ABSTRACT
Baby Boomers take note: for all its socialist credentials and history, China had (and still has as of this writing) no mandatory health care or so-called “public option” for its supposedly venerated seniors. Or for anyone else, for that matter. All health care here was pay as you go. Even my health insurance as a state university faculty member was pay-as-you-go. I’d go, pay, get a receipt, and then (usually) the university accounting department would reimburse me at the end of the month—or the next. On the plus side, this coverage included pretty much everything, including vaccines and dental care my first year (they cut way back on coverage the second year, maybe due to my fondness for acupuncture). And while the rates were low, if you couldn’t pay, out you went. The only exception, jarringly similar to the U.S. (which seemed determined to follow China’s path, at least on this issue, despite all reason) was emergency room care. In China they did pretty much what President George W. Bush has suggested to the Americans: “if you’re sick, you can always go to the emergency room” (conveniently ignoring the fact that you will be billed later, ultimately by a collection agency).
