Talking about this must have jogged my memory to remember that article you posted some time ago about Japan's healthcare system. I found it to be a very interesting piece, and it looks like they have had wage/price controls for a long time now. Here is one excerpt that had some stats which floored me...
Regards,
John
"TOKYO -- Half a world away from the U.S. health-care debate, JAPAN has a system that costs half as much and often achieves better medical outcomes. It does so by banning insurance company profits, limiting doctor fees and accepting shortcomings in care that many well-insured Americans would find intolerable.
The Japanese visit a doctor nearly 14 times a year, more than four times as often as Americans. They can choose any primary care physician or specialist they want, and surveys show they are almost always seen on the day they want. All that medical care helps keep the Japanese alive longer than any people on Earth while fostering one of the world's lowest infant mortality rates.
HEALTH care in JAPAN -- a hybrid system funded by job-based insurance premiums and taxes -- is universal, mandatory and consumes about 8 percent of the nation's gross domestic product, half as much as in the United States. Unlike the U.S. system, no one is denied coverage because of a preexisting condition or goes bankrupt because a family member gets sick.
But many health-care economists say Japan's low-cost system is probably not sustainable without significant change. JAPAN already has the world's oldest population, and by 2050, 40 percent will be 65 or older. The disease mix is becoming more expensive to treat, as rates of cancer, stroke and Alzheimer's disease steadily increase. Demand for medical care will triple in the next 25 years, according to a recent analysis by McKinsey & Co., a consulting firm.
JAPAN has a stagnant economy, with a shortage of young people that hobbles prospects for growth and strangles the capacity of the debt-strapped government to increase health-care spending. Without reform, costs are projected to double, reaching current U.S. levels in a decade, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
For generations, JAPAN has achieved its successes by maintaining a vise-like grip on costs. After hard bargaining with medical providers every two years, the government sets a price for treatment and drugs -- and tolerates no fudging.
As a result, most Japanese doctors make far less money than their American counterparts. Administrative costs are four times lower than they are in the United States, in part because insurance companies do not set rates for treatment or deny claims. They cannot, by law, make profits or advertise to attract low-risk, high-profit clients." |
