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The Health Insurance System in Japan
Author(s) -
WATANABE YOSHIO
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
pacing and clinical electrophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.686
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1540-8159
pISSN - 0147-8389
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-8159.1996.tb03422.x
Subject(s) - medicine , life expectancy , health care , healthcare system , medical care , health insurance , economic growth , family medicine , environmental health , population , economics
The steadily increasing cost of medical care associated with advancing medical technology as well as the rapid progression of generalized aging of the society has become a major socioeconomical issue confronting most developed countries. Although Japan is no exception in this regard, and a drastic modification of the health care system is now being discussed, it is also clear that its postwar health insurance system has played a major role for the Japanese achieving the longest life expectancy in the world (over 82 years for female and 76 years for male) in the past decade. It is thus my understanding that the invitation for this brief review reflects the need for reference information regarding the current debate in the North American continent.