TOKYO: The Japanese government is set to start full-fledged discussions as early as this month on the idea of extending public health insurance coverage to include childbirth from fiscal 2026.

The government will also consider setting a uniform price for delivery support and related services at hospitals and other facilities, in a bid to curb rising childbirth expenses as part of measures to tackle Japan’s declining birthrate.

In its strategy for children’s future adopted at a cabinet meeting at the end of 2023, the government said it would consider covering childbirth costs with public medical insurance.

The current coverage does not extend to childbirth costs in general, while there is a handful of exceptions including cesarean section costs.

The health ministry and the Children and Families Agency are slated to establish a panel of experts as early as June to discuss insurance coverage of childbirth and other related issues.

The average of childbirth costs across the country stood at some 482,000 yen in fiscal 2022.

The lowest average by prefecture was 360,000 yen in Kumamoto, while Tokyo’s average was highest at about 600,000 yen. In Kanagawa, a Tokyo neighbor, the average was 550,000 yen.

Japan raised its lump-sum childbirth allowance to 500,000 yen in principle from 420,000 yen in April 2023.

In many cases, however, the allowance is not enough to cover childbirth costs, especially in big cities, where personnel costs are prone to rise amid soaring prices.

If childbirth is covered by public medical insurance, women giving birth would pay 30 pct of the costs out of their own pockets.

The government will consider creating a system to make the out-of-pocket payments effectively zero for childbirth costing up to 500,000 yen.

The envisioned uniform price for delivery support and other services is expected to be lower than the childbirth costs in urban areas. But if the official price is too low, that would pose business risks to medical institutions in urban areas.

JIJI Press