I’ve been terrified of hospitals starting from a young age. Since we never went to the hospital unless it was absolutely necessary due to the high costs, it became a place that I dreaded even thinking about visiting.
We don’t have clinics like in Japan, even small health check ups or ten minute visits can run up a bill of hundreds of dollars without insurance. Even with insurance, it’s often unclear of what is covered or not covered by your insurance company and misunderstanding can often leave people to foot the entire bill.
Japan’s national health insurance was a blessing and huge stress relief, not worrying about problems that might come up or accidents out of my control was a burden that I was used to shouldering.
