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Japan: 40% of health insurance societies anticipate losses for latest financial year

Source: Asia Insurance Review | Nov 2018

Over 40% of the 1,394 health insurance societies catering to employees of large companies and their families are estimated to have reported losses for the financial year ended 31 March 2018 (FY2017). In the previous year, the proportion was 38.7%.
 
As a whole, the societies would normally be expected to be in the black, but their net profit in FY2017 is estimated have dropped by some JPY100bn ($892m) from a year ago to just over JPY130bn, sources told Jiji Press.
 
The loss expansion and profit shrinkage reflected the substantial increase in contributions each society made to the medical care system for elderly people aged at least 65.
 
The corporate health insurance funds are facing ‘quite serious’ financial conditions amid the country’s greying population. An increasing number of health insurance societies have been disbanded or started moving toward dissolution since the beginning of this year.
 
In May, Kenporen (National Federation of Health Insurance Societies) and Kyokai Kenpo (National Health Insurance Association) urged the government to require that people 75 or older pay 20% of their medical costs out of pocket in principle, up from the current 10%. The proposal was backed by major business organisations including the influential Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren. A 
 
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