Dorothy Hong is a second year medical student at the University of Southern California. She was raised in mainland China, and her mother teaches at Beijing University. Michael Kennedy, M.D., who teaches at USC, asked her to comment on our prior dialogue on health care in mainland China.
Dorothy Hong:
Hi Dr. Kennedy:
Their arguments are very interesting (U. Reinhardt, E. Christiansen, with a further comment by R. Covell). Both opinions are correct in certain aspects.
As Dr. Christiansen stated: “Hospitals are exceedingly well staffed with an abundance of well-trained physicians and registered nurses.” The best hospitals in China are excellent. However, there are very few excellent hospitals. Only a small percentage of people have access to decent health care.
In terms of the health care system, both socialism and capitalism co-exist. It all depends on whom you work for. If you are an employee of a public institution (run by the government), like my father, you and your children (not your spouse) can be covered by the company’s health plan. You can go to any hospital in your local area. The government pays the health care expenses. My father had to pay a very reasonable fee to insure my brother and me. Therefore, some lucky citizens are protected by the socialist health care system. However, if you are self-employed or work for a private company the government will not pay for your health care. China does not even have hospitals like the LA County hospitals. Human lives are not very important in the eyes of the government. There are too many people for the government to handle.
The socialist health care in China is good for those who can benefit from it. Both of my parents have to spend a day to do their annual physical exam, and this day is considered as a working day. They do basic screening tests based on your age, and a CBC. During their yearly routine examination, my father found out that he had hypertension, my mother, borderline diabetes.
For the past fifty decades, the Chinese socialist health care system has managed its expenses because only a very small percentage of people can take advantage of it. However, things are changing. My parents are concerned about for how much longer they can have this benefit.
Overall, I agree more with Dr. Covell and Dr. Reinhardt. One of my motivations to study medicine is to take care of my family’s health care needs in the future.
Dorothy