Medical Service System In Japan

     Jessica.Y, one of the frequent subscribers to this blog, asked me about the medical service system in Japan.
     The prices of medical services are regulated by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Every diagnostic approach and method of treatment is reasonably priced by the authority. When a cutting-edge medical technology is developed, it would be investigated for a few years and if it turn out to be effective, the new technology is listed in the coverage of official medical insurance.
     All the methods and approaches of medical service that have their official prices are covered by the official medical insurance. There are different kinds of official medical insurance and all the Japanese have a certain official medical insurance. Have you ever seen the movie "John Q"? The situation of "John Q" would never happen in Japan. No matter how rich or how poor people are, they can receive the same level of medical service across the country. Moreover, people of low income who get welfare payments are completely exempt from the medical charge.
     Japanese medical doctors have better incomes than the average people, but their incomes are lower than those of medical doctors in the western countries. However, I think that this system is good and can be the model for other developed countries.
     What Jessica.Y wrote on the comment column of Apr. 27th is true.

(Vocabulary)
Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare  厚生労働省
cutting-edge  〈研究・芸術などが〉 最先端［最前線］の
cutting-edge technology  最先端技術
exempt  免除された (+ from)

(KW: 日本の医療システム 医療保険)

Comments

[Jess. Y]

Wow, that is very interesting.
Thank you for answering my question!