Health System Comparison

As most people who need to know already know, I might as well go ahead and tell the rest of you who read this site that over the past two months I have ended up in Korean hospitals three times. Nothing life-threatening, just a bit annoying. But it has given me the opportunity (along with a viewing of a pirated copy of Michael Moore's latest mediocre cinematic offering, thanks ridiculously cheap Korean broadband connection!) to reflect on the differences between my experiences in the Korean health care system and the one in my home country. One of the biggest differences for me is that (until recently) I have health insurance in Korea through my job, and I don't have any sort of health insurance in the States. In Korea, I pay 50% of the monthly costs of the insurance (about $60) and my boss pays the other half. But besides available and affordable health insurance, the most shocking difference for me has been the cost of the care. For example, my latest trip over the weekend involved a trip to the emergency room, a series of blood tests, a chest x-ray, and a prescription for two days. On top of all that, I discovered that my health coverage had also lapsed since my previous visa status expired, so the cost was much more than it would have been under my old plan. The damage? 200,020 won, just over $200! I'm not sure exactly what the cost for those procedures would have been in the States, but I'm fairly certain that simply walking into an emergency room would have been around $200 alone. Korea does not have a socialized medical system, but there is a national health care plan that citizens can pay into for which they receive coverage. As I've discovered, this makes their attitudes toward health care different from the average American. For example, whenever I had a slight cold over the winter, my co-workers would always ask, "Why don't you go to a doctor?" I would always reply that I wasn't sick enough to need a doctor and that all I needed was rest, fluids, and time to recover. But since health care is affordable here, Koreans will visit the hospital for what might seem like the most minor of ailments to Americans. In addition, there are pharmacies and clinics which treat patients with traditional Korean medical techniques. I can't be certain that these treatments are covered under the national health plan (anyone with information about that, please enlighten me), but I'm sure they are also affordable. Of course, affordable is a relative term, but let's put it this way: it's not like my salary makes me rich by Korean standards and I could certainly afford the care I needed without going into debt or having to tighten my belt, so to speak. On the other hand, my experience in the States has conditioned me to be afraid of going to the doctor because of how much it might cost. It simply isn't realistic to go to a hospital in the States unless it's absolutely necessary. Now, I know that there are several reasons why our health care is so expensive (malpractice insurance, subsidization of medicine in other countries, etc.), but it also seems as if the privatized HMO system just isn't working for the majority of us. Around election time (like now), there is always a lot of talk about reforming the system, but it seems like nothing ever changes. Perhaps I am naive, but I just don't see why a system like Korea's couldn't work in the States. Does anybody have an answer?