Chapter 1971: Finally, The Supposed Discussion -Part 6
Chapter 1971: Finally, The Supposed Discussion -Part 6
"Health! Health!" Pei raised her hand as she wanted to air her grievances, believing that now was the right time to do so. They had already gone through the Ixa and Ixel's portion so Jin could tackle the hard parts.
"Is health really the issue now that most of them can die and revive back?" Tsu kidded about it and all he got was a devil glance from Pei.
"I hate to break it to you but most of the people had the same thinking as you. A quick survey has shown that if one thinks that they are sick, they rather just weather it through than see the doctor. A lot of them had the misconception that they should only see the doctor if they have physical wounds." Pei said.
"So like, a cough or flu would definitely hamper them but it will not spur them to see the doctor because it is not something 'serious' that they need to see a healer for it." She added. "In turn, such flu viruses will spread and they will not only affect the people in the workplace but also during their way to work."
"And for recent examples, the viral flu season had just passed and about 10% of the workforce in Seven Cities had reported that they could not come to work. And those were the people who were severely sick and down with the cold to the point that they were having fevers. The others continued to soldier on to work as if nothing had happened." Pei explained.
"So, in short, you want to do some awareness programme?"
"Yes and no. As I have checked with the local healers in the Seven Cities and compared them to any healers that had resided in Demopolis since most of the current population came from there. The healers all stated that their main job is to fix back limbs or give them some adrenaline boosters so that they could work better.
They are not doing much to provide comfort to the ailments of most common health problems. Most of the people who suffered those basic health problems were subsequently eliminated."
"Eliminated as in…? They expire?" Jin asked.
"Yes, that's right. To them, it feels like their time is up and they wrote some sort of permission form to the healers where the healers will cast a death spell in ways that they could not return to the Dungeon World anymore. Even the resurrection will not work.
That…or they do not have any money to pay the Church of the Afterlife, meaning there is no additional coverage because they have been owing the church money that the organisation did not wish to resurrect them back again."
"Sounds overly complicated for a place where they have resurrection." Jin said and the rest nodded. They knew that in comparison to their world where resurrection is an option but not a compulsory way of life, the citizens of Dungeon World had it rough as well.
"So, in order to make them aware that visiting the healers, well erm the healers we are currently training, we need money and the budget to push for awareness. There is no way the population would understand until they tried it out themselves and-"
"-And here comes the age old question whether we should provide it as a public service, as a public good for the betterment of the society, or charge them a portion of money so that the health services rendered could remain useable and profitable enough to sustain themselves.
But due to the human's avarice and greed, most do not see it that way." Jin said and Pei was a little speechless for a moment or two on how to continue since Jin basically spoke whatever she wanted.
"Looks like you are well informed about it."
"Let's just say that I have been with Qiu Yue long enough to hear her complain about it. She had taken a module on Global Health back when we were studying and this was one of the topics that she had been rather passionate about."
"Then your conclusion? Do you have any to give?" Pei asked and sadly Jin also shook his head. In terms of culture and ways of practice, socialism would no doubt be the best benefit the city could get. However, his profit intake is not as significant in the dungeon world as he wanted it to be.
If not for the stocks that his System Accountant Claire had been playing behind the scenes along with the System, Pandapolis would have already collapsed a long time ago.
This is especially so when Jin had let go of Pandapolis and allows it to grow itself, thinking that by using the same concept as the one he had used in the Adventurer's New Town in the Goblin World, it should do just fine. However, he was wrong. Dead wrong. The scale of the city and the debt that had been incurred creating the city was immense.
It was so huge that Jin did not even want to see the numbers at all when the System prompted him.
Eventually, even the System believed that Jin was not particularly interested in Pandapolis because of the sheer amount of work he needed to put it to get the city working. That was why the proposition to use the foxes was a good idea and a fair compromise towards Kraft in releasing the Foxes.
It knew that the Foxes were once leaders and they were rather well versed in the arts of administration due to their leader status. That was why for their survival and consistent living as a human rather than just a bullet, the System had assigned them to take over Demopolis state of affairs and subsequently Pandapolis.
Now that even the Seven Cities were under them, the route to uniting all the cities into one coalition would be a tough job. And this discussion was barely scratching the surface of the problem. One could say it's merely the tip of the iceberg. But if they do not solve the broad problems that each department faces, it will trickle down and affect the coalition of cities down the road.
"Let's do half and half." Jin finally decided, knowing that staying on the fence was still the better option than choosing one completely. And if he does choose just one side, he and the city will suffer in the long term. For example, if he were to make healthcare free, the costs to the city would increase drastically.
The Foxes and the citizens of the coalition cities might not see the effects right now but as the city ages. (And technically it already did with almost half the population being on the older side.) The health care costs would skyrocket due to all the problems the people are facing.
Sure, the current system is effective to a certain extent mainly due to the fact that is was depending on the survival of the fittest model. Those who cannot pay, those who feel that it is enough living, they pick a death spell from the healers.
But that in turn as Pei had mentioned had its disadvantages when it comes to productivity. Then if Jin were to introduce payment, the citizens would be disinclined to try it mainly due to the fact that they were currently okay with the existing System that they had. Why pay more money to have access to solutions where they could just tolerate it out?
These citizens were not really earning much at all because of the inherent systems in place in the Dungeon World, they took things for granted.freё.com
Thus. Jin had decided for Pei to follow models that used both payment and public service. He knew some of the countries had been using such models before and they were working rather well. "Confiscate…hmm wait that sounds like a bad word. Let's just reappropriate a small portion of their salary each month. And we top up that money in their accounts as well.
This way, they use that money to see the healers."
"Huh…?" Pei was a little confused.
"What this means is that we give them the illusion of somewhat free healthcare. But in actual fact, we are using the money that we had helped them to save to see the doctor. At the same time, we also subside some of the doctor fees on our part and they have access to the healing options at a cheaper price." Jin said and hoped that Pei understood.
"So what you are basically saying is we take their money, keep it and only when they are ill, they can use that account to pay for their illness? At the same time, we provide cheaper services because we can subside them?"
"Yes…? Why did you repeat what I said?"
"I am merely confused as this is not exactly the way a businessman will work. However, at the same time, I am getting your point. Off my head, I could think of the advantages but there may be some problems such as overutilisation."
"Then we just got to limit the amount of money they can take out for each trip and have a department to handle requests and complaints whether to approve a higher amount to take out from the account," Jin said and Kiyu who was listening at the sidelines chuckled.
"So, we are basically being the parents of the citizens. Only giving them a small amount even though that is their money in our banks." Kiyu said and the Rex who heard it thought it was a uniquely good idea from the business perspective.