Gov't and ruling parties agree on heavier health insurance burden on workers

The government and the three ruling parties on November 29 agreed on a
proposal to increase the medical cost burden shouldered by salaried workers
to 30 percent of their total costs instead of the present 20 percent.

Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro has said he hopes that the "reform
plan" will be implemented from fiscal 2003.

Apparently fearing opposition from the public, the government parties
made cosmetic changes in the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry plan. Still,
both plans call for increases in the people's burden in their share of
medical costs.

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo criticized the proposal for
being based on the thinking that higher medical costs would discourage
people from visiting doctors and thereby help cut the government's share of
medical costs.

Shii warned that such a crooked way of trying to discourage people from
visiting doctors would harm the health of the people on a large scale and
conversely increase the total medical cost.

Shii also pointed out that the government and pharmaceutical companies
are not asked to shoulder increased burdens. He said that the need is to cut
the budget for wasteful public works projects and instead direct money to
social services and reform the drug pricing system in Japan which is much
higher than in European countries. (end)