Draft of the Laws Related to Reform of the Medical System

The Japanese Government submitted a Draft of Laws Related to Reform of the Medical System which included a Draft to Revise the Health Insurance System. These laws aim at reforming the medical system which was what the Koizumi Administration had publicly pledged to implement. The laws were to include the following changes.

1. Beginning April 2003, health insurance's coverage for the insurance policyholder's medical treatment (both as an outpatient and inpatient) will be reduced from 80% to 70%.

2. The insurance premium rates of government-managed health insurance (which employees of small enterprises subscribe to), which until now was based on monthly income, will be based on annual income that will include bonuses, with the rates being raised from 7.5% to 8.2%. As a result, households of salaried workers must pay more than the current premiums.

3. Basic policies related to how the medical/insurance system should ideally be, as well as the creation of new medical insurance system for the elderly, and a review of the medical examination remuneration system, will be drawn up during FY2002.

4. Specifics and annual plans related to the unified collection of social insurance premiums, the integration and/or abolition of social insurance hospitals, and other topics will be clearly indicated in the early part of FY2002.

In response, both the labor and the management opposed the draft, saying that it "postponed the implementation of a drastic reform." They argued that, the draft "only made the patients suffer with additional financial burdens instead of benefiting from the reform." In making "constructive policy and institution-related demands and proposal," for example, the Japanese Trade Unions Confederation (JTUC) proposed concrete reform plans, while Nikkeiren called for suppressing overall medical treatment costs and creating a medical system for the elderly that made the patients pay amounts in line with their benefits and payment capabilities.

The JTUC plans to make demands to both the ruling and the opposition parties, conduct sit-in demonstrations in front of the Diet Building, and collect petitions from 10 million people, demanding drastic reforms. All eyes will now be focused on the outcome of the deliberations in the Diet..