Should older people pay a larger share of their health care costs?
The government has approved a proposal that would require those aged over 74 to pay 20% of health care costs out of pocket, thus doubling the portion they currently pay.
Japan to raise medical fees for people over 75 based on income
The government plan is part of efforts to avoid a further increase in the burden on younger generations due to a rapidly graying population and low birthrate.
Japan aims to remove income cap on subsidies for fertility treatment
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Monday the government aims to abolish the cap on income to make it easier for all couples to receive subsidies for fertility treatment as Japan faces a declining birth rate. Suga's remark came in response to calls that, in order ...
Suga's fertility push hailed, but not panacea for boosting birth rate
Couples welcome moves to bring treatment under national insurance, but urge against putting pressure on people to bear children.
Medical expenses in Japan in fiscal 2019, which ended in March this year, grew 2.4 percent from the previous year to a record ¥43.6 trillion, the health ministry said in a preliminary report Friday. The amount of money paid to medical institutions for treating diseases ...
Japan's health insurance to cover ¥167 million gene therapy drug
Considered the world's most expensive medicine, relatively few cases are expected to require the one-time dosage of drug to treat spinal muscular atrophy.
Japan's silence on HPV vaccinations will lead to 11,000 cancer deaths, study says
A decision by the government to stop recommending adolescent girls receive an HPV vaccination will likely result in almost 11,000 deaths from cervical cancer if it is not reversed, according to a study in a prestigious medical journal. The HPV vaccine has been a political ...
Government sends notices to prefectures seeking talks on merging some public hospitals
As the country faces a need to streamline the medical sector amid soaring medical expenses, the health ministry has sent notices to prefectures requesting discussions on possible mergers of publicly run local hospitals. The move came after the ministry announced the list of 424 public ...
Japan's public insurance to cover preventive breast and ovary removal for cancer patients
The health ministry said public health insurance can now cover mastectomies and oophorectomies for breast or ovarian cancer patients who have a hereditary mutation that raises tumor risk.
Jeremy Corbyn has a radical Labour message. Can he sell it to Britain?
Jeremy Corbyn pulled no punches as he presented the country with his plan for a Labour government, the most radical proposed since 1983, when the party suffered its worst postwar defeat. Railways, water supply and broadband infrastructure would be brought into state ownership. The government's ...
Japanese hospitals faced financial difficulties in fiscal 2018, survey finds
Hospitals faced continuing financial difficulties in fiscal 2018, with institutions across the country registering a minus 2.7 percent profit margin on average, a government survey has shown. The negative profit margin for hospitals with 20 or more beds was 0.3 percentage point better than in ...
Japan Finance Ministry proposes raising out-of-pocket medical costs for those 75 and over
The Finance Ministry on Friday proposed cutting official medical service fees and raising the proportion of medical expenses paid by patients themselves, with the aim of improving the financial condition of the country's health insurance system. The proposals, intended to hold down social security costs ...
