US vs. China healthcare: You decide
- Source: Global Times
- [00:46 December 23 2009]
- Comments
By Tim Gingrich
It's hard to miss: In America, a nationwide debate about healthcare is dominating the headlines. President Obama has proposed revolutionizing the healthcare system, including providing health insurance for millions of Americans currently without coverage.
However, the plan's detractors have labeled "ObamaCare" an unwanted step toward socialism, arguing that America already has the best healthcare system in the world. So when a minor accident recently forced me – an American living in China – to visit the emergency room at Beijing's Chaoyang Hospital, I was eager to see what healthcare in a real socialist country was like – and how America's system compared.
To my surprise, I found a number of similarities.
After the doctor determined that I needed stitches, I had to pay before receiving treatment. In America, the situation is similar: The fi rst thing a patient receives is a clipboard of forms that ask, among other things, one's health insurance provider. Hopefully they have one. Both China and America's systems resemble that of a fast-food restaurant, where customers pay before they eat. This stands in contrast to the UK's National Health Service (NHS), exemplifi ed in Michael Moore's documentary "Sicko" when he wanders the halls of an NHS hospital searching for a cashier that doesn't exist – except to refund transportation costs incurred by patients. I'm not aware of any restaurant like this. Another similarity is insurance. In urban China, people's health insurance is provided by their employers, not by the government (though China does have a government-supported safety net for people in poor, rural areas.) So just like I would in America, I had to fi le a claim to get reimbursed. So what are the differences between the two countries' healthcare systems? In a word: cost.
In America, a few stitches could cost someone without insurance several hundred US dollars. Even if they have insurance, they would probably have to pay a deductable. But at Chaoyang Hospital, the whole cost was only about 350 yuan($50) – which included a tetanus shot and week's worth of antibiotics. No wonder the insurance company did not give me any hassle. Another di§ erence between China and America's healthcare systems are the facilities. Though Chaoyang Hospital is a modern, well-maintained medical facility, it is not representative of all hospitals in China. In fact, even on the campuses of China's top universities I have seen poorly maintained clinics that looked as if they were built by barefoot doctors.
The final difference is bedside manner: How a doctor relates to his or her patients apart from the actual treatment. There are always exceptions, but I have noticed that whereas American doctors generally take time to counsel patients about their options, sometimes Chinese doctors prefer to take the "tough love" approach. I've seen a doctor laugh at one particular American patient for nearly passing out when being stitched up. "Foreigners are weak," said the doctor with a smile.
A friend who has worked at hospitals in China and America shared his view: "Chinese doctors are actually more experienced, because they see many more patients every day and can make a diagnosis much faster." So the difference is not the level of care but the level of personal attention.
So the question we need to ask is: Are America's nicer facilities and more personable doctors worth the extra cost?
