If you become sick or are injured
If you become sick or are injured, you can use health insurance to get necessary medical treatment by making in principle a copayment of 30% of the medical care costs. The amount paid at the hospital counter is even lower for preschool children and elderly persons aged 70 or older.
Medical Care Benefits (for dependents, “Dependents' Medical Care Expenses”)
- ** See here for information on measures for reducing cost burdens for persons aged 70-74.
- **Persons earning income at the same levels as active workers: This refers to elderly persons aged 70-74 whose standard monthly remuneration is 280,000 yen or more. See here for more information.
Using health insurance, you can get necessary medical care for treatment of nonoccupational sickness and injury by making a copayment of 30%. This is referred to as "Medical Care Benefits" (for dependents, "Dependents' Medical Care Expenses"). You pay only 30% of medical care costs at the medical care institution because the Health Insurance Society covers the remaining 70%.
The Health Insurance Society later pays the amount of medical care costs paid at the hospital over one month minus 20,000 yen, as “Patient Cost-Sharing Reimbursements” (for dependents, “Dependents' Medical Care Additional Sum”). This payment is calculated and made automatically based on “the Rezept (medical cost details)” sent by the hospital to the Health Insurance Society. Payment will occur roughly three months end of the month after the month of the medical care.
See “When you incur high medical care costs: How High-Cost Medical Care Benefits are calculated” for a specific calculation example.
Meals during hospitalization
If you are hospitalized, in addition to the 30% copayment on medical care costs, you must also pay yourself as meal expenses (referred to as “inpatient meal standard expenses”) 490 yen/meal for up to three meals/day (280 yen/meal for patients with intractable diseases or specific chronic diseases of children).
While the actual cost of meals during hospitalization is 670 yen/meal (up to three meals/day) based on standard meal expenses, the Health Insurance Society pays the amount in excess of inpatient meal standard expenses, as “Inpatient Meal Expenses”.
In addition, when an elderly person aged 65-74 is hospitalized in a long-term care bed, he or she pays meal expenses of 490 yen/meal (450 yen/meal at some medical care institutions) and accommodation expenses of 370 yen/day (**1) (called “the standard personal cost burden for living expenses”). The Health Insurance Society pays the amount of actual costs in excess of this standard personal cost burden for living expenses as “Inpatient Living Expenses.”
- **1: For those with high degrees of medical necessity (Medical Care Categories II or III), the copayment for meal expenses is 370 yen, while the copayment for accommodation expenses is 200 yen. (For patients with designated intractable diseases, the copayment for meal expenses is 280 yen, while the copayment for accommodation expenses is 0 yen.)
- **2: Costs are reduced still further for persons with low income. See here for more information.