Japan Discloses More Details of Costs to Fight Low Birthrate

Tokyo, April 11 (Jiji Press)--Japan on Thursday disclosed more details of the planned fees that will be added to public medical insurance premiums to help secure funds to fight the country's low birthrate. 

Participants in the "kokumin kenko hoken" public medical insurance program for self-employed people and others are expected to pay 800 yen a month if they have an annual income of 6 million yen as of fiscal 2028, said Ayuko Kato, minister for children-related policies.
 

The expected monthly fee stands at 550 yen for those with an annual income of 4 million yen and 1,100 yen for those with an annual income of 8 million yen, Kato told a special committee meeting at the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament.
 

There will be a relief measure for low-income households, under which a participant with an annual income of 2 million yen will be charged 250 yen per month, Kato also said.
 

The estimates only serve as reference figures, Kato said, adding that many participants in the program receive less than 4 million yen in annual income.
 

On Tuesday, the government released similar estimates of fees by annual income for corporate workers. For instance, an employee with an annual income of 6 million yen is expected to pay 1,000 yen monthly.
 

Japan will start to collect the fees in fiscal 2026 from participants in "kokumin kenko hoken" and other public medical insurance programs, boosting the amounts in stages in order to collect a total of 1 trillion yen annually.
 

The government plans to secure 3.6 trillion yen annually by fiscal 2028 for measures to address the low birthrate. Of the total, 1 trillion yen would come from the fees.
 

At Thursday's meeting, Takeshi Shina of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan criticized the government, saying that it "should consider ways to secure funds without asking (the public) to pay fresh costs."
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