Socialized Medicine in South Korea

I want to talk about the benefits of socialized medicine from someone who has just gone through it. 

Since last night I have had this feeling creeping up my throat. You know the feeling well. It's the feeling of soreness and is usually accompanied by a feeling of someone putting weights on your upper chest. Today at school it only got worse. I vowed to make a trip to the hospital for the first time in a country where English is not the primary language and medicine is practically free (or so i've heard.)

In South Korea about 3% or so is taken out of my paycheck each month. This month it was 53,00Won out of 2,100,000Won (in dollars that $43 out of $1736.70 as of the exchange rate right this second.) 

With that said I was lucky enough to ask one of my teacher students (I teach a group of them Monday and Friday) if she knew where the hospital was in our town. She tried to draw me a map but said she would take me so I could make it in time. On the way back to my town from my school I asked her what she meant by "make it on time". She said all doctors close their offices around 6:30PM but there are special building that have walk-in emergency rooms that are open 24 hours a day. 

She dropped me off in the middle of my town in an area I walk past almost every day and said we were here. Confused I got out of the car and walked up the stairs as she instructed me too. On the second floor I found the doors to the office. 

The rest if boring so I will shorten the time inside of the office. With no appointment I got to see the doctor within 5 minutes. He spoke English. I told him what was wrong (sore throat, earache, sick) and he checked it out. Very clean office but it was small. For the checkup I paid 4,500WON!!!!!!!!!!!! ($3.72 for the exchange rate right now) and was prescribed a three day medication. I went to the Pharmacy which was the next building over, less than 10 yards, and gave them the script. Within 2 minutes she gave me two sets of packages. One set was every day and contained multiple pills. The other was twice a day and contained multiple pills (around 5 or 6.) The total cost for that was $4.14!!!!!! for the current exchange rate.

The only question I have is if this program can work so efficiently with such little tax money how can we, in America, not come up with anything at all?