For more authentic insights like this from Asia, you can watch some of our exclusive videos not available on RU-vid for free here: asianboss.io/yt/123-exclusivevideos
The average Korean visits the doctor 14 times a year. Meanwhile I've seen and helped people put stitches in because they couldn't afford the trip to the doctor.
y'all call yourselves asian boss when everything is just about japan or korea, why don't you cover the israel-hamas war which is still in asia huh? or any other events apart from near east asia region
@@JohnnyJohnJon83 If you’re losing $5,000-$10,000 from missing just 2 weeks of work, you’re making good money. I’m sure there’s one out there, but I’ve never met a college student that could afford missing that much
Same here in the Philippines. We don’t have a very good healthcare system, but seeing a doctor is affordable even for those that are lest fortunate. For private, it may cost 4USD to 5USD only. End if you have Philhealth and/or HMO, it can be free of charge if not discounted depending on illness.
You should tell them how much insurance costs and the reality of how many americans die each year due to being unable to afford health care or insurance. Also tell them the cost of non-prescription medications.
Non prescription medications here in the US are usually cheaper than in other countries, because you can buy them in bulk. Like acetaminophen for example, in other countries you can only buy bottles of maybe 50 or 100, here you can buy double packs of 500 each bottle for very cheap.
What's even more wild are the people in the U.S. who think they have the best healthcare system in the world and why its so expensive, damn brainwashed sheeples.
How come the USA, the land of freedom and opportunity is so farrrr behind my third world country, Indonesia, located somewhere in southeast asia. Though we’re not the most advanced country in terms of medical technologies and our national heathcare system is not perfect, but almost all medical treatment, ambulance, small & big surgeries, childbirth, check-ups, CT scans are covered and mostly free. I have a father who is now 72 y.o with many health complications (cardiovascular, heart surgery, liver problems, etc) and in total for more than 10 years we only pay maybe ~5mil rupiah (~$320 USD) and monthly fee of 120,000 rupiah ($7). Heck even i often went to the doctor to get a sick letter just to skip work for 1-2 days on the day i feel too lazy to work 😭 i feel bad for Americans, seriously you guys need a reform 😢
American healthcare is insanely expensive but still the best quality in the world. We do the best medical research and have the most unique and rare surgeries and treatments, along with the best facilities. But it's all so unbelievably expensive it will put you into debt unless you have good healthcare. Big pharma companies here are to blame. If they could be taken down and free competition could occur again, the prices of medicine would significantly drop. Also, healthcare and the right to life should be a basic human right anyways and the government should guarantee at least basic free healthcare.
@@cakeyummy2401 agree with you. What’s the point of having the best medical research, facility & technology when most people can’t even afford it :’( how many portions of tax is allocated to healthcare? Compared to military for example? I suppose there’s a huge gap on that
@@SiTetehSunda Way more Indonesians live in the US than the other way around. Why don't you all go back home to your wonderful healthcare system? And btw, even after you adjust for cost of healthcare/education/etc, the US has the highest median income in the world. The rest of the world is dirt poor compared to Americans. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_income
I had liver and kidney transplant. It cost a total of a little over 1m total. I live in California, USA. This doesn’t include the cost of years of treatments and medication. This total is only the cost of the surgery of the two transplants.
My personal experience with Korean healthcare as an Korean American immigrant is wild I was having really bad reactions to the mosquitos there and my late grandmother told me to go to the clinic despite my protests (I thought it would be expensive). I got a vaccine + medication from the pharmacy below and it all totalled up to 34k won which is roughly uhh $30 USD? And this was without insurance Mom and I were super shocked at the receipt
The information given here is a very conservative national average. Reality is different. Back in 2019, I passed out at home in NYC and bled very slightly on the head. My naive family member called ambulance. Without insurance, less than 2 hours ER visit with an MRI (mostly waiting with 10m or so of medical attention) in a hospital no more than 15 mins, billed me $25,000. $7000 of it was for ambulance. This is robbery. I had to file bankruptcy.
I'm listening to their guesses and I'm like....i wish...i take really wish it was that cheap!! Even with insurance it's expensive but without insurance you'll go into debt that you'll never get out of because of an illness. It's stupid.
These costs are highly variable based on location and your insurance coverage. I pay $188 a month for insurance in New Mexico, which has its own healthcare marketplace outside of the national one. I have a $500 copay for an emergency room visit and a doctor visit is $35. When I was working in a low-paying job a few years back (about $36,000 a year), I qualified for an assistance program through the local university hospital system and ended up paying a $20 copay on each visit. After covid, it went down to $0. I still hate the US healthcare system, but I just wanted to point out the variability.
Hahahaha, ya, American healthcare is Capitalistic as sin. I went to an Urgent Care center because I thought I had Covid-19 (in late 2020), but the physician didn't think I had the right symptoms to get tested (they had limited supply). After about 15 minutes of talking, I got charged $330 because my health insurance didn't give coverage at that medical center. I was sick as a dog for about two weeks after that appointment; I clearly had something, but none of the medical professionals seemed interested in finding out at the time.
the fun part is when you don't go to the doctor "because it's not that serious", then you find out it was actually that serious and now you need surgery because you didn't go to the doctor earlier!
I have insurance through work and selected the highest premium possible so I could have more taken care of, but I still have to pay $55 each visit (been going once a month) and sometimes it goes to $500-$800+ for treatments and blood work on top of it. I want to have kids one day but consider traveling to another country with better healthcare for a safe and cheaper delivery
In Germany, for most treatments you don't even pay anything. You never even see the bill, you just swipe a card and the insurance takes care of the rest. That is for public health care. Private health care also exists here, and there you do get the bills, pay them, and then have to deal with bureaucracy to get refunded by your insurance. In turn the private insurances often cover some procedures the public system won't, and you get faster access to appointments sometimes. But even if i could i wouldn't choose to be insured privately because of the bureaucracy. And the public health care is still pretty good, my dad's cancer treatment has been going on for 3 years now and he has barely had to pay anything himself. I also went to the hospital a few times when i was in Korea (i lived there for a while for an internship). Not an overnight stay but i did receive treatment. My insurance in this instance was private travel health care insurance so i had to pay everything out of pocket first, get the money back later. And even though it was an international clinic (so everyone speaking english and if i got forwarded to a specialist an interpreter would always come along), so that probably cost them more + it was a university hospital... i still only paid 36 usd per visit for the consultation. The most expensive thing i had to pay eeally was 250 usd for a rabies vaccine (because a stray had bitten me and the doc wanted to be save, even if rabies is extremely rare in south korea). If the same had happened to me in the US, I don't wanna think about it...
I can't really agree with that for a reason: yes, true, in Germany you have your health insurance card and can just swipe it and most things are covered - that is IF 1. the doctor is willing to give you the needed examination/treatment. When I was still in Germany, and although I am in good health and went to the doctor VERY rarely, it was ever more common the past 5 years, that I had to haggle with the doctor to to an untrasound etc. even when obviously needed. 2. you can actually pay the ever rising monthly insurance costs. I can just speak for myself and my husband, but before we left in 2022, (and as my husband was past the treshhold of income) we had to pay around 1100.-€ per month for public (not private) insurance at the SBK. 3. you do get an appointment at the dotors at all. We could pay that insurace sum, yes, but I got ever more annoyed as it got almost impossible to get appointments at e.g. the dermatologist (for basic stuff like skin cancer screening which is crucial to me as I am very fair) or a check-up appointment at the gynecologist. At my dermatologists practice, where I have been a patient for more than 10 years prior and up until 2017 or so, it was normal I could give them a call for the check-up and always got an appointment within 10 days max, and all of a sudden the first possible appointment was 4-6 MONTHS in the future. Even worse with the gynecologist. Up to six months waiting time for a yearly check-up are meanwhile the norm. Other gyn practices just say 'we don't take in new patients' and hang up the phone, or even tell you ' we only take pregnant women' (which I find is quite active discrimination) Still, the costs for the insurance soar every year. So , no thanks, the system in Germany still sounds good, and it was fantastic some years ago, but it got and gets worse since 2016. We left Germany, for many reasons, - that was one of them. Now we live in a country where health care is quite costly too, but I can go to any med online portal here (I checked this very moment) and spontaneously get a gyn appointment in three days from now. I counter-checked on Doc to lib in Germany, put in Gynecologist in Erlangen, and tada, first possible appointment you can book is June 28th =D Greetings from an expat ;)
@Bess1201 you make some valid points, but those are all your personal experiences. Some I have had too - others I haven't had. 1. I never had to haggle any doctor for any treatment. Quite the opposite actually. Idk if it's just my doctors or what but I get lots of treatments and examinations (eg ultrasound) "just to be safe". 2. Yes, it is expensive if you're a high income household. That's the whole point of a social security system. People who have more, pay more. So that people who don't have that much don't have to pay as much. That's the whole reason most well-off Americans don't want this kind of system. Because then they will have to pay more for people they think don't deserve their money. It is also the whole reason people who pass a certain income threshold can choose to opt out of public health insurance and get a private insurance instead. It's not something I recommend, because those companies will be a pain in the ass once you get old and/or really sick. But it is an option nevertheless. Now, whether you like the social nature of this system or not, depends on who you ask. I'm fine paying more if that means I won't have to worry about medical costs whatsoever, even if there might come a time when I am not that well-off. Eg. because my dad has had cancer for 3 years he needs to live off of early retirement money now. If he was in private insurance, or had to pay more public insurance than he can afford, he would not only be terminally ill right now, but also bankrupt. He would probably decide to cease treatment, just so he doesn't use up all the money that my mom still needs to live off of. Let that sink in: If we did not have a social health care system, my dad would choose to die for financial reasons. If that doesn't sound wrong to you then idk what will. So yeah.... if you look at the big scheme of things I think this system is far superior, even if I as a high income person pay more. 3. That is partly true. I have had the same experience searching for a dermatologist in recent years, which is also something I can't really find an explanation for. As far as gynecologists go... I always schedule my next check up appointment the moment I leave the treatment room. That way I will have an appointment six months in advance and no stress to get one on short notice either. I have had to go see my gyn for something that was a current actual problem last year and as long as I am flexible with when I get the appointment, I can see her within a few days. If I am not flexible it only takes around 3 weeks max too though. So I don't really share your experience with gyns. If anything I find those the easiest to get a hold of (maybe because they only service around 50% of the population). A side note: I think they might have told you they only take pregnant women because those are definitely in a more urgent need of a gynecologist than a woman who is not. That's just a fact, not discrimination I think. If they can't take everyone, they have to draw the line somewhere, and drawing them in terms of "who needs this most" is not the dumbest decision they could have made. So in summary I would say I disagree with your 1st point, agree with your second, just have a different view on it, and partly agree with your third. But all this proves is that point 1 and 3 are personal experiences and those don't make up statistic facts (neither mine nor yours). Our Healthcare system isn't perfect by any means at all. But I will take it over the sorry excuse of whatever is going on in the US any day. Either way I hope you find happiness, wherever in the world you are right now. It's not that I don't understand you. I have many issues with our country, too. Our Healthcare system just isn't one of them for me.
@@oOPrettywinxOo thank you. And I can understand your explanations too. Although I do think it's not that unexplainable why particularly in the past years since 2016 you have to wait longer and longer for appointments and also why the monthly rates you have to pay are soaring on end. There is reasons well known. It's rather simple. With your calculation of a social welfare system I'd agree, the more wealthy pay in more, so the less wealthy can have health treatments too. Yet, now we have a system where millions of people take out health treatment that have never paid in anything and will never pay in anything so you have millions of new people taking out things and paying in NOTHING. Same goes for the suddenly unavailable appointments. If you have e.g. 3 million more people in a short time span of 5 years, who all need health treatment addiontinally, the people who pay for all this have to wait much longer to get appointments. And as doctors get covered many treatment costs by the government (= the tax payer = the people who work and pay into the system = particularly those like me and my husband over this threshold who pay in loads of money) those doctors are likely to favour giving appointments to these new poeple and give them the most expensvis treatments as all is covered by 'the government' . So, no, I do not agree with this system and this way it is not 'social' anymore in the way it used to be all my childhood, youth and early adult life. I had no problem paying in then as I could equally take out the service when I needed it. Now it's like particualry better earners pay in tons for the system but then they are the ones who can not take out the service for it while those who do not contribute to that system get all the service for free even. I would not call that social at all.
@Bess1201 okay so there is one thing I don't understand - how do people on social welfare (meaning the government pays their insurance cost) get more coverage than you do? It's the exact same insurance as far as I know. The only difference is that instead of you and your employer the government is covering the fees. For the insurance that is. The government isn't paying the doctors directly. So any treatment the insurance would refuse to cover for you, they will refuse to cover for those people too. Doctors aren't making more money off those people cause they have the same exact insurance policy. As for the numbers... that might be true, but it does not explain why the problem is more pronounced with certain specialists (I.e. dermatologists) and less pronounced with others (I.e. dentists). Those people would need treatment in all areas, no? As for never having paid anything... that much is true. But that much is also true for a 21 year old who finished university studies and hasn't found a job yet. They're receiving the same social welfare. The problem is that they're not even allowed to look for work for sometimes years on end simply because they don't get their work permit until their residential status procedure is completed. Which takes ages. That's the real problem - bureaucracy. I work in this field, and I can tell you for a fact that 80% of the increase in the workforce of our country over the past 5 years have been foreigners. So it's painting a picture with a rather broad brush if the perception is that these people don't want to work, when in fact, many of them do (as soon as they are allowed to).
@@oOPrettywinxOo well without going into too much detail, (as detail here could lead to my post being erased): Seems like there is just lots of stuff you don't know - yet. It's simple maths first. If you have 80 million people and a system buildt for working for that number, the same system will not work anymore if you very suddenly (in a timespan of 3-4 years) have 84 million people, and these four additinal million more people do not pay into the system and never have, but take the service out of the system. Not hard to understand. And no, I am not talking about students, who have grown up in Germany and don't have a full job yet. They normally have parents and grandparents who have paid into the system all their lives. Its just not what I'm talking about. But yeah, if you haven't found out yet, you will sooner or later as I am rather sure, things in Germany concerning health care will get much worse, and soon. So still, all the best.
True story in Korea. I went to an emergency room with no insurance, and the hospital staff warned it will be expensive. I was in such pain that I didn’t care about the cost. I had 30 min consultation with the doctor, received my prescription meds, and finally came the bill. It was just $12. When I asked them why they warned it would be expensive, the staff said if I had insurance it would be $3. 😅 meanwhile in the US even with insurance, I had to pay a $1,500 deductible for an emergency room visit with the doctor 10min tops.
My kid needed stitches after colliding w the hotel coffee table- same thing, they warned us itd be exp without insurance (we had it). But even without it, ambulance, xrays, ketamine sedation, stitches etcetc it was around usd$300 😂 (also, its completely free here in NZ, even without insurance).
Currently my emergency room visit in America is $500 with insurance. If I want to keep my insurance I have to work until 65. This is why I am retiring early and moving to places like Korea. I can pay $12 and tour the world. Koreans also walk around a lot more. Americans drive too much.
What most people fail to grasp is that the objective of the U.S. healthcare system is to generate profits. The aim isn't to provide healthcare for free. Around 35,000 to 40,000 Americans die per year from lack of healthcare services.
@@Ph3r0 There is no free healthcare, but capitalizing health is evil when health should be investment for economy. The problem is not how much money poured to healthcare, but the system is the biggest problem. And the unwillingness of government to intervene
@@Ph3r0 Americans pay taxes, but there's no safety net either. Civilized societies like most of Europe, Australia, Japan, S.Korea, and Taiwan provide Healthcare for those who cannot afford it. Sometimes people have catastrophic circumstances, and need help from their central governments. American citizens pay taxes but they get very little in return for their tax money. It's quite possible there won't even be enough money to fund Social Security by the mid 2030s. The U.S. is on the verge of failure as a society on many levels if drastic changes aren't made soon. But since the two party system is broken, it's quite probable that Americans will have to hit rock bottom before they wake up from their apathy.
The US government seems to think that providing healthcare for free is communism. You know, the "free for all" stuff. In capitalist America, they say, "You want healthcare? Well, earn it, kid! No free lunch for everyone. This ain't Soviet Russia! Raaah!"
US has a higher average salary compared to South Koreans. 92.5% of people in the US are insured. Remember US protects most of Europe and some asian countries so that costs us social welfare needs. The US landmass is also 99x bigger than south korea and we have 6x that amount of people.
I’m from Canada and have lived in Korea for a number of years. What I’ve observed is the same as what the interviewees have all mentioned. Koreans tend to go see the doctor frequently for any minor health issues; headaches, stomach aches, cramps, common colds, etc. There are plenty of clinics that are easily accessible and also very affordable. Minor health concerns can be addressed immediately and bigger issues are booked no more than 3 weeks out (unlike the 3 month wait for a Canadian general checkup). Generally clinics are on an upper floors of the building with each floor specializing in a certain health issue. You go to the floor that matches your health concerns. Once you’ve received your consultation and prescription (same day), you go down to the pharmacy on the first floor, hand them the prescription, and the pharmacist will hand you your medication in a bag, along with a receipt and sheet of paper explaining each medication. The sheet has photos of the medication along with the dosage, name, strength, and some more extra information. They portion everything out into a string of little easily tearable plastic bags, each containing the perfect dosage. It’s super convenient for children who go to school or adults who go to work as it’s easy to carry and pre-portioned. Also, Koreans tend to have one major full checkup (I mean EVERYTHING all together) once every 4 or so years at a larger hospital. Korea definitely has an extremely robust healthcare system, everything digitized and easily accessible for both doctors and citizens. The health reports from the full checkups are emailed and/or mailed to you within a month detailing all your results. Feel free to correct me if I made a mistake with anything :)
It takes around 3 months to see a family doctor if you aren’t already under their care in the US so lots of people go to urgent care. I realized Urgent Cares don’t seem to exist In Taiwan because you can afford to go to a regular doctor with 0 wait time, even specialists can be seen within a day or the ER if needed but in the US everyone is terrified of needing to go to the hospital because of the cost.
as a US citizen who's also been living in Korea for a few years, healthcare is definitely one of the reasons i'd consider staying longer... it's just so convenient and affordable ㅠㅠ
Where did you live in Canada for a 3 month wait time for general check up? I live in Toronto specifically Mississauga. We normally get an appointment from our family doctor the next day if not the same day and it's free.
As an American, I feel confident saying that those that are opposed to a universal healthcare system don’t actually understand how it works. If American companies were the savvy capitalists they claim to be then we would have had universal healthcare long ago. A healthy population is a productive population.
Yeap, a single unified payer system is way more efficient. Currently, All the costs are needed to support the bloated health insurance companies with their seperate workforces.
It seems that in American system, it requires the population to be unhealthy for the healthcare related companies and services to make the most money. 🤭
As an American, I also agree. But… There is a caveat. If America, as a capitalist country, tried to have a truly, universal healthcare, they would still create it based around profit. Profit of the hospitals, profit of pharmaceuticals, profit of medical supply, etc. There is no way, in my opinion, that America that is run by corporate lobbying would ever be able to create a universal healthcare that would not still be 100% influenced by money. This would either still cost Americans a lot, or it would decrease the quality and amount of care you would be able to get.
The elites oppose any types of socialism. Billions of dollars have been sent to Middle East to give Israelis military equipment and universal healthcare, while the US citizens have to pay dearly for medical treatment
The US is a nation founded on slavery and genocide, and is literally helping Israel to commit a livestreamed genocide right now. The US has never stood for human rights.
Because it's a paradox of stupidity. The same people preaching human rights are asking for universal health care when they don't even want to front the bill. Even their shitty politicians are big talk but no action.
@@haruzanfuucha Wasn't slavery almost always banned in the Northern states where almost all of America's industry, growth, and economic prosperity was? Genocide I agree with, it's like the same situation with countries like Turkey and China as well.
That legend must not have known that you can get insurance for a few hundred bucks a month... Seriously, just take the money you're hoping get taken out of your check to fund a universal system, and buy insurance.
People don't want to pay extra in taxes to pay insurance for people they don't know. I think it's selfish. We all deserve quality healthcare no matter where you are financially.
@@aznmochibunnyI think it's more about culture. I actually feel glad if my taxes went to saving people lives instead of being used for stupid shits done by government. People are generally way more selfish in the U.S. If everyone contributed to a universal health care, it could be made cheaper at the same quality of private insurance because the user base of subscription would be bigger.
Went to Korea with my wife and we both caught the Rona. Went to an ENT specialist with no appointment btw and . We both had IV bags with vitamin C and fever reducer along with some consultation with the Dr. Whole session took 30 mins. She paid $4 (cause she's a Korean citizen) and I paid $70 as an American. That's when I decided to retire in Korea. 😂
My first was born by c-section + 4 nights 5 days stay, all the after care and breakfast, lunch and dinner included included and I paid 25 dollars (which is just the paperwork administration fee). This was in Sweden. (My income tax is 22%, the high income tax thing is a myth it only affects millionaires)., Girl, it would have been cheaper for you to fly to Stockholm and have your baby here and fly back, for real.
I don't get it, did you not know the policy you picked or your insurance didn't cover what you understood was supposed to be covered? Cuz I thought such high payments can only be on a really shitty insurance, most insurances have their out of pocket max cap at a couple of thousands. Good insurance is when it's a single copay of $1000.
@@privettoli they covered what they covered 🤷🏻♀️ I don’t think there was a copay at the time.. and my deductible would’ve been like ~$5k. I set up a monthly payment plan which was like $300/month
Well everything is totally out of control over there now pretty much - I think medical costs might be the least of their worries :P It is utterly insane though - and staggeringly greedy - it seems almost inhumane
@@astrafaanIt is inhumane here. You can’t even get insurance that covers you nationwide. You can leave your state for healthcare without paying even more. It’s insane!
@@astrafaanOh it is inhumane. I have had a tumor growing in my adrenal gland for years now and am just waiting to see if it kills me at this point because I can’t afford to do anything about it lol I am 34 years old. I am also missing almost half of my teeth because I can’t afford the dental care and have a condition that makes my enamel weak. ☠️
I moved to Korea from the US for work and get medical insurance through the national healthcare system. I remember thinking 'how much it was going to cost?' to get simple check up at the OBGYN and trying to plan out my expenses for the rest of the month in case it was expensive. When the receptionist said the cost for the appointment that day was 20,000 won, I almost had to reboot my brain because that same appointment in America would have cost me close to $200.
@@wifi961 That's how much it costs without insurance or with bad insurance. With insurance, it would be around 10~50 depending on how good it is. Sometimes free, as it would be fully covered.
I live in the U.S. and even I’m surprised by the high cost of the healthcare system. I’m so glad I have a form of insurance. I’m also a nursing student and seeing such a high cost infuriates me because so many people can’t get care.
This would explain why south koreas average life expancy is so much higher than the US. Forget about suicides, at least koreans can actually afford an ambulance when they need it.
There's something like a dozen health related companies in the top 100 revenue list in America. That doesn't sit right with me cuz these "health" companies are based on profit, not patient outcomes so it's actually in their best interest that Americans stay sick.
What's worse is that we (taxpayers) end up footing the bill anyway as people who can't get healthcare wait until their condition gets worse and end up at the emergency room. What could've been fixed will require expensive medication and medical treatment as the problem was allowed to fester for a long time.
The state of healthcare in the U.S. is absolutely shameful. It’s a highly complex issue but part of the reason we make no real progress is that a certain proportion of the population thinks universal healthcare is ‘socialist’ (which is like a bad word to many), it’s not the government’s problem, everyone should take care of themselves, etc. I have a good job and insurance. I recently had to go to the emergency room and the bill was more than $14,000. I had to pay $1,600 myself, even though I’d already met my deductible for the year. Fortunately, I was able to pay it, but it did impact my budget for a few months. Imagine if you had a lower income-even if you had insurance, that kind of bill coming out of the blue could be devastating.
I remember when I was in a lot of pain, I had to check to see if the hospital I was going to was part of my health insurance’s network. Forget about ambulance, I took an Uber. Thank god for Uber and Lyft. 😢 People should not be thinking about affordability when they are in extreme pain. What a shame.
It says a lot about how badly the demonization of comunism has affected the US. Universal healthcare is not restricted to comunist countries. Also, the US has public education (before University) too so how come they can accept THAT but not healthcare? Also, I can understand if they want to keep paying for their healthcare but how come they don't protest about THE COST?!!!!
I'm curious where these numbers came from. From someone who lives in the U.S. the way it works is if you have a job, you have insurance. The insurance has a deductible & max out of pocket. Once you hit that it's free. For example, my deductible is $500 and my max out of pocket for my family of 4 is $2,000. Once that 2,000 is hit everything is free for the rest of the year. That $18,000 pregnancy bill would be free. The ambulance ride would also be free along with everything else. Also, any preventative visits like shots, annual check ups also free even if deductible is not met. For the few that don't have a job in the U.S. they are covered by Medicaid (state government insurance) which makes it free for them as well. That's the truth of how it works. Any questions, let me know.
@@edilee5909 The quality of life nowadays in Turkey is terrible, that's why they all moved to Germany. Even under the current administration here in the US is bad right now.
Lived in US 20+yrs and moved back to Korea 5yrs. At the beginning when asked about US life I kind of bragged about the 'excellent' insurance my company offered as I did in US. Of course it didn't take long to find out what a miserable idiot I was. I'm proud to be an American but absolutely ashamed of US healthcare system.
It's not innocence, its what most countries pay. Paying such high costs as in the US is absurdly high. Unconceivable. No one would ever guess that it is so high in the US. In Australia visiting your doctor is free, under Medicare. Ambulance is free if you have private health insurance, which most people have. If someone doesnt have private health then then can opt to get ambulance cover for an annual fee. I thought you had Medicare in the US? And Obamacare? And Medicaid? How is it that all these govt health funds dont cover the entire cost?
@@NotKimiRaikkonen - dunno the logistics of it but it’d be interesting to see a dual healthcare system - individual and social - and the citizen has the freedom to opt in/out at their will. Or an entirely different system where not all treatment is covered under social healthcare which would lower taxes theoretically. Whatever the case, I’m sure people would agree that the ideal solution is somewhere in between.
The high cost of healthcare is one of the main reasons lots of people where I live travel to Mexico for meds or to get checked by a dr. All I would have to do in Mexico is go to the pharmacist, explain my symptoms and the pharmacist will prescribe what I need.
Ohh… so is this what it’s really like in the US. We have the same here in the Philippines when you said about that pharmacist thing. Same here in the Philippines. We don’t have a very good healthcare system, but seeing a doctor is affordable even for those that are lest fortunate. For private, it may cost 4USD to 5USD only. And if you have Philhealth and/or HMO, it can be free of charge if not discounted depending on illness.
@MarkEdisonAlviz-official in Mexico I would go the pharmacist for non life-threatening illnesses or the common cold. If I see the Dr here in the states (if you don't have insurance) it could cost (in my area at least) $75-$200.
As a US citizen I’m so jealous! It cost me thousands to stay in the hospital last year. Korea, you sound lovely! I want Universal Healthcare here so bad. Honestly we’d probably need advice how to implement it. Edit: I have insurance too.
They also have longer life expectancies because of diet and excellent universal healthcare, as do the Japanese and Singaporeans. Life expectancy correlates with comprehensive and advanced healthcare.@@swoopes7777
@@zerrot5302 the minimum wage and overall pay in Western countries with universal Medicare is much lower to compensate. A white collar worker there would get much less than here
@@swoopes7777we pay for it in our taxes (as most insurance companies rely heavily on government programs) AND we pay for insurance. there is no defending this
Yep, in America we rely on our employers to insure us. You normally expect that, but it's actually a really big deal in deciding a job offer. Our government has very interesting priorities.
The ambulance, even with private insurance or Medicare, is out of pocket. A doctor's note that the transport is medically necessary does absolutely nothing to reduce the cost either with the carrier, insurance company or Medicare. If the transport requires an RN medic + vitals monitor + O2, then add another $800-1,000 on top of the $1,000 for a round trip of up to 10 miles. Medical transport made BANK during COVID.
If you just drag out the ambulance bill or send them a letter of financial aid they'll usually just drop it. This has been the case with my previous visits
I'm still paying off my ambulance ride a year later because the insurance compny decided it was out of network. I was having what I thought was a heart attack but I was supposed to stop and ask what insurance they take? it's crazy living in the US. I'm also still trying to pay the bills for that hospital visit but it's in the bill collectors hands. And yeah.. we have decent insurance but with the costs.. it doesn't matter.
@@polkastriaMy brother just went to ER because he had some allergic reaction to something. His bill was around $3000 before insurance after insurance around $670. They basically gave him Benadryl and charged $1.99 for the medication. 😳. It happened at midnight so his regular doctor or urgent care was not available at that time.
@@keimorgan5654, sounds like he had decent insurance at least. But to go through all that just for an allergic reaction that could be treated with benadryl...ouch. I hope he figured out what triggered it.
@@polkastria you should ask him how long he has to wait in the ER, I wouldn't mind if it's high cost, but it's a good treatment. My experience with the ER was awful, the people were rude and asked for all the insurance information before they treated me. My hand went from bleeding all over to completely dry before I got treated, and that's 4 hrs wait time.
Some of us in the USA have no health insurance. I haven't been to a doctor in 18 years. I will never be able to go to a doctor again, unless healthcare became universal. I'll probably die from something preventable or treatable inevitably some point. Due to the inability to access healthcare as I grow older. Many people here end up in similar situations or worse.
India is often shown poorly but India the ambulance is free, you can see the doctor for $2, generic medicines costs $1 or less, and there is $3000 health insurance free for everyone and on top of all that there is also free public hospitals though most people use private hospitals. Even private hospitals are relatively cheap compared to their foreign counterparts.
That's fair, but also 220 Million people in India survive on less than 40 cents per day of expenditure. They'd have to save for 5 days to go see a $2 doctor.
@@fierzali6297 for them there is public hospitals where there is no fees at all. $2 is private consulting. Government hospitals dont charge you any money for consulting or treatment.
Here are some stats to add more context (currency used is USD): _Healthcare expenditure per capita, 2019, per WHO; adjusted for differences in cost of living, but not adjusted for inflation_ United States: $10,921 Germany: $6,738 Canada: $5,520 France: $5,492 United Kingdom: $5,087 Japan: $4,587 Singapore: $4,102 Spain: $3,989 South Korea: $3,521 China: $880 _Life expectancy at birth, 2021, per UN_ Japan: 84.8 South Korea: 83.7 Spain: 83.0 Singapore: 82.8 Canada: 82.7 France: 82.5 United Kingdom: 80.7 Germany: 80.6 China: 78.2 United States: 77.2
Yep. Moved from the US to the EU and the access to healthcare blew my mind. I also had better peace of mind overall knowing that an accident wouldn't financially cripple me for life. Asthma inhalers were around $5 instead of $300. I knew a university professor in the US who gave birth--normal with no complications--and despite having insurance it was like 10k. The kid was several years old before she paid off his birth.
My colleagues in Taiwan told me to go to the doctor for a cold. It was such a culture shock. I was planning on doing the American thing and just toughing it out with OTC meds. But, here they go to the doctor for even minor illnesses and it only costs around $5-$8 USD. Even specialists. I can’t understand how America allows people to suffer so much.
Just came back from a year of study abroad there. Caught a cold the last week I was supposed to fly out, it sucked but at least the bill for the medication was relatively inexpensive. Love it there, wish I could just move but unless there's a quality job offer or a spouse, it's like impossible.
Yeah, malaysia is one of the best if not the best advance health care system with government subsidy. That's something we feel proud about being Malaysian citizen
I’m indonesian and i thank Malaysian for providing such a good healthcare system 😂 ours not bad but our medical institutions are just not sufficient enough to handle our big population so some of us go to Malaysia for faster treatment. Even my Indonesian insurance cover medical treatment in Malaysia and (for fancier option) Singapore😂 so, thank you!!
@@MrBombastic_007 we commonly go there for 2 days of medical treatment and spend 1 day of vacation (especially in Penang), and Indonesians are famous for shopping very consumptively so spending our money buying Malaysian products is our token of gratitude😂🤣 I hope indonesia can learn from Malaysian healthcare system in terms of its efficiency and accessibility.
I do find it a little strange how so many Koreans seem prepared to go to doctors for relatively minor ailments tbh - I thought it was kind of a meme really :) I go maybe once a year - probably less on average - and it's totally free. Their check-up system though is great. Usa is utter insanity though
With insurance, a basic doctor visit still cost me 30-100 dollars depending on what kind of doctor and if the doctor is in network or not. I rarely go unless I have to, and haven't really gone except for if I'm really sick in many years.
@@SiTetehSundawhen you're buying insurance (for example on state health plan marketplace), you enter your doctors and drugs, and they'll let you pick the insurance which covers both. Good companies have insurance where almost everyone would be in network, some cheaper employers will give you shitty insurance.
@@TrixifromVienna it actually happens in majority of poor countries with single payer systems, where you need to pay up to the corrupted government institutions to get health care. In the US your life will be saved and then you'll get a bill, depending on your financial situation you might come up with very small payments or a bankruptcy but your life will be saved. And this will happen only if you don't have insurance which is not as common as some posts online make it sound (unemployed, not on benefits from the state government because of additional income, etc).
Here in the Philippines, we don’t have a very good healthcare system, but seeing a doctor is affordable even for those that are lest fortunate. For private, it may cost 4USD to 6USD only. And if you have Philhealth and/or HMO, it can be free of charge if not discounted depending on illness. Still, we are hoping to see more improvement in healthcare system in the future, including better compensation to our health professionals.
@@jeretsoI’ve been to an emergency room in both Thailand and Cambodia. In Thailand, I paid around $40 at a public hospital. In Cambodia, I paid around $200 for a private hospital.
I appreciate Asian Boss covering this topic so much. Many countries, in addition to S. Korea have excellent, crazy affordable healthcare. Many years ago we had to admit a friend to the ER while in a “developing” nation. The facilities were more advanced and nicer than anything we had ever seen in the U.S. and the overnight bill was only $7usd!We thought it had to be a mistake and insisted on paying more but the Dr. Laughed and explained that healthcare is a right for all in their country. A few months ago I went to the pharmacy and I watched the pharmacist tell a senior that Aetna was no longer covering their prescription and there was no cheaper alternative, they paid $250. I watched another senior be told that United was no longer covering their prescription and they paid $200. A woman, with two young kids had to pay $600 for her sons meds (it was absolutely not covered), and she is a local nurse with one of the biggest healthcare providers in our state! the horror of her situation literally ended in tears. I saw all of this in just one pharmacy visit! A standard ambulance ride is $2500here (I had that bill several years ago) and even major insurance often does not cover the cost. I am now hearing, from people in a nearby state, that United Insurance (one of the largest providers in the U.S.) has dropped their local healthcare providers and so they have expensive insurance but no where to go to use it. I thought I was doing so well these past few years but last year had an incident that was well over $6000 after coverage. I first had major medical debt, years ago, when I was a 20 year old student, and I was so proud when I paid it off in less than 2 years, but I realize that’s an insane way of thinking! I should have been outraged at the cost. It gets worse every day. I am saving like crazy so we can literally escape. I just said last week, “we have to get out, our lives depend on it.” I fought so long and hard to fix this problem, but I’m exhausted, I don’t want my child to go through this, and there is just a completely impenetrable wall of stupid and corrupt, here, that no amount of reason can change.
@@yummy77777 Maybe we have different cultures. It's not really laziness. When you are at work, do your job and do your job well. But sometimes, you need a mental break and rest, just a day. As an employee, you have your entitlements and your rights that you can and you should take if needed.
I had personal debt of around $4000 at the start of last year, and a gallbladder removal with no insurance later I am $60,000 in the hole. How in the hell can I even be this poor and not qualify for welfare medical benefits, ffs. I am literally out of work. I'd have to go out and get pregnant to get covered. And while being treated for my gallbladder, the MRI they ran found I have atherosclerosis in one artery and ovarian cysts. Guess what is NOT getting taken care of any time soon.
I hear you. I have arthritis, I've had it since I was 19 years old and I'm 55 now. In any other sane country, I could have had my hip replacement surgery and had a pretty decent life. However, I can't afford the surgery and hospital costs as well as rehab. So I bought a wheelchair on amazon and that's how I get around now. That and extra strength Tylenol. High doses of Ibuprofen did a number on my stomach and so I had to stop using it and other decent pain meds. The US medical system is a joke.
Sorry😢 to hear that. In my case I am very sick to my stomach all the time and cannot afford to visit a specialist for the stomach. I am in pain every day, 22 Georgia f USA
@@Mureirsa, I sincerely hope they work out a better plan for medical services in the US long before you are my age. We need a universal health care system here.
@@polkastria I read The Nordic Theory of Everything - Anu Partanen, and was blown away by some of the Scandinavian systems available. Finland especially. If South Korea can make affordable health care happen with no set backs for doctors/hospitals (they still bank), idk why or what is holding up the same system in the US. Like wouldn't they make MORE money/or same if more people could afford to visit the dr even had a lower cost.
@@Mureirsa It's horrible, even where I live there are some "free clinics" but they don't cover everything, and if you need a specialist if there isn't that type of one that is offering free services to that clinic you're out of luck.
These prices are not what people actually pay; they're misleading. Insurance and other programs help to drastically reduce these costs. I had brain surgery in 2011 and hardly paid anything. My mother is lower class and gets her doctors appointments for free and pays $3 for her medical using Obamacare--$12 a month. Children have CHIP, the elderly have Medicaid, hospitals have charity programs, and by law, you can pay $5 a month and not get penalized for any outstanding fees after that. And, unlike Korea, U.S. hospitals can't refuse life or death treatment with no payment (from what I heard per a friend). The prices that you listed aren't what actually gets paid. Universal Healthcare is socialism, and the U.S. isn't a socialist country.
@AinzWoolGown Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas and I'm not sure what I paid. It was in 2015. I know that I had to pay something up front, but it couldn't have been much because I was a college student and only have a mother who worked at Wal-Mart at the time. What did cost me were the follow-up appointments. Those were $20-$30 depending on their specialty, and gas to and from--I lived nearly 2 hours away. My MRIs were, and still are, anywhere from $60-120 after insurance, but I pay those in payments if I can't pay up front. I was diagnosed with elipsey soon after, and still have medical issues. I still have BCBS thru my employer and have no issues, though the co-pays did increase. I understand full well that people fall thru the cracks, but if you know how to work the system, then really the system works for you. My mother is proof of that.
Many countries that aren’t socialist have universal healthcare, that was just an excuse used by US politicians and doctors to not lose profit off themselves.
@@Yantrus Yeah, when faced with facts, it's "Stockholm Syndrome." There's a reason millions of people from the most developed countries, including Korea, move to the US every year.
this content is borderline disinformation. it's extremely disingenuous to give the impression that paying these insane costs is the norm in the US. the vast majority of americans have health insurance. and those who cannot afford insurance can obtain federal or state subsidized insurance for a huge discount or free of charge. yes there are huge issues with the us healthcare system that needs to be addressed, like the opaqueness of how the healthcare system even works, but to suggest everybody has to pay 1k for ambulance or 20k for childbirth is doing a disservice to the actual issues at hand.
My job was on a contract so I didn't have health insurance then (unless I paid $750/month myself) and don't have any insurance now bc I'm not employed and not a senior citizen or a child. This is the case with most of my family, except 1 actually gets Obamacare but barely covers anything. That being said, I paid ~$200 to see a doc in urgent care and get blood work done. I got a preliminary diagnosis (not a serious condition) and was told to go to a hospital for more tests.
@@wadss I haven't bc Texas medicaid eligibly criteria only lists the pregnant, blind, 65+, and those with a dependent. I think I do qualify for a cheap marketplace plan but didn't bother to apply since I rarely go; only when it might be life-threatening.
Korean government charge a lot of health insurance premiums from the rich, limit medical fees to force lower medical costs, and collect a 10% self-payment fee to prevent excessive hospital visits. In Korea, all of the most talented people apply to medical school, so the doctors are very skilled.
I'm from the Netherlands and I always thought we had a excellent healthcare system, but since I've been living in Korea I realised. Korea's healthcare system is on another level, even Europe can't compare.
To be honest, Korean healthcare system is among the best in the world. It's the golden middle between the all-private for-profit and ineffective free healthcare from the government.
The government healthcare isn't ineffective. People from those countries are quite happy about it. Truth told, all the reasons for government healthcare being bad are just objectively false. Like the classic "You'll have to wait forever for non-emergency situations." Like I'm not having to make appointments 2 months in advance, and get denied surgery for 6 months. Or the other classic "You'll have less freedom." Despite the fact that our private insurance restricts care to a select few locations, employers are always shopping for new private insurance every 2-6 years anyways, and you largely are restricted to what your employer gives you.
because there are different types of universial healthcare system. South korea has single payer universial health 'insurance'. People have to pay montly fee based on their income and copay whenever they visit a doctor. Also the insurance covers only between 70~100%. So there are money you still have to pay out of your pocket. The national insurance org(NHIS) are funded by those montly fees from the people and subsidary from the government. The comtemporary politics in parliament can hardly affect the funds, hence the NHIS can decide their own budget depends on actual demends. While UK's health care 'service' would be seemed like totally free, its budgets are always dictated by the parliament and they can never catch up the actual demends. Also people tend to abuse the system when it is concieved as 'free', even though they pay it with taxes, but it is 'invisible' to them.
accurate without insurance. For ex: went to ER for stomach pain that ended up resolving but the CT Scan cost me about $1200 (and this is with decent health insurance)
i had to call for an ambulance once... they took me less than a mile down the road to the hospital and it ended up costing me over $3,000! and this was over 10 years ago
It’s over reacting. If you have no income or low income you can get free health first insurance as long as you are legal. Even illegals, CA is giving free insurance to migrants. If you are middle income, get insurance from the company, you just need to pay co-pay.
@@honoroller81😮😮😮😮 i’m from a third world country in southeast asia but CT scan is free here. Though the technology is not the most advanced one but almost all medical treatment and big surgeries are free the using a national healthcare system with monthly fee for only ~$7🥲 i hope everyone in the US got a good health always!!! But seriously you guys needs a reform😭😭💪🏻
An interesting fact is that not only South Korean healthcare is more cheap, but also doctors are much smarter than American doctors. Many people think that the smartest people in South Korea go to Samsung, but that's not true. In South Korea, all the smartest people become medical doctors, and all students study to become doctors.
It's wild to me that we complain that we pay too many taxes, but also don't force our government to at least give us free basic healthcare from those taxes. But most of us Americans don't actually study what's happening outside of our country for comparison.
I lived in Korea and Japan were their systems are similar but my relatives live in USA and I heard stories that depending on insurance there are hospitals that don’t take you and stuff and same with medicine? Sounds very stressful… 😥
The cost problem is nothing compared to .... I hurt my shoulder and couldn't move it. Great pain. The BEST US hospitals told me I needed emergency surgery. I didn't trust them, so I flew to China to visit a Chinese medical massage doctor. It took him ONE minute to fix my shoulder by moving it around and pushing some pressure points. Korean traditional medicine has the same practice. So, you go broke paying for "medicine" that messes you up.
American healthcare is good not great. Every company has a different insurance plan so you have to choose companies wisely. Poor people can qualify for insurance where payments are lower but if you make too much money you won't qualify. My friend was making half as much money as me but they had better insurance so the system can get crazy. Anyway, Korea probably does a better job controlling its borders. If 2 million migrants crossed into Korea in 1 year I bet their health care prices would double.
I pay $500 US dollars every month just for my two kids to have insurance. And the insurance doesn’t cover everything, if I want it for myself it would be almost $1000 a month cause at work I don’t have benefits. My parents go to Mexico just to get dental work done cause here in the US it’s ridiculously expensive.
Lots of Americans travel to Mexico for dental purposes too. Specifically Los Algodones which has over 300 dental practices in it. The tiny border town solely exists to provide dental care to foreigners.
As a US citizen living on the European system i have to say i would never go back to the US system! Going back to the US system after what i know now would be like voluntary going from a mansion to cardboard box under a bridge. I visited family in the USA in 2023 and my wife had a small accident (dislocated shoulder) which from my training was not hard to correct, but we decided to go to an emergency room after i took care of the dislocated shoulder just to be safe. We like most everyone visiting the USA from Europe or anywhere else get 'vacation insurance' which is needed when visiting developing countries that do not have a real healthcare system... which unfortunantly includes the USA. The cost for just seeing a doctor and getting an x-ray was 1,100 dollars we paid, which the insurance re-embursed us. The point is i never pay when i get an x-ray in Europe.
I'm in Korea right now and people don't understand why I don't go to the doctor when I'm sick. In my mind going to the hospital means bankruptcy and I can't break that mindset.
The American healthcare system is completely broken. More and more expensive, but care is not getting better. Healthcare providers are worked to death with high volume of patients. Citizens who could not afford health insurance lack access to healthcare. Even low income citizens who supposedly get gov funded health insurance lack good care because they receive minimal resources in an already overwhelming system. A lot of people could not leave their jobs because they need health insurance. It's all about making profit for the U.S. healthcare system.
Forget hospitilsation n visits to Doctors' clinics, even Health Insurance n prescribed medicines are beyond the reach of common man in USA. I have 2 friends who were working in Silicon Valley and who lost their jobs. They were at their wit's end as to how they would pay for their family's health insurance. And if u have dental problems n need implanys...just be prepared to sell husband, home and 5 litres of your blood to pay for it !!🤦♀️😂
Way more people from your country live in the US than the other way around. Why don't you all go back home to your wonderful healthcare system? And btw, even after you adjust for cost of healthcare/education/etc, the US has the highest median income in the world. The rest of the world is dirt poor compared to Americans. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_income
I remember here in Japan that once, our american colleague told us that in USA people could potentially go bankrupt over healthcare and education. We were shocked! Imagine that people could actually go bankrupt over a basic necessities such as healthcare and education. In the richest country of the world !
@@fromthedarksideofthemoon5666 None of these are basic human rights there. I don't even know what they consider basic human rights. Something something equality something something freedom something something constitution.
I would hate to have to see a Dr just to purchase cold medicine that would suck. But I’m curious how Korean wait times relate to wait times in Canada. Canada has universal healthcare and their wait times for surgeries is really long I work in the medical field and they’re a lot of Canadians that come here to the United States and self-pay for surgeries because the wait time in Canada is too long, so how on earth is Korea getting their wait times down I’d really like to know
Korean here. Never had a major surgery, although I've had gastroscopy, X-rays, various scans, and full-body anesthesia surgery for a broken nose. Usually waited less than an hour, provided you have a reservation - which you can usually make happen within a week. For emergencies - never been there but I don't think you have to wait for that stuff?
When my dad passed away, he was airlifted to a hospital and my mom received a 20k bill for just the helicopter ride. Thankfully my dad had full health insurance at the time so we didn't have to pay anything, but I can only imagine how many families have been financially destroyed from just an ambulance ride. I'm not sure what can fix our health care system at this point. Free healthcare seems like it would just further overload the hospitals, while big pharma and the hospitals would just hike up rates even further at tax payers expense.
The video "A terrible guide to the terrible terminology of U.S. Health Insurance" by Brian David Gilbert gives a good insight into the absurdity of getting health insurance in the US.
I’d be seen by a doctor within 5 minutes at a local clinic in Korea. The local urgent care checked my ID, insurance card, had me fill out multiple forms, answer the same questions online again, and take pics of my insurance card then upload. I just returned the paperwork and came back home. I was the only patient in the waiting room as well. It’s just not practical for no reason. For specific appointments, it’d be faster and cheaper for me to fly to Korea then fly back.
Are waiting times in the US that much better compared to elsewhere? I don't believe just because you pay more, you would receive better treatment. I've been in both public and private hospitals and can say they almost the same. Sure, you have maybe more courteous staff or more comfortable facilities but treatment wise, it's all almost the same. If you have a shitty dr, you get shitty care.
Sometimes takes months to get an appointment. Then they schedule a test, then you have to schedule ANOTHER appointment after the test to go over the results…
OK I am an American and it is incorrect at $600 just for doctor visit. for a regular doctor visit without insurance will cost between 100 and $200 not 600
American here. As a parent of a two year old, it’s common for my husband and I to get sick if she gets sick. But my husband and I will never visit the doctor. Because we want to save the money to pay for her to see the doctor instead. (And yes we have insurance. Even with the insurance my daughter’s last appointment for a cold was $96).
While the healthcare in America is expensive and not the greatest, I don’t trust universal healthcare. A lot of countries with universal healthcare choose to play god in who gets treatment like who’s worth saving. I mean there was a case in the UK recently about a baby that was denied treatment for a medical issue she had because analysts thought she didn’t have a chance of surviving and the government didn’t want to “waste” their money on a lost cause.
