Sunday, September 13, 2009

Why Japanese Health Care is Bad

Harden, Blaine. 2009. "Health Care in Japan: Low-Cost, for Now: Aging Population Could Strain System." Washington Post. (7 September).
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 than its American counterpart. It does so by banning insurance company profits, limiting doctor fees and accepting shortcomings in care that many well-insured Americans would find intolerable.

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; by 2050, 40 percent will be 65 or older. The disease mix is becoming more expensive to treat.

So, public intervention of the medical system is obviously bad. The problem is that the Japanese health system makes the mistake of failing to let enough people die. The article does admit that a healthy lifestyle is also a factor, but let's hope that the US does not follow Japan.

4 comments:

Shag from Brookline said...

Where's Dr. Kevorkian when needed?

"The problem is that the Japanese health system makes the mistake of failing to let enough people die."

Michael Perelman said...

He is consulting with Sarah Palin.

rosserjb@jmu.edu said...

Yes, the Japanese system is so awful that the Japanese have the world's longest life expectancy.

Michael Perelman said...

That is the point. The program is strapped because too few people die.