Containing Health Care Costs In Japan

DIVA comprehensive picture of costs in Japan's effective and efficient health care system. /div

DIVA comprehensive picture of costs in Japan's effective and efficient health care system. /div

Health spending has risen rapidly in Japan. We find two-thirds of the spending increase over 1990–2011 resulted from ageing, and the rest from excess cost growth. The spending level will rise further: ageing alone will raise it by 31⁄2 percentage points of GDP over 2010–30, and excess cost growth at the rate observed over 1990–2011 will lead to an additional increase of 2–3 percentage points of GDP. This will require a sizable increase in government transfers. Japan can introduce micro- and macro-reforms to contain health spending, and financing options should be designed to enhance equity.

The Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs of the U.S. Department of State presents the full text of the fact sheet entitled "Health Care in Japan," published June 26, 2000. Japan has the longest life expectancy, with 77 years for men and 84 for women, and the lowest infant mortality rates in the world. Health care costs remain low in Japan. Japan focuses on preventive care, which has helped in containing costs. To address concerns of the aging of Japan's population, a public nursing care insurance system went into effect in April 2000.

"Comparing the health care systems of six industrialized nations - the United States, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, and the United Kingdom - the author assesses the strengths and weaknesses of each system, discusses the latest in health care policy research, and suggests how the lessons learned by other nations might be applied in the United States to produce lasting health care reform."--BOOK JACKET.

Ageing population poses a set of complex policy and dilemmas for social security systems, intensifying the concerns about rising expenditures in health care and long-term care for elderly. In this context, ageing societies has many valuable lessons to learn by studying Japan's experience dealing with its hyper-aged society and particularly from its strategies to ensure the financial sustainability of the Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCI) system. Based on an exhaustive literature review, and the results from six original researches on long-term care expenditures in Japan (LTCE) conducted during a doctoral program, the book provides a comprehensive view in analyzing trends and factors associated with increasing expenditures in the Long-Term Care Insurance system in Japan. The book address relevant topics such as; the main socio-demographic changes experienced by the Japanese society during the last three decades, predictors of the LTCE, measuring efficiency in nursing homes, the impact of the LTCI 2005-reform to contain expenditures, cost-effectiveness of the in-home and community based services and institutional LTCE in the last year of life. The book end with a discussion on futures challenges and strategies oriented to contribute with the sustainability of LTCI system in Japan.

This book integrates the fundamentals of quantitative significance, using existing estimates of the elasticities of demand for tax, health insurance, and medical services in a static microsimulation model. It serves as a guide to the financial and social basics of health insurance and provides the reader with the intellectual groundwork indispensable for understanding the incorrect assumptions about the elasticities of demand and pattern of tax and health insurance. Most countries feel constant pressure because expenditure is increasing and resources are scarce. The topics addressed in this book including several frameworks leading to over-insurance, excess demand for medical care, and rapid expenditure growth in the medical care sector. Illustrated by carefully chosen examples and supported by extensive data analyses, this book is highly recommended to readers who seek an in-depth and up-to-date integrated overview of the ever-expanding theoretical and quantitative fields of containing costs, increasing funding for health services, or both.

Describes the politics and economics of health care in Japan and their implications for the USA.