TOKYO: People in Japan will be allowed to use their My Number social security and taxation identification cards as an alternative to health insurance cards, starting in March 2021.

Holders of My Number cards will be able to receive health insurance-covered services even if they do not have a valid health insurance card, including when they have yet to get a new card for reasons such as changing job and marriage.

The move is designed to enhance the My Number card’s convenience and improve the accuracy of identity confirmations at hospitals.

Patients will hold the My Number card over the card reader and confirm their identity using a face recognition system or by entering their own four-digit passcode. Hospitals across the country will be able to confirm patients’ eligibility for insurance coverage.

The government believes that the possibility of insurance status information theft is low even if a person loses the My Number card, as it only holds the minimum information about the holder.

The move will also spare patients the trouble of having to fill out papers when applying to use the high-cost medical care benefit system, which sets upper limits for out-of-pocket medical expenses shouldered by patients, because hospitals will be able to obtain the information needed from the system.

People will need to submit applications to use their My Number cards as health insurance cards. Necessary procedures can be completed via a smartphone with a card reader function.

Also, such procedures are expected to be available at hospitals, pharmacies and automated teller machines at some convenience stores in the near future.

According to the health ministry, only 19.5 pct of hospitals and pharmacies across the country had ordered a card reader as of Dec. 13, far behind the government’s goal of lifting the proportion to about 60 pct in fiscal 2020, which ends in March next year.

The ministry will offer more subsidies to hospitals and pharmacies ordering a card reader by the end of March in an effort to alleviate concerns about costs, a factor behind their slow preparations.

“We want many facilities to install a card reader using the subsidy program,” a ministry official said.

JIJI Press