Health insurance
All residents of Japan are required to be covered by a health-insurance scheme specified by law. The law requires various kinds of employers to provide health insurance to employees and dependents. Residents who are not eligible for any of the various employee-based insurance schemes should register for national health insurance at with their local municipality.[1]
Insurance normally covers 70% of medical expenses. The individual is responsible for the remaining 30%.
Medical Expenses Deduction
The Medical Expenses Deduction can be claimed on your tax return if you have incurred significant medical expenses (over ¥100,000 or 5% of income for people have less than ¥2M taxable income).
High Medical Expense System
There is a system for capping the maximum amount payable for high-expense medical treatment called the 高額療養費制度 (Kougaku Iryouhi Seido), see the information from the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare (Japanese) and the Japan Health Insurance Association (Japanese).
See also
- Japan Pension Service: Employees' Health Insurance System and Employees' Pension Insurance System
- Overview of Medical Service Regime in Japan (PDF) from the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare.
Credits
Many thanks to the following RetireWiki.jp users for writing this article:
Footnotes
- ↑ National Health Insurance Act. Article 6 lists all other relevant laws and insurance schemes available depending on employment type.