Revision of Reward for Medical Services

An advisory board for Miniser of Health, Labour and Welfare, Central Social Insurance Medical Council, submitted a report to the minister that recommended raising reward for medical services, considering price inflation and trend of wage hike in private sectors. The recommendation reflected concern on medical system in Japan, which is suffering from deficit of each medical institution and shortage of manpower. It will impose greater payment on patients.

Every medical institute receives medical service fee from public organizations of medical insurance and directly from patients who owe 10 to 30 percent of the fee. Sanae Takaichi administration decided last December to raise the rewards from medical insurance by 3.09 percent, which was the highest rate in these three decades. Considering the positive attitude of the government, the council, which submits its report every two years, recommended hike of the rewards.

 

Medical fee for the second and further diagnoses in the hospital will rise from 750 yen to 760 yen, while the fee for the first diagnosis will stay at 2,910 yen. Hospitalization for acute medical care will increase from 16,880 yen to 18,740 yen in the most expensive case. To maintain medical care system in local cities, basic reward for hospitalization in local medical institute will go from 11,760 yen to 12,900 yen.

 

Considering price hike of medicines, medical equipment or other cost, the report newly introduced an allowance for price hike, which will be addition of daily 20 yen for diagnoses. For hospitalization on acute medical care, the allowance will be 580 yen in the highest case. Those additional fees will be comprehensively applied to any case of medical treatment.

 

The government led by Liberal Democratic Party has been grappling with wage hike to improve real wage of Japanese workers. Encouraging wage increase of medical workers, the government positively evaluates medical institutes that are active in raising salary of their employees. “Evaluation for basic salary hike,” which was established in last revision in 2024, will rise by 110 yen for the first diagnosis and 20 yen for the second and further diagnoses. If the institution has already taken measures for wage hike, the evaluation will rise to 170 yen and 40 yen.

 

 

Since the breakout of COVID-19, the medical institutions in Japan have constantly been in short of medical workers. Price hike of energy or increasing cost of trade caused by the Russia-Ukraine War, worsened management of medical institutions. There are a lot of hospitals that cannot afford necessary equipment for up-to-date medical services.

 

On the other hand, patients will need to pay more cost for medical services. Japan has a universal medical insurance system. Among insured people, agers from 6 to 69 pay 30 percent of medical fee and others from 0 to 6 and from 70 to 74 pay 20 percent. People in 75 or older pay 10 percent. However, the payment must be heavy for a patient with serious disease. It is a question how Takaichi administration will keep those patients’ access to medical services.

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