I managed to survive yesterdays trip to the dentist, it does mean that I will have a stylish metal crown in my mouth, at least it isn’t at the front. The cost isn’t as bad as I feared as well. It should cost about ₤85 in total, which probably isn’t far off what our supposedly “free” NHS would charge. You have to wonder what’s wrong with the UK that the dentists need subsidised to provide a service for a similar cost than those in Japan that are completely private. <\/p>\n
There’s another issue as well, in Japan most people would have had health insurance that would have covered all or part of the expenses. The tax rate in Japan is 5%, the consumtion tax (VAT) is 5%. Compare that to the UK where income tax (for mega low earners) is 10% and normal tax is 22% (I think), national insurance (for our free health care) is 10% and VAT is 17.5%. Now, my health “insurance”, which is supposedly quite poor (i.e. no dental), is \u00ef\u00bf\u00bd8,000 per month (about ₤40), in the UK I would pay at least \u00ef\u00bf\u00bd25,000 (about ₤125) for national insurance. Now I know that means I earn a lot BUT what’s going wrong with the UK? There are other discrepances, for example the motorways are tolled here and you pay VAT on food but the UK suddenly looks like a very expensive – low value – place to live.<\/p>\n
This isn’t a tirade against taxes either, I look forward to the day that I can contribute more because I am earning more money. I suppose my original point was that the ordinary Japanese person pays less towards their medical bills than we do and our health service is still in a shocking state. My dental bill is cheaper (uninsured) in Japan that it would be in NHS Britian, is that right? <\/p>\n
I don’t think so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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