Elderly outpatients are prescribed four kinds of medicine each month, and their monthly payments for such treatment, including injections, comes to about 11,000 yen, according to a medication report published Monday by the Health and Welfare Ministry.
The number of prescription medicines and payments are on the increase, the ministry said. According to the report, outpatients up to age 69 received on average 3.07 prescription medicines in 1995, up from 2.98 in 1994. Such medicine for outpatients 70 years old and higher averaged four, up from 3.98 in 1994.
For elderly people, the cost of medicine accounted for 49.7 percent of their medical spending, up 1.3 percent from the previous year, the report says. Of total outpatients, 11 percent were prescribed more than eight types of medicine, underscoring the nation's tendency to overprescribe, it says.
Among elderly people, medical expenditures in terms of medication numeration points, with 1 point equaling 10 yen, totaled 1101.5, or 11,015 yen, up from 999.9 points in 1994 and nearly double the 555.9 points posted for outpatients 69 and under.
Elderly outpatients made medical visits 3.13 days a month and paid 3,519 yen for medication per visit, the report says. Outpatients aged 69 and under made the visits 2.28 days a month and paid 2,540 yen, it adds. The ministry checked some 255,000 medical cards received by hospitals and clinics in June 1995, the report says.