this post was submitted on 04 Mar 2026
227 points (96.0% liked)
Orphan Crushing Machine
1031 readers
301 users here now
A community featuring uplifting and wholesome news stories that overlook deeply ingrained systemic problems.
The rules:
1. Your post must be an unironic presentation of a wholesome story, but one that overlooks systemic failures that made the story possible in the first place. In other words, we want posts that highlight "Yay, the problem is solved!", but ignore "Wait, why was this a problem in the first place?" at the same time.
2. Re-posts will be removed at mod discretion.
3. Sitewide rules apply. Basically, (a) don't be a dick; (b) use the NSFW tag; (c) no spam; (d) don't attack people; and (e) don't abuse the report button.
Partnered communities:
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Often in China, a patient pays 0%(teeth extraction as mentioned above, for example), but if we imagined the 50% copay was a hard rule, the important component is cost basis, 30% of what vs. 50% of what.
30% of $200 vs. 50% of $40 for an identical pair of glasses means someone in japan paying 30% is paying $66 white someone in China paying 50% is paying $20, less than a third of the price for the same treatment.
The uninsured cost basis is extremely low in China.
Similarly many procedures for vulnerable people or those with lower incomes are completely covered in Japan.
I get what you're saying regarding the proportion compared to the total cost. But Japan's minimum wage is over three times that of Shanghai's and a higher payment proportion disproportionally impacts Chinese people with lower incomes.
As the Chinese healthcare cost basis is so low and government programs specifically focus on providing and facilitating care for low-income individuals, lower-income Chinese populations don't have the healthcare inaccessibility issue that you often see in other countries.
Given the prices, policies, and disparate income populations receiving healthcare i'm familiar with there and hete, it's going to be difficult convincing me healthcare is more expensive or less accessible in China than Japan since the information online and especially on the ground doesn't agree.