Yes, other than the $0 teeth extraction and medications mentioned above, Chinese patients often have other $0 medical expenses like doctor visits and consults.
I used to wonder why my Chinese friends went to the hospital so often, it seemed their trip was “for fun” sometimes. Then I found out that their copay is usually free or under a dollar, and my perspective changed.
But … that’s still going to really suck if you only have $10…
$10 is great if they need wisdom teeth pulled. Costs about 80 cents each, so they’d still have almost $7 left after pulling all four.
“Sorry, we can’t fix your broken leg, since you can’t afford it. Want some teeth pulled out, though? You could afford that!”
“Ten dollars gets you a set leg, four wisdom teeth and we’ll throw in the pain pills”.
Nationalized health care is where it’s at.
Is $0 not an option?
It’s not like you really need to incentivize people not to seek out unneeded healthcare. People (generally) don’t go to the doctor just for fun.
Yes, other than the $0 teeth extraction and medications mentioned above, Chinese patients often have other $0 medical expenses like doctor visits and consults.
I used to wonder why my Chinese friends went to the hospital so often, it seemed their trip was “for fun” sometimes. Then I found out that their copay is usually free or under a dollar, and my perspective changed.