More than 20% cannot afford to pay health insurance tax

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

More than 20% cannot afford to pay health insurance tax

More than 4.5 million households were in arrears with their National Health Insurance tax payments as of June 2008, the health ministry announced on January 16. The number accounts for 20.9 percent of all households enrolled in the national health insurance program, the highest percentage ever.

Due to overdue payments, 338,850 households had their national health insurance cards invalidated. They were issued temporary insurance certificates.

Three-month insurance certificates were issued to about 1.2 million households, up seven percent from the previous year.

The percentage of households without regular National Health Insurance cards was 7.3 percent, up 1.4 points from the previous year. They received either temporary certificates or short-term certificates.

Japanese Communist Party Policy Commission Chair Koike Akira commented on the findings as follows:

"The National Health Insurance premium rate is so high that one in every five households cannot afford to pay it.

The present universal National Health Insurance system in effect fails to work properly as illustrated by the fact that more than seven percent of all households have had their national health insurance cards invalidated.

The government should increase its share of contributions in order to lower premiums. Government contributions were cut when the National Health Insurance Law was adversely revised in 1984. The government must take steps to reduce the public burden as well as end the life-threatening practice of invalidating regular national health insurance cards."

(Notes)

Temporary certificate:

With this certificate, people must first pay the full amount of the cost for the medical treatment they receive at hospitals and clinics, and later can receive a 70-percent refund. However, most of the refund money will be collected as late payments of national health insurance premiums.

Short-term certificate:

This certificate covers medical fees only for a short period and requires to be updated every time it expires.

- Akahata, January 17, 2009