Crafting the fiscal 2018 budget, the government has decided to raise by a small amount the medical treatment prices set under the public health insurance system.
Although the increases will lead to raises in health insurance premiums and fees patients pay out of their own pockets at medical institutions, as well as to an increased tax outlay, it is an appropriate decision that should address the deteriorating conditions that doctors and nurses face in their workplaces. Since the nation's medical expenses are rising with the rapid aging of its population, it is all the more important for the government to make every effort to provide quality medical services while exploring the most efficient use of limited resources.
Fees paid to medical institutions for their services are reviewed biennially, while those for elderly nursing care services are re-examined every three years. Fiscal 2018 is a year in which both fees are reviewed simultaneously, which happens every six years. The bulging medical and nursing care expenses are an increasing burden on state finances — an issue that gets more serious as the nation heads toward the critical year of 2025, when all of the postwar baby boomer generation will have turned 75 or older, an age bracket that will account for 20 percent of the overall population.