I've been living in Japan for a few years now and I really love the system here. The basics are like this: you have to be insured. Have to. Period. If you don't, you can get deported! (Not sure what the sanctions are for the citizens... but insurance is compulsory for them as well) If you work, your employer does the insurance for you. If you don't, you have to enroll in the national insurance scheme. The fees depend on your salary, but are generally bearable. Plus, everyone HAS to pay anyway, so no incentive to go uninsured.
When you need to see a doctor, you can pretty much go anywhere you want (you are not bound to an area, a specific provider or anything), except there is a financial deterrent against going to a big "hub" hospital directly (ca. $50 for first visit, if you were not sent by a smaller clinic). I usually call an information service which finds me a proper clinic in the area I am in. You are required to pay for 10% to 30% of the bill in cash, the rest is covered by insurance. This is a very nice system that causes you to pay $10 to $30 for most visits - which is enough to keep you from going there needlessly, but not so much that you can't afford to go.
I've been through some tough times with this system (kidney infections, ER visits and such) and it has worked well so far.
Yup. Agreed. Actually this guy brought up a point I did not see myself, namely that I rarely hold anything plugged directly to the power grid against any part of my body for extended amounts of time while holding a cup of liquid over it, and perhaps it's a good thing I don't.
From the article: "It would have acted as an innovation-sharing protocol," says Goldenfeld, "greatly enhancing the ability of organisms to share genetic innovations that were beneficial."
Slashdot Mirror
...of MySQL.
I've been living in Japan for a few years now and I really love the system here. The basics are like this: you have to be insured. Have to. Period. If you don't, you can get deported! (Not sure what the sanctions are for the citizens... but insurance is compulsory for them as well) If you work, your employer does the insurance for you. If you don't, you have to enroll in the national insurance scheme. The fees depend on your salary, but are generally bearable. Plus, everyone HAS to pay anyway, so no incentive to go uninsured. When you need to see a doctor, you can pretty much go anywhere you want (you are not bound to an area, a specific provider or anything), except there is a financial deterrent against going to a big "hub" hospital directly (ca. $50 for first visit, if you were not sent by a smaller clinic). I usually call an information service which finds me a proper clinic in the area I am in. You are required to pay for 10% to 30% of the bill in cash, the rest is covered by insurance. This is a very nice system that causes you to pay $10 to $30 for most visits - which is enough to keep you from going there needlessly, but not so much that you can't afford to go. I've been through some tough times with this system (kidney infections, ER visits and such) and it has worked well so far.
Yup. Agreed. Actually this guy brought up a point I did not see myself, namely that I rarely hold anything plugged directly to the power grid against any part of my body for extended amounts of time while holding a cup of liquid over it, and perhaps it's a good thing I don't.
From the article: "It would have acted as an innovation-sharing protocol," says Goldenfeld, "greatly enhancing the ability of organisms to share genetic innovations that were beneficial."
...early life was open-source?! :D