Harden, Blaine. 2009. "Health Care in Japan: Low-Cost, for Now: Aging
Population Could Strain System." Washington Post. (7 September).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/06/AR2009090601630.html?sid=ST2009090601646
"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.
--
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA
95929
530 898 5321
fax 530 898 5901
http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com
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