It wouldn't be a complete vacation without someone getting sick and has to visit the local hospital. Alex, being the youngest member of our family was the first to get infected. Luckily it was just a common cold. With the shortage on flu shots in the US, he probably would have caught something back in the Bay area any how.
Taking my parents' suggestion, we took a taxi ride to the nearest Chang Ning general hospital. The hospital is quite modern. It's fairly new and is a complete contrast to the older hospital my dad stayed at back in 1999 when he had his pancreatic infection. Marble floors, large lobby that opened up to the 2nd, 3rd floors with plants around the corners and escalators. It looks more like a shopping mall than a hospital.
The lobby was full of people as expected. You see, in China, you don't call the doctor's office for an appointment up front. You just go to the hospital and register in the lobby for a #. The regular registration fee you pay at the lobby's registration windows is all that you pay for the doctor's examination and consulting fee. For regular registration, it's a modest 20Yuan, equivalent of less than $3.00 USD. Then if you need to pick up medication, you would pay that later in the hospital.
For us, we decided to go upstairs and register at the "Special Need" department where we pay a hefty 120 Yuan per patient, an equivalent of $15 USD or less (same as our current PPO co-pay amount in the states). There is no need to show any indication of insurance coverage or identification of any sort. At this service level, you'll be allowed to wait in a fancy waiting room equipped with nice sofa, TV and most importantly much faster turn to get to the doctor. The nurses will also fetch all the paperwork and necessaties for your blood or urine tests, etc.
The doctors servicing this floor have lesser patients to see than the other department. There are also more than one type of doctor available at all times on this floor. Aside from general family doctors, there is also a staff of other specialty doctors. Most other patients we found on that floor are either Taiwanese or Korean residents of Shanghai.
Overall, I find the division of service quite convenient for us, foreign travelers. The locals are also allowed to use this level of service as long as they're willing to pay the same amount. No wonder my parents have not had any trouble with their healthcare need during they stay here in the last few years. The expat level of service at the same cost as our co-pay in the states really goes to show the dramatic hyper inflated medical costs here in the states. Remember, there is no other insurance company who will pay the hospital another 80% of the cost at a later date... There will not be a medical statement sent to us later showing how much the insurance policy negotiated the doctor's rate down to and paid on our behalf... The 120Yuan ($15USD) was all it took.
And what medicine did Alex get for his cough and cold? Tylenol cold and Clariton D... :
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So China basically has Universal Healthcare with two tiers of QoS? Interesting. I think the U.S. should have something similar.
Health care in U.S. is good... if you can afford any. I suppose that's true in most places, but nowhere else other than the U.S. is that fact so blantantly obvious.
The quality of service of a universal healthcare system is a concern in most discussions of bringing the idea that most European countries (and Canada!) into the U.S. Well, if there can be tiers of service where the wealthy can still get their expected quality but the not so fortunate can still get health care, that'd be better than what we have now.
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