life insurance in japan

As of the moment, Japan's Universal Healthcare System is being revamped by the current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as popularized by Abenomics .The health care in Japan provides healthcare services, including screening examinations, prenatal care andinfectious disease control, with the patient accepting responsibility for 30% of these costs while the government pays the remaining 70%. Payment for personal medical services is offered through a universal health care insurance system that provides relative equality of access, with fees set by a government committee. All residents of Japan are required by the law to have health insurance coverage. People without insurance through employers can participate in a national health insurance programme administered by local governments. Patients are free to select physicians or facilities of their choice and cannot be denied coverage. Hospitals, by law, must be run as non-profit and be managed by physicians. For-profit corporations are not allowed to own or operate hospitals. Clinics must be owned and operated by physicians.

Medical fees are strictly regulated by the government to keep them affordable. Depending on the family income and the age of the insured, patients are responsible for paying 10%, 20% or 30% of medical fees with the government paying the remaining fee. Also, monthly thresholds are set for each household, again, depending on income and age, and medical fees exceeding the threshold are waived or reimbursed by the government. Uninsured patients are responsible for paying 100% of their medical fees, but fees are waived for low-income households receiving government subsidy. Fees are also waived for homeless people when they are brought to the hospital by ambulance.

Cost

In 2008, Japan spent about 8.5% of the nation's gross domestic product(GDP), or US$2,873 per capita, on health, ranking 20th among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. That amount was less than the average of 9.6% across OECD countries in 2009, and about half as much as that in the United States.In 2013 expenditure was $479 billion, 10.3% of GDP - about the midpoint of OECD countries.

The government has well controlled cost over decades by using the nationally uniform fee schedule for reimbursement. The government is also able to reduce fees when the economy stagnates. In the 1980s, health care spending was rapidly increasing as was the case with many industrialized nations. While some countries like the U.S. allowed costs to rise, Japan tightly regulated the health industry to rein in costs. Fees for all health care services are set every two years by negotiations between the health ministry and physicians. The negotiations determine the fee for every medical procedure and medication, and fees are identical across the country. If physicians attempt to game the system by ordering more procedures to generate income, the government may lower the fees for those procedures at the next round of fee setting. This was the case when the fee for an MRI was lowered by 35% in 2002 by the government. Thus, as of 2009, in the U.S. an MRI of the neck region could cost $1,500, but in Japan it cost US$98. Japan has had "catastrophic coverage" since 1973. Once a patient's monthly copayment reaches a cap, no further copayment is required.The threshold for the monthly copayment amount is tiered into three levels according to income and age

Insurance companies of Japan

The following 20 pages are in this category, out of 20 total. This list may not reflect recent changes (learn more).

A

• Anicom
• Asahi Life

D

• Dai-ichi Life

F

• Fuji Fire and Marine Insurance

J

• Japan Post Insurance

M

• Meiji Yasuda Life
• Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group
• MS&AD Insurance Group

N

• Nippon Export and Investment Insurance
• Nippon Life
• Nissan Life

S

• SBI Group
• Sompo Japan Nipponkoa
• Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Holdings
• Sony Life
• Sumitomo Life

T

• T&D Holdings
• Tokio Marine
• Tokio Marine Nichido

Y

• Yamato Life