At 11:08 AM 10/17/97 -0400, Matt Urban wrote:

I am in the midst of writing something to post to the FFML, and I have run
into a question about Japanese hospitals, and healthcare in general.  
First of all, how is healthcare paid for? Is there universal healthcare in
Japan? Or is the situation more like the one in the United States, where
people get insurance through either their employers or by buying it from an
insurance company?  Also, are there both private and public hospitals or
just one type?
Thanks for your help

Purely from memory, I don't have time to source it:

I believe the system is if not paid for by the government is strongly
regulated by the government.  Per visits costs are kept low, and doctors
therefore schedule extra visits, and since they also dispense medicine,
tend to over-prescribe (hardly unheard of over here even without the
financial incentive).

I have the strong impression that they have a large "the doctor is God"
complex (hardly unheard of here).  Cancer is a feared and little discussed
disease, and terminal cancer patients are often not told the details
of their disease, and maybe not even their prognosis.  On the other hand,
I get the impression from several dramas (including some live action
stuff) that hospitals allow friends and family to help take care of
patients, stay with them, etc.

They had their own scandal equivalent to the French one where
people were knowingly given HIV (AIDS) contaminated blood products
while native technology was developed instead of using available
American technology.

A www.yahoo.com (actually got kicked to AltaVista) search on
"healthcare Japan" found the following:

	http://www.gwjapan.com/ftp/pub/business/imi/mar/im940331.n10

Indicates a "NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE SYSTEM" reimburses for care
and medicine.  It's an American Embassy in Tokyo telegram dicussing
changes in policies that will affect American businesses.

A Short History of Reproductive Medical Problems in Japan

	http://www.biol.tsukuba.ac.jp/~macer/EJ66/EJ66D.html

covers historical and current fertility, contraception, artificial
insemination from donors, etc.

I've run out of time; play around with AltaVista and you can probably
find what you want.

	http://altavista.digital.com/cgi-bin/query?pg=aq&what=web

Is the Advance Query page (you can use AND, OR, etc. to do precise
hunts, which will be required).

					- Harold