Japan: 40% of health insurance unions to dissolve by 2022
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Jun 2019
Over 40% of health insurance unions, known as kenpo, mainly for employees of large companies, are facing increased pressure to dissolve themselves by the 2022 fiscal year which starts on 1 April 2022.
Pressure on such unions to disband and transfer members to the Japan Health Insurance Association, which operates mainly for workers at smaller firms, is expected to increase, because the average premium rate among workers who participate in the state-subsidised association, also known as Kyokai Kenpo, is only around 10%, reported Jiji Press.
The National Federation of Health Insurance Societies, or Kenporen, estimates that the number of kenpo unions with premium rates of 10% or higher will surge from 302 in FY2019 to 601 in FY2022, accounting for about 43% of them.
In the meantime, Kenporen projects that total contributions for the elderly made from kenpo unions to the medical system will rise from JPY3.4trn ($31bn) in FY2019 to JPY3.9trn in FY2022, because baby boomers are beginning to turn 75.
The average premium rate among kenpo unions is projected to rise from 9.2% to 9.8%, and the average premium payment per member per year is projected to reach about JPY550, 000 in FY2022. A