The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) recently adopted a package of bills to limit spending on medical care benefits and reduce medical insurance coverage for a portion of the elderly population in Japan.  Under the new measure, 70-75 year old citizens must now pay 20% of their medical bills, an increase from the previous level of 10%.  Seventy to seventy-five year old citizens within higher income brackets must pay 30% of their medical bills, an increase from the previous level of 20%.  By raising co-payments for elderly citizens, the Japanese government hopes to decrease medical costs by 12% over the next 20 years. 

Another element of the medical spending cuts package is a targeted effort to reduce the length of hospital stays. Currently, the average hospital stay is 37 days.  Prefecture governments will be responsible for designing plans to address this issue.  Since the new law requires patients to pay for food and services during long hospital stays, prefecture governments will also be in charge of developing new programs to educate citizens about healthy lifestyle choices to reduce the number of cases of adult-onset diabetes, obesity, and hypertension.

The Japanese government recognizes that its graying society poses significant challenges to its economic and healthcare systems.  In addition to this package of bills, the Japanese government has implemented a new medical service fee system to encourage home stays instead of long hospitalizations.  This new service fee system will make it more expensive for patients to seek treatment at hospitals.  The government is encouraging the development of home care support clinics and nursing homes to handle elderly patients in need of long term care.