Japan to up main portion of medical fees by 0.43% in FY ’22

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Japan to up main portion of medical fees by 0.43% in FY ’22

Japan to up main portion of medical fees by 0.43% in FY ’22

The medical fees, which are covered by tax revenue, health insurance premiums and patients' out-of-pocket spending, are reviewed every two years. (AFP)

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20 Dec 2021 12:12:02 GMT9

TOKYO: The Japanese government plans to raise fees paid to cover labor costs for doctors and nurses by 0.43 percent in the fiscal 2022 revision, informed sources said Sunday.

It will be the eighth straight hike of the main portion of medical fees.

Meanwhile, the government plans to lower official drug prices, the sources said. As a result, the country’s overall medical fees are expected to be reduced. The government apparently hopes to avoid having citizens shoulder a greater burden by implementing a fee hike at a time when they are already suffering from the novel coronavirus crisis.

The medical fees, which are covered by tax revenue, health insurance premiums and patients’ out-of-pocket spending, are reviewed every two years.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki and health minister Shigeyuki Goto at the prime minister’s official residence to discuss the fiscal 2022 revision of medical fees, a key focus in the government’s compilation of its budget for the fiscal year starting next April.

The government will formally decide on the medical fees’ revision on Wednesday.

Based on the results released earlier this month of a survey comparing market prices of drugs and state-set official prices, the government is considering cutting the official drug prices by around 1.3 percent, the sources said.

The increase of the main portion reflects the government’s aim to improve working conditions for nurses, as well as the start of insurance coverage for fertility treatment in fiscal 2022. But the size of the hike will be smaller than 0.55 percent in the previous revision in fiscal 2020, due in part to efforts to effectively deploy medical human resources.

The Japan Medical Association has requested a major increase in the main portion of medical fees, claiming that many medical institutions are in financial difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand, the Finance Ministry has requested a cut in the main portion from the perspective of curbing medical bills.

JIJI Press

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