An insurance policy is an agreement whereby the payment of premiums and the receipt of benefits are inseparable. However, this fundamental principle is now being challenged by the nation's public insurance systems, which are creating anxiety and discontent by gradually denying policyholders freedom of choice. I would like to examine this problem by taking a closer look at the national public pension scheme, whose policyholders are individual Japanese, and the deposit insurance scheme, which is designed to cover our banks.

According to the Social Insurance Agency, the percentage of people who failed to pay premiums into the "kokumin nenkin" pension program hit a record high of 37.2 percent in fiscal 2002, up by 8.1 percentage points from the previous year.

This figure has continued to climb since fiscal 1993, and the agency, in a bid to stop the situation from getting worse, is reportedly considering seizing the assets of malicious evaders. It is also studying a plan to deny people tax refunds on insurance premiums unless they can produce their payment certificates for pension premiums.