Fukuoka City to cut national health insurance premium rates

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Fukuoka City to cut national health insurance premium rates

Fukuoka residents have succeeded in forcing the Fukuoka City Government to reduce national health insurance premium rates, the highest in Japan.

During the question time allotted to Japanese Communist Party representative Hiejima Toshikazu at a city assembly session on June 16, a Fukuoka City official said that the city will cut this year’s premium rates by 0.52 percentage points from last year’s 13.01 percent.

Under the announced measure, a family of three with an annual income of 2.33 million yen will get a cut of 10,400 yen from the present 470,000 yen, including nursing-care insurance premiums.

More than half of the city’s households will pay lower premium rates after many years of continual rate increases.

The residents’ movement for better national health insurance services began last year in cooperation with the JCP. Demanding cuts in the premium rates, they have collected large numbers of signatures in support.

Late last year, they submitted to the city assembly 146,000 signatures, representing more than 10 percent of the city population.

As the next step the city should cut the premium rates for all households and improve medical services so that all residents can receive medical care without anxiety, said the JCP representative in the city assembly. - Akahata, June 17, 2008