An old trick of the bureaucrats in Japan

In Japan, the medical system has been managed like that in the planned economy in the past communism countries. It has enabled the people to access to the most modern medicine, if not the best, at very reasonable costs since 1960s. Since the period of continuing growth of the economy has ended and the number of the senior citizen is increasing rapidly, this system seems on the way to collapse right now. The government and the bureaucrats are trying to cut the budget for the medical services by various means. Of course, cutting the income of the private practioners is one of the easiest ways. It also prevents the doctors working at hospitals from leaving there and owning their own practice. It may be beneficial to hospital owners who comprise of the most of the doctor's association in Japan.

The latest news told "the private practioners" had been earning 2.3 times of those working at hospitals. This data came from a committee of the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare discussing about the costs and the expenditures for the medical services. This is a terribly biased data given by the bureaucrats who intend to lessen the expenditure to the whole private practioners. The category of "the private practioners" the committee took up is only a part of the whole practioners, that is, the founders of the juridical person in medicine services. Those founders always manage larger facilities with larger gross income than the other doctor categories including those working at hospitals. The former is always experienced in medicine. They have made much investment to their facilities. They won't have any previledge in public pension etc. On the other hand, the latter is always young and less experienced without any investment to their work. They are given social securities. It is not rational to make comparison between these two categories of doctors.

In order to lead the people erroneously believe that lessening the payment to the private practioners is an inevitable and only strategy to get out of the present crisis, they have made such irrational comparison between those two categories. This has been one of their old tricks. It won't work out, I believe, because the expenditure for the private practioners is relatively small in the total budget for medical services. The expenditure for medical services is paid for the most cutting edge and expensive medical procedures and/or the medical apparatus etc. It won't take so long before the people get aware of this old trick.

It may result in that the people will lose this system most advantageous for them ever in the history of medical services in the world.

This is one reason why I quit my job earlier than the average retiree of the doctors in Japan. I feel fed up with the old trick by the bureaucrats.