Japan Press Weekly

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2012 April 4 - 10 [WELFARE]

JCP Kami demands decrease in health insurance premiums

Japanese Communist Party Dietmember Kami Tomoko on April 3 urged the government to reduce health insurance premiums, arguing that the heavy burden of payment discourages low-income earners from obtaining medical services.

At a House of Councilors health committee meeting, Kami referred to a survey conducted by the Japan Federation of Democratic Medical Institutions (Min-Iren), which shows that at least 67 people died last year due to putting off going to hospitals because of financial constraints, and that 42 of them could not afford to have a health insurance card.

In Sapporo City, a married couple with two children with an annual income of 2 million yen is required to pay 350,000 yen a year in national health insurance premiums. Kami revealed that nearly 300,000 households throughout Japan have lost their health insurance cards because they were in arrears on their payments of the premiums.

She demanded that the government increase its share of the cost for health insurance in order to reduce the burden of high premiums.