Japan changes level of over-70s payment for doctor visits

There is a Bill being put before the Japanese Diet (parliament)proposing to change the proportion that the over-70s pay for visiting a doctor. However, this is unlikely to affect demand because the ceiling on maximum payments is being set at a low level. At present, the elderly pay 530 yen ($4.63) per visit with a ceiling set at 2,120 yen. (This is equal to four visits, with the fifth and subsequent visits being free).

On top of this, they also pay prescription fees depending on the number of drugs prescribed. A patient given five drugs in a month would now pay a prescription fee of 3,600 yen, and the sum of these two co-payments would be 5,760 yen per month. But the new Bill would require elderly out-patients to pay 10% of their costs, with a ceiling of only 5,000 yen per month at large hospitals (reduced to only 4,700 yen at small clinics if the prescription is filled by an independent pharmacy).