least). My only complaint was that doctors had a minor (but known) racket. If you had something that required 7 days of meds, they would give you a 3-day prescription and have you come back for a 1-minute second visit to get the other 4 days of prescription. A doctor friend told me that this was allowed and somewhat exploited because doctors were paid per visit. My doctor friend also told me that this was a way to balance payments -- that is, they would take longer on the initial visit to get the right diagnosis, but then they needed you to come in for the minor visits to get paid correctly for the time. Minor inconvenience, imho. I also have friends who made sure to have their medical stuff done before they left Japan -- child delivery, hip replacement, lots of dental, etc. Any other Japan folks have positive or negative stories to share? What about other Asian countries?