As I said earlier, despite Taiwan's successful healthcare system, there are a few flies in the ointment…
First, Taiwan's citizens are not limited to the number of medical visits that they make to healthcare clinics and hospitals each year. This coupled with low medical costs has led to overuse in the system -- i.e. some patients visit the doctor for every minor ailment. In fact, the average Taiwanese visits the doctor 14 times per year.
As a result, hospitals and clinics are typically brimming with patients needing medical attention. That means a typical Taiwanese doctor attends to around 120 patients a day -- American and Canadian doctors average between 30 to 40 patients per day. While this keeps doctors efficient – quickly moving from one patient to another – there's always a chance that doctors are focusing on just treating the ailment and not listening closely to the patient.
Because of this overuse and despite the low pay of medical professionals on the island, Taiwan's healthcare system is under-funded and losing millions of dollars each year. Only 6.5% of the nations' GDP is dedicated to healthcare. And the Taiwanese government has actually had to borrow from banks in order to cover healthcare costs.
Despite these few drawbacks, I still think Taiwan has a highly efficient healthcare system. It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, all Taiwanese citizens have access to high-quality medical treatment at a fraction of the cost that developed and other emerging nations offer around the world. As a result, 99% of the island's 23 million population is fully covered.
At this time, I'm not recommending any plays on Taiwan's efficient healthcare system. But there will likely be opportunities in the future -- so be sure to stay tuned.
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