ObamaCare: It Doesn't Work in Japan, and It Won't Work Anywhere Else
I will be responsible for my own retirement and healthcare, thank you very much. by Richard in Japan
(conservative)
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
I can give perhaps a better evaluation than the average American of what universal healthcare as envisioned by President Obama would look like, since I've already seen it in action, and it doesn't work.
Since 1998 I have been living and working in Japan as an English teacher. For most of that time I was given the option of buying into the existing socialized medicine scheme, and chose not to. Instead, I self-insured with an expatriate policy covering catastrophic circumstances, and paid for my occasional medical needs out of pocket. Since I rarely get sick, that’s a gamble that has paid off for me over the years.
Everything changed a few years ago. New legislation passed in Japan requires foreigners in my situation not only to pay into the healthcare fund, but also to contribute to the pension service, whether we intend to retire in Japan or not. Even worse, they "grandfathered" the requirement: I'm expected to pay retroactively for the previous two years in which I chose not to avail myself of the services. The cost of doing business in Japan had abruptly gone up.
Actually, it's quite easy to see what had happened. Japan is getting older. Women are waiting longer to get married, families are not having as many children, and retirees are living to a ripe old age before dying. Calculations based on the actuarial tables of the 1950s and 60s no longer add up in 2011. Fewer young taxpayers are expected to pay for the retirement and illnesses of more and older retirees. That money has to come from somewhere, and my pocket was the first place they looked.
I’d like to give you some kind of idea what kind of bite the government is taking, yet not give enough hints about my salary, which is none of your business. Consider this: the total of my payments (including automatic deductions from my paycheck) to the pension fund, healthcare service, and the retroactive fees every month is roughly equal to how much I pay in rent every month, and I live in a pretty nice place. Add to that the hefty local taxes, and roughly 40% of my income is spirited away to a system that will be bankrupt long before I'm old enough to get my money back.
In return for this involuntary tithe, (and I’m using that word in the loosest sense. A tithe is literally a tenth of one’s income, and the amount I pay is far more than that) what do I get? A slight reduction in the cost of my occasional trips to the doctor. I’m not exactly sure what the discount is, but it’s not free; I still have to co-pay. When I first got stuck with this mandatory system, I tried to take advantage of it to mend some of my chronic physical complaints, such as my lifelong post-nasal drip. A year later I’m nowhere near getting my money’s worth, and of course I still have my runny nose.
As for the pension -- I’m not counting on it. Even if I decided to retire here, which I won't, I’ll be financing it myself, not depending on a government bureaucracy. When I retire, it will be on my own dime. I started saving late -- I opened my first IRA when I was 35 -- but ever since then I’ve been diligent about squirreling away at least 10% of my salary every year. (A literal tithe, but to myself.) I’m proud to say that never in my life will I depend on a check from the government to keep me alive.
The new demands on my money have forced me to make some difficult choices. My brother-in-law once advised me "Pay yourself FIRST" and I’ve always endeavored to do so. When I have to decide between funding my own retirement and keeping the Japanese bureaucracy solvent, I make the selfish choice and fund my IRA. Every now and then one of the government bills "accidentally" winds up in the trash. If they ever confront me about it, I’ll do the dumb foreigner act and pretend I couldn’t read it. That might hold them off for a while.
You might think at least I'd be entitled to a refund, after I leave Japan for good. You'd be partly right, but mainly wrong. According to the paperwork, I would be eligible for a cashout payment of 50% of the final three years I had paid into the system. Even then, I expect the rules to change between now and the time I actually claim the refund. If I get a single yen of this money back, I'll be completely surprised.
Someday, I have no doubt, my delinquent bill paying will catch up with me, and the previously indulgent Japanese government will present me with an ultimatum. On that day I will leave Japan with a heavy heart, and find another place to make my home. Please don’t let it be a United States that has made the same mistake as Japan. Socialized medicine simply does not work.
(c) Kublai Khan Unlimited 2011.
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