Sunny day in Atlanta

The Health Care Bill

The other day, the Democratic -controlled US Congress approved a historic bill. The Health Care Bill will extend health care to tens of millions of uninsured American people. Although this issue has been discussed for almost one century, US has finally decided to install the near universal coverage which many developed countries already did.

My response as a Japanese is “why are American people willing to have such a troublesome system on their hand voluntarily?” Japan has maintained the universal health care system for many years. However, some problems in the system are pointed out recently.

 First, the system needs a lot of money. So, it can be fragile when the nation’s economy goes wrong. As a result of that Japan has experienced a sever economic recession, many health insurance institutes are on the verge of bankruptcy. Some companies have broken up its in-house insurance associations. The universal health care system requires the nation to keep a constant economic growth.

Secondly, there is a risk of malpractice that doctors claim an exceeded medical fee. Some doctors made false reports in order to get money from health care insurance. This is a criminal case, of course, but desperate doctors who have to run their own hospitals tread on thin ice. In Japan, you can see the news of doctor’s malpractice on TV almost every month.

Finally, the universal system may discourage people from being independent. Indeed, Japanese people depend on the government. They take a cheap medical care for granted. A lot of elderly people sit on the bench of hospital everyday. Some people enjoy a “doctor shopping.” It is difficult for the government to cut a medical cost.

The idea that people should help each other is beautiful. It is true that the health care bill will save the great number of uninsured American people. However, Japan’s experience teach us that it contains some inevitable problems.

Don’t Check My Credit History!

  The latest news reports that some States in US are aiming to ban employer to check on the applicant’s credit history. This policy apparently please job seekers who have poor credit history because it may give them a good chance to find a job. They argue that there is no reason for a credit history to be in determining factor on whether or not you can perform a job. However, employers strongly disagree this policy because checking the credit is an easy way to know the applicant’s honesty and a sense of responsibility.

 Checking the credit is so popular in US society. You may be required to provide a credit history when you want to lent apartment house, to make a new credit card, to make a loan, etc. Therefore, this issue concerns not on the applicant’s privacy right, but on their opportunity to be hired.

 Opposite to the Democrat’s expectation, I am afraid that employer hesitate to hire new worker whose creditability is unclear once such a regulation is enacted. The informational unbalance between employer and applicant should not be underestimated. Many employers have no method to know about an applicant’s creditability if they aren’t allowed to check a credit history. On the contrary, the applicant can easily know the employer’s trustworthy because a corporate employer is required to announce its financial statement to the public.

 Furthermore, the employer are likely to ask applicant to find guarantor. In Japan, for example, many employers usually don’t check a credit in order to see applicant’s creditability. Instead, as a way in common use, applicant’s guarantor take a responsibility in case the applicant does something wrong to the employer. I have seen a lot of people who had suffered serious economic loss because they had been forced to guaranty their acquaintance’s job. It is not fair that the guarantor take responsibility for the applicant , not for himself. I believe that the Japanese guarantor system doesn’t adjust to the modern society based on the individualism.

 Therefore, it can be said that the existing US system still has merit. States should consider better way to promote employment opportunity for US job seekers.