This is an article from 6 months ago. Not much has changed yet. I'm praying (and I'm an atheist~~) I don't have to go to the emergency room with my kid. I live in a so-called developed country, yet a simple but urgent medical emergency can turn out to be fatal. I was reminded of this as I was reading these testimonies from a few fellow dads on the internet:
On Tuesday my daughter fell off a high chair while playing with her brother. Unfortunately she landed awkwardly and broke her arm. After calling 119, it took us 3 hours and 7 hospitals later to find one that would take her. St Mary's in Yeouido is only a 10 minute walk from our house. The staff there told us that due to doctors resigning in protest at the government's policy to increase medical student numbers. They Unfortunately couldn't take her, and all the other bigger hospitals were the same. Thankfully we found a small private hospital in Gangnam that took her, and operated immediately. I didn't realize how serious this doctor situation is, but now I definitely do. Hopefully it can all be resolved quickly, although the current President doesn't seem to want to negotiate.
happened to us few months back. my 2yr old had a gash on his head and needed some stitches on his forehead. got sent away by some ERs for being understaffed. had to ask a favor to dad in law's contact who is a boss at some hospital to call someone to attend to us. took 4hrs since the accident til getting stitched due to bouncing around different hospitals who could take my son in.. was very stressful!
I was very sick a month ago, passing out because of high fever, went to a big uni hospital's ER. I passed out while waiting, had to wait 3hours! I thought I was gonna die. An old guy next to me was legit dying, they just said they can't help...no docs or beds available...if your kid gets sick and you go there with a life threatening sickness, they will die...it is horrible!
a friend told me that his two year old was going from unconscious to screaming in agony and back, and was turned away from two hospitals. There was a news story a few months back about a suicide attempt teen who was also turned away from a couple hospitals and ultimately died (i think in daegu). If child has an emergency, best to call emergency services as they should know which hospital will admit a child.
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I didnt know the problem was that serious in SK. Time to wear a mask and stay healthy?
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I'd gladly wear a mask again if that would keep my son safe ;)
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I did feel that asian countries were a bit more respectful in that aspect. When they were sick, the polite ones would wear a mask so they wouldnt get others sick. Not that it totally worked, but the thought is nice.
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Yeah, mask-wearing never was much of an issue here. People are very much society-minded rather than individualistic, so people did it gladly if they thought it was for the greater good.
Funny thing though is that even after the mandates were lifted, lots of people kept wearing it. It took a few brave people who don't care what others think to do it for the others to follow suit.
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It happened very quickly in Taiwan. At least for the younger generation and on the MRT. And the people that were sick and outside... Kind of upset me, but what can you do?
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Gangster tactics. Doctors make it illegal to provide services that complete with them, and then deny services until their aims are met.
How are the doctors earning money? 6 months is a long time to go without salary.
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How are the doctors earning money? 6 months is a long time to go without salary.
They are having a tough time too. Finding other jobs isn't easy as they face restrictions applying for other jobs due to their involvement in this strike.
Both the doctors and the government are blamed currently, by the general public. The Yoon administration is not very popular at the moment as they take lots of decisions hastily without thinking of the consequences. And doctors of course are thinking about their own interests.
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Total gangster tactics
These doctors deserve cancer and Alzheimer’s
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I’m super confused. Doctors are mad that the government is increasing the number of doctors?!
I don’t get it, is it because they want to hold on to their prestige and their pricing power? They don’t want to face competition?
If so, the striking doctors should lose their license and be held liable for anyone who lost their life due to insufficient medical service availability during their strike. It’s unconscionable to strike like this over issues of prestige and power, especially for a profession that is already so highly respected.
Unless I’m missing something, this just seems weird
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It's of course much more nuanced than that, but in essence, yes, doctors are afraid of losing their privileged position in society. The increase in # of doctors also isn't that high, accounting for the fact doctors per capita is already on the low end compared to other developed countries.
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Ok so price controls appears to be part of the problem too (unsurprisingly)
Another thing I get annoyed at with doctors is that they seem to think having a specialization entitles them to get paid more. Even if there is a shortage of primary care, they think that because a dermatologist has more specialized training they must get paid more than primary care physicians
They subscribe to the labor theory of value without realizing the problems it causes for the efficient distribution of medical services
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They subcribe to the theory of greed and ego. I'm a doctor which means I am better than you and deserve more money than you
Korean doctors in particular have huge egos
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keep salary per capita high by limiting supply
not complicated
These doctors striking should lose their licenses
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These doctors striking should lose their licenses
I think that was one of the ways the government tried putting pressure on doctors/hospitals but to no avail. It really feels like a stalemate at this point.
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South Korea has a fertility rate = 0.5, replacement is 2.1
More people need to die before the stalemate ends.
If more senior citizens die, government can save money on senior medical care and social security.
it's a win win for de-population
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And to explain why I’m so incensed about this -I’ve long thought that doctors in the US are running an anticompetitive racket via unnecessarily tough medical admission standards and costs. It’s great for incumbents but horrible for everyone else. A lot of US medical services are now provided by nurses and PAs because there aren’t enough doctors. And yet doctors except to earn upwards of 300k a year as if they’re entitled to get paid like a ceo just to see people in clinic for 5 days a week
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As an unrelated trivia, in Korea it is not the nurses' job to take care of the patients in the same way it is the case in most countries. In Korea, family members are supposed to come over to bathe, feed, etc... a sick family member. It is a heavy burden on your family once you get sick. The other option is to hire a private nurse to do it in your stead.
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tough medical admission standards unless you are black or Hispanic in which case all standards are scrapped for diversity
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Prestige? yes Pricing power? yes hate competition? yes
you are not missing anything
lose their license and be incarcerated for 30 days with no food, no water and no medical attention
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Government intervention into the free market usually leads to unintended consequences.
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It is a colony of the united states. Do you expect good health service from a us colony? What about the north? Can you go there like west germans went to east germany in the cold war?
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Well, if only one thing Korea did not inherit from the US is it's crappy health service. Single pay here and good care for everyone. Maybe not at the European level (and even that one is not always what it used to be), but a step up compared to the US. Most Americans here with families state this as one of the main reasons they are reluctant to go back home.
This episode raised here though is a very bad stain on its formerly mostly good reputation.
Nope, can't travel north. Very different from west/east Germany i imagine back in the day.
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The care is good, or "a simple but urgent medical emergency can turn out to be fatal." Which is it?
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As I said, before this strike, it used to be very good. The strike has changed this, unfortunately.
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It's always the case with central planning. It works great until it doesn't and then people find out the hard way how fragile systems are when they are centralized. This is why single payer is such a stupid idea.
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Not saying it's perfect, but in terms of health care, i still prefer some centralised planning. We can disagree on that :)
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The US system is far from perfect too, but at least doctors aren't striking here. It would be far better with less central planning, same as yours. Weird that you can't see that given the circumstances.
So what happens to socialist healthcare on a bitcoin standard? Is it possible without a money printer?
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south korea somehow managed two dystopias on one continent
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Losing patience and patients
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