Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi faces a difficult challenge in maintaining the quality of the country's medical and nursing care services while lowering related expenses, amid an aging population.
Japan Innovation Party, the new coalition partner to Takaichi's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, has called for lowering social security premiums for working people. But this requires reforms that are expected to increase the burden on society, including the elderly, as a whole.
Since medical and nursing care services are offered at fixed prices set by the state, many service providers are struggling to cope with rapid inflation and are operating at a loss.
Takaichi told a news conference soon after her election as LDP president that she is considering support for medical and nursing care businesses with funds from a possible supplementary budget.
Her comments signaled that official prices for medical and nursing care services will be raised earlier than planned. But this aid to service providers is expected to result in higher insurance premiums and out-of-pocket payments by users.
JIP, also called Nippon Ishin no Kai, has called for lowering insurance premiums for working people by ¥60,000 ($394) per person per year, by reducing national medical care expenditures by over ¥4 trillion from the current level of nearly ¥50 trillion.
The LDP and JIP agreed in their coalition deal signed Monday to aim to stem the rise of premiums for working people and eventually to lower them. But the deal did not include numerical targets, and it remains to be seen if JIP's demands will be met.
JIP has demanded that prescription medicines similar to over-the-counter drugs be excluded from insurance coverage. But the Japan Medical Association, a major supporter of the LDP, has opposed this.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.