Japan Press Weekly

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2007 September 12 - 18 [WELFARE]

The elderly aged 75 and over may have to pay 155,000 yen as yearly medical insurance premium

Upon hearing the estimated cost of premiums for a new medical insurance system for the elderly aged 75 and over, many elderly people began yelling, “I won’t be able to pay that amount of money. Does the government want to say we should die?”

The government next April will launch “the latter period medical-care system for the elderly” that will separate the elderly aged 75 and over from other generations in order to shift heavier burdens on them and cut medical service costs.

According to a survey conducted by an institution in charge of administration of the new system made up of Tokyo’s municipalities, it is estimated that the average medical insurance premiums will go up as high as 155,000 yen a year, greatly exceeding the Health Ministry’s estimate of 74,000 yen.

In the case of residents in Tachikawa City, the premiums are expected to rise by 1.3 to 2.1 times compared to the current National Health Insurance system.

Under the new system, the premiums will be deducted in advance from the pension benefits in addition to the already deducted nursing care insurance premiums, unless the benefits are less than 15,000 yen a month.

Health insurance cards of those who failed to pay the premium will be invalidated, and they will have to pay the full amount of expenses at hospitals.

The Japanese Communist Party has been demanding that the government freeze the implementation of this system and drastically review the system that the Koizumi Liberal Democratic-Komei parties’ government forcibly introduced in 2006.

The institutions in charge of insurance administration in Saitama, Chiba, and Kanagawa prefectures as well as Tokyo on September 12 jointly made representations to the health minister, requesting the government to increase the state subsidy to the new system.