I try to avoid screeds in this journal...

[akujunkan]

...but here is some food for thought concerning single payer healthcare.

I went to see the dentist today. I did this only because I have visible, jet black cavities on some of my teeth. These cavities are the result of Japan's non-fluorinated water + the fact that the last time I visited a dentist was five years ago.

Why did I allow five years to pass between visits? Why, because I could not afford dental insurance in the United States. Which is why the total for the aforementioned previous visit came out to about $6,000, and that pretty much made me rethink even considering getting my teeth cleaned unless it looked like they were about to fall out of my mouth, weighted down with dental plaque.

Anyway, the clinic I visited today was as space age (if not moreso) as any dentist's office I have visited Stateside. We're talking clean, bright, and airy, with state-of-the-art flat screen plasma tv monitors on which the dentist showed me my x-rays and dental chair with a little sensor under the paper cup that automatically refilled it for me after I rinsed.

I had my x-rays; then the dentist poked around in my mouth while two assitants took notes. "Hm," he said. "I don't see anything too bad here, but I have to warn you that this visit is going to be expensive, as it's your first time at the office and we have no records for you."

"How expensive?" I asked him in trepidation, thinking about the $400 I had just withdrawn from my postal account that morning.

"Thirty dollars," he said, with enough gravity to suggest that most Japanese patients would consider $30 a hefty sum for a trip to the dentist.

I assured him this would not be a problem.

We then discussed the cavities. They will cost approximately $6-$7 apiece for silver fillings, or $12 for composite fillings specially mixed to match the natural shade of my teeth.

Speaking of teeth, the dentist took a look at my wisdom teeth and advised me (as have all my other dentists) that as my teeth are unusually small, there was no impaction and he didn't anticipate any negative effects on my jaw were I to leave them in. However, he then told me, it can be difficult to fill cavities in wisdom teeth, which is why most dentists opt to remove them if cavities occur. He asked me how long I planned to be in Japan. I informed him. He urged me to have them removed in Japan, because the entire operation would cost a little over $100 to have all four taken out.

He then proceeded to clean my teeth with some sort of tool that apparently knocked the plaque off of them with ultrasonic frequencies. Boy, does my mouth feel nice now.

Oh, and that astronomical $30 visit? Actually cost $29.

This is why America needs real health care reform. And seriously? Even if the death panel bullshit really were true, I might just be willing to trade twice-a-decade "usefulness" evaluations in my declining years for healthcare in my twenties to fifties that doesn't require selling a kidney on the black market to fund.

That will be all.

Comments

[theosakakoneko.livejournal.com]

Wat??
WOW!
I've always heard horrible things about Japan's dental care. Good find with that dentist!!!

..I wonder if I should go while I'm there visiting rather than here sometime...I just need a cleaning...

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

You know, I thought so too. I mean, pretty much everyone in T-ken had silver or gold grills to rival anything you'd see in a Nelly video...or a mouthful of rotting teeth. And I'm pretty sure I've written about the visit to cat!dentist that sent me screaming for the hills last time I tried seeing one here, too.

But now I'm starting to think that that might have had more to do with my being in the bumblefuck backyard of the country's asshole and not Japanese dental care per se.

If you do decide to go here, make sure you check the prices first, since you're not on NHI anymore, right?

[theosakakoneko.livejournal.com]

Yep. I has no dental insurance anywhere atm. D:

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

D: indeed. Then again, if Japan is anything like Korea (judging from nokiirat's comment below, you're likely to still pay way less...

[nokiirat.livejournal.com]

oh man, I should schedule a dental visit to go along with my vacation.

For a similar story, my cousin went to the dentist for crooked + broken teeth and they told her she'd need x,xxx amount of work plus braces. She then went to Korea for a family visit, and had a quicker dental procedure done. I'm sure it cost a bunch less since they only did one thing as opposed to the handful of things the american dentist thought she needed.

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

Wow, and I'm assuming that was without having any kind of dental coverage in Korea? Or is the system different there for expats and extended families? Either way, the U.S. system now sucks in comparison to two countries.

[nokiirat.livejournal.com]

right, no dental insurance.

Right, the US system causes patient costs to be too high somehow. I'm sure they are trying to fix it, but you'd think they'd immediately look to other countries for guidance on how to solve the problematic areas. Hard to tell what they are trying to do now..they always speak in general terms that put me to sleep.

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

Actually, they are most certainly not trying to fix it at all. (And if you don't believe me, a brief stroll through the Rachel Maddow Show/Countdown archives should give you all the evidence you need.)

Even Obama is being a complete pussy (and I do not use that term lightly) about introducing a public option. I wonder how much money he received/stands to receive from big pharma/insurance companies. It makes me sad because health care is one of the few areas where my non-American friends can argue that the U.S. sucks in comparison to their countries and there's nothing I can do but agree.

[ontogenesis.livejournal.com]

My last dental checkup (they insisted on taking x-rays again) cost me $200USD. I have no cavities. I just basically got my teeth cleaned. :(

I've heard that some Americans fly to India for relatively cheap, quality surgery now.

We have a problem when the world's "strongest economy" or "wealthiest country" can't afford to take care of its citizens' basic needs.

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

The problem to this dyed-in-the-wool liberal's way of thinking is not that the world's strongest economy and wealthiest country can't afford to take care of its citizens' basic needs, it's that the people in charge don't want to and that many of the people who would benefit most from reform are too lazy or too busy just trying to stay alive that they take everything they hear at face value and don't look into how the system actually works. Or rather, doesn't work.

I'm not surprised that Americans are going abroad for medical care. The problem is, the people who can afford to fly to India to get a problem treated? Are 99.99% likely to be people who already have enough money to have said problem treated domestically. They're just saving more of their already considerable fortune, not receiving care they couldn't access domestically.

[ontogenesis.livejournal.com]

:nods: What's worse is all this massive campaigning by the health industry is spreading lies. But I like what a Democratic representative said about the government health insurance option [paraphrasing]: "If it weren't for USPS, and only private services like UPS or FedEx were available, how much do you think it would cost to just mail a letter? The government option will help level the playing field."

It's wrong when hard-working people can't afford to care for themselves, or those who are extremely ill.

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly! As an avid bookmoocher, I have no problems saying that there is a lot about the USPS that could stand being fixed. That said, I would not be able to mail anything if it didn't exist. I think the only people who use FedEx et.al. have expense accounts.

[red-rapture.livejournal.com]

Eye exams and new glasses are also way cheaper and easier to do in Japan. I don't wear them anymore after I opted to have laser eye surgery (which is, incidentally, cheaper in Canada), but when I went to replace a wonky pair two years ago in Shibuya it cost me $50 for the exam, frames, and lenses. It would have been probably at least $200 back home for even a cheap pair of glasses, and I would have had the hassle of booking an appointment with an optometrist. In Japan I just walked into the store, had an exam on the spot, picked out the frames I wanted and went back a couple days later to pick them up (and usually you can get them the same day, within a half hour). I'm surprised I didn't come back with more that one pair.

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

Oh man oh man oh man oh man, I *swear* by alook. I've been using my glasses from them for the past three years and have had no problems yet. Even though they've travelled with me to about fifteen different countries, whereas I've had glasses purchased Stateside that start scratching or warping after half a year.

Unfortunately, my eyesight is so bad that glasses for me here cost about $150-$200, because I have to pay extra for the thinning down of lenses or the things aren't even wearable.

And yeah. Kinji is right next door to one of the trendiest glasses boutiques in the city; I've been scoping out their frames and will probably splurge on two or three before I head back home. Imagine: glasses frames to coordinate with whatever outfit I happen to be wearing!

[dark-waterlily.livejournal.com]

"Thirty dollars," he said, with enough gravity to suggest that most Japanese patients would consider $30 a hefty sum for a trip to the dentist.

I assured him this would not be a problem.

We then discussed the cavities. They will cost approximately $6-$7 apiece for silver fillings, or $12 for composite fillings specially mixed to match the natural shade of my teeth.

Almost the same cost if you were here only difference that our profissionals still use those horrible tools that make have nightmares after. But if you want the same technology just double the costs.
Still that's too much for us, so much that being a dentist is probably more profitable than being a computer engeener.
On a not so related note... remember that post you made about those toilets with music and fragances to choose from? well, I told my family about that, and they were looking at me like I grew another head, my bro said 'that's not funny and you should feel bad'

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

Oh man, I'm sorry for you! Going to the dentist as a kid was terrifying for that reason. And even with modern tools it's bad enough to feel those vibrations in your jaw and know that those little white bits flying out of your mouth were part of your body once.

my bro said 'that's not funny and you should feel bad'
Ahahahaha! This story made my day! Thanks for sharing (and sorry your family doesn't believe you, but I *promise* it's true. You've seen the evidence.^^)

[wombatdeamor.livejournal.com]

I just read an article that said they're thinking about fining families that don't have health insurance. I work for Wal-mart and I am the only income, and their insurance sucks...it doesn't pay for wellness visits, it doesn't pay for doctor's visits unless you spend 500 bucks first...and I'm supposed to just sign up for that? and have my wages garnished for health care that isn't helping? I can't afford to go to the doctor now or take anyone in my family, and I'm supposed to have less money for food and rent? They talk about tax credits for low income families. They argue that since auto insurance is required, health insurance should be too. I'm seriously considering paying the fines in protest. I'd gladly pay for coverage that actually covered things, but I'm not paying a fine for being alive. It's a punishment to the poor.

They cry reform but they really mean

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I heard about that too on the flist. It is unfuckingbelievable to me that people are now openly calling for poor people to be punished for being poor.

The very, very small and mean part of my personality hopes that that law is actually passed, just so I can have the satisfaction of seeing all those deather Republican fucktards in all those red states weeping blood when *they* end up being fined after they go bankrupt trying to pay for Grandma's emphysema care and realise that wow...the inability to pay for health insurance can sometimes, even, happen to "good" christian conservatives like them! **gasp**

Sorry. Screed.

It sounds to me like Wal-mart's health insurance policy is just a way for them to bilk more wages out of you. And I don't just mean that sarcastically; I really believe they probably have uni-trained mathematicians sitting in an office somewhere doing functions to figure out just where that deductible needs to be for WM to make the most profit out of it...

[wombatdeamor.livejournal.com]

Last night Obama gave his speech before congress about what he wants out of the bill, and it made me feel a lot better. If he can get the first three items (no denial due to preexisting conditions, mandatory coverage of check-ups and wellness visits, and the ability for the insurance companies to compete in a similar manner to auto insurers), then suddenly, I would be willing to bet that Wal-mart's health insurance becomes better than anyone's, because they'll be able to strongarm for the best policies. Plus there'd be exemptions for poor Americans, so it wouldn't necessarily be a tax on being an American, which I'm surprised no one's used yet.

and Obama indirectly quoted Jon Stuart in his speech before congress. He used his private/public school arguement. Go DS!

I guess the media isn't helping anything. As a provider for two adults, a child, part of another child, and now a cat, this stuff really matters to me, so i'm following it very closely. About week 3 in august I couldn't watch the news without tearing up.

I actually heard a wal-mart commercial in late July that said they as a company supported the health care initiatives. I almost crashed into a tree. (If you don't know, the Walton children donate heavily toward right wing douchbaggery on a regular basis.)

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

I actually heard a wal-mart commercial in late July that said they as a company supported the health care initiatives.
Woah. I wonder if they're telling the truth, and if they are, if it isn't because they've done a bunch of studies that concluded they lose $$$$$ when their un/under-insured employees have to take time off or quit due to health issues.

Because, as you point out, the Walton family/Wal-Mart brass is not exactly reknowned for its sterling track record on social issues.

[wombatdeamor.livejournal.com]

well, I managed to confirm it with the internal walmart news memos. These memos always slant towards anti-union, walmart as a green company, anti-liberal/Democrat news stories, so I tended to believe it. And it is easy to support reform because, yes they offer health benefits to full time employees, but everyone they've hired since that change has been part time. I'm not sure if the reforms up would require big companies to give part time employees benefits.

But, I'm a full time employee, and if walmart were allowed to leverage the insurance companies the way they can leverage an artist into censoring their music (except Green Day...take that bitches!) or Kellogg into selling Corn Flakes for twenty cents less than everyone, then I'd probably have really good insurance. I have found that if it is possible for Walmart and its employees to both win, they will go for that option. It rarely happens, but it has happened. Just don't ask me for an example.