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While visiting my in-laws in Taiwan (Taichung City), My son slipped on the floor and busted his head just above the eye. We took him to the ER. He got 7 stitche

While visiting my in-laws in Taiwan (Taichung City), My son slipped on the floor and busted his head just above the eye. We took him to the ER. He got 7 stitches and occupied an ER bed for 4 hours while the drugs they used to put him under wore off. We paid after we were released. It came out to about $200 US total, without insurance. We got back to Austin a week later and had the stitches removed, which cost us $60, with insurance. Our kid's doctor, who removed the stitches, said they were beautifully done. Taiwan's healthcare system is not perfect, but at least I don't have to worry about it. It is good AND affordable.

diziet 9y ago
When I visited Taiwan, I needed to get some urgent dental care done. I went to a small local clinic, where the dentist spoke good enough english, did great work (including x-rays) and my total uninsured bill was less than my co-pay in the US would have been. It is good AND affordable.
- adventured 9y ago
  The average American dentist earns $175,000, the median is ~$155,000. What do you propose to do about that to reduce their income considerably to bring down overall costs vs what a dentist in Taiwan earns? US GDP per capita is nearly three times that of Taiwan, incomes are likewise far higher. It's equivalent to comparing costs in Switzerland versus Czech and being surprised that Switzerland is so much higher.
  - diziet 9y ago
    I would be very fine paying 3x the rate of Taiwan as the uninsured rate for dentistry. I understand that the cost of labor is different.
  - mtanski 9y ago
    Price controls is a dirty term we refuse to talk about in the good 'ol USA. Most other healthcare systems in the world with low prices have some kind of combination of it when it comes to drugs and procedures performed. The AMA has been fighting any kind of single payer system for 50 years now. They know that a single payer system will result in some kind of price controls. On one hand you understand their point of view (maximizibf their income well being) and on the other hand you understand the issue with that for all of society. Having said that it's not just the income of doctor. Healthcare administration is expensive in the USA. Many doctors offices spend a non insignificant amount of money on just the billing, collection, insurance administration. The health insurance system as we naturally ended up with sucks up a non insignificant amount of money out of the system. It also leads to these weird distortions where every insured procedure is discounted to the insurance agency like 75%... But not if you deal direct. Additionally, operational insurance (malpractice indurance) is another non-insignificant contributor. Our culture and our legal system ensure that many doctors practices will pay a multiple of a practitioners salary in malpractice and related salary. If we want cheaper healthcare all of these need to be addressed one way or another. I am not hopeful that we can escape this local maxima that we're stuck in. Every attempt at change will be meet with fierce opposition from the current status quo.
Avshalom 9y ago
While 200 USD is certainly cheap by comparison to the US costs, it's still not affordable for a lot of people in this country.
- dustinmoorenet 9y ago
  People in Taiwan have the option of paying for insurance, which would make the costs even lower.
- taway20171214 9y ago
  here, i'll tell you why you're getting downvoted. the problem with what you're saying is you can apply it to literally any price point. in other words, it's a meaningless statement. $100 or $10 are certainly cheap, but is not affordable for a lot of people in this country either. there are points in my life when i couldn't spare $10 or even $5. it might happen again if something bad happens. in fact you could probably go down all the way to $1, or a fraction thereof. what about the single working mom who needs that $1 to ride the bus or the homeless person who uses the coin-op restroom? there's plenty of them out there, and they can't afford it. at the end of the day, $200 for a foreigner, uninsured, to receive prompt attention, stitches and a short hospital stay with drugs, is cheap. the world is not a fair place but this isn't what should be worrying us.
brobinson 9y ago
It's good and affordable until 2020 which is when the current (second) iteration is projected to go bankrupt. We shall see what happens after that. https://house.ettoday.net/news/803652?t=%E4%BA%8C%E4%BB%A3%E5%81%A5%E4%BF%9D106%E5%B9%B4%E8%99%A7%E6%90%8D%E3%80%81109%E5%B9%B4%E7%A0%B4%E7%94%A2%EF%BC%9F%E6%9E%97%E5%A5%8F%E5%BB%B6%EF%BC%9A%E8%A6%8F%E5%8A%833%E4%BB%A3%E5%81%A5%E4%BF%9D https://house.ettoday.net/news/803652?t=%E4%BA%8C%E4%BB%A3%E... I did enjoy getting an x-ray (ankle injury) + evaluation + a week of painkillers for $27 USD without insurance, though. I can only imagine what it would have cost in the US.
- dustinmoorenet 9y ago
  When a ship is off course, you correct. I don't see either party letting healthcare slip under their respective watch. Taiwan's two party system does not have a (major) party built on small government like the US does. Both parties want to keep their people honestly happy.

diziet 9y ago

When I visited Taiwan, I needed to get some urgent dental care done. I went to a small local clinic, where the dentist spoke good enough english, did great work (including x-rays) and my total uninsured bill was less than my co-pay in the US would have been. It is good AND affordable.

adventured 9y ago
The average American dentist earns $175,000, the median is ~$155,000. What do you propose to do about that to reduce their income considerably to bring down overall costs vs what a dentist in Taiwan earns? US GDP per capita is nearly three times that of Taiwan, incomes are likewise far higher. It's equivalent to comparing costs in Switzerland versus Czech and being surprised that Switzerland is so much higher.
- diziet 9y ago
  I would be very fine paying 3x the rate of Taiwan as the uninsured rate for dentistry. I understand that the cost of labor is different.
- mtanski 9y ago
  Price controls is a dirty term we refuse to talk about in the good 'ol USA. Most other healthcare systems in the world with low prices have some kind of combination of it when it comes to drugs and procedures performed. The AMA has been fighting any kind of single payer system for 50 years now. They know that a single payer system will result in some kind of price controls. On one hand you understand their point of view (maximizibf their income well being) and on the other hand you understand the issue with that for all of society. Having said that it's not just the income of doctor. Healthcare administration is expensive in the USA. Many doctors offices spend a non insignificant amount of money on just the billing, collection, insurance administration. The health insurance system as we naturally ended up with sucks up a non insignificant amount of money out of the system. It also leads to these weird distortions where every insured procedure is discounted to the insurance agency like 75%... But not if you deal direct. Additionally, operational insurance (malpractice indurance) is another non-insignificant contributor. Our culture and our legal system ensure that many doctors practices will pay a multiple of a practitioners salary in malpractice and related salary. If we want cheaper healthcare all of these need to be addressed one way or another. I am not hopeful that we can escape this local maxima that we're stuck in. Every attempt at change will be meet with fierce opposition from the current status quo.

Avshalom 9y ago

While 200 USD is certainly cheap by comparison to the US costs, it's still not affordable for a lot of people in this country.

dustinmoorenet 9y ago
People in Taiwan have the option of paying for insurance, which would make the costs even lower.
taway20171214 9y ago
here, i'll tell you why you're getting downvoted. the problem with what you're saying is you can apply it to literally any price point. in other words, it's a meaningless statement. $100 or $10 are certainly cheap, but is not affordable for a lot of people in this country either. there are points in my life when i couldn't spare $10 or even $5. it might happen again if something bad happens. in fact you could probably go down all the way to $1, or a fraction thereof. what about the single working mom who needs that $1 to ride the bus or the homeless person who uses the coin-op restroom? there's plenty of them out there, and they can't afford it. at the end of the day, $200 for a foreigner, uninsured, to receive prompt attention, stitches and a short hospital stay with drugs, is cheap. the world is not a fair place but this isn't what should be worrying us.

brobinson 9y ago

It's good and affordable until 2020 which is when the current (second) iteration is projected to go bankrupt. We shall see what happens after that. https://house.ettoday.net/news/803652?t=%E4%BA%8C%E4%BB%A3%E5%81%A5%E4%BF%9D106%E5%B9%B4%E8%99%A7%E6%90%8D%E3%80%81109%E5%B9%B4%E7%A0%B4%E7%94%A2%EF%BC%9F%E6%9E%97%E5%A5%8F%E5%BB%B6%EF%BC%9A%E8%A6%8F%E5%8A%833%E4%BB%A3%E5%81%A5%E4%BF%9D https://house.ettoday.net/news/803652?t=%E4%BA%8C%E4%BB%A3%E... I did enjoy getting an x-ray (ankle injury) + evaluation + a week of painkillers for $27 USD without insurance, though. I can only imagine what it would have cost in the US.

dustinmoorenet 9y ago
When a ship is off course, you correct. I don't see either party letting healthcare slip under their respective watch. Taiwan's two party system does not have a (major) party built on small government like the US does. Both parties want to keep their people honestly happy.