November 28, 2009

Japanese Communist Party Policy Commission Chair Koike Akira at a meeting of the House of Councilors committee on health and welfare on November 27 raised the issue of the large number of people without health insurance, and demanded that the government conduct a national survey on the actual situation and instruct municipalities to immediately deal with this issue.

He pointed out that nearly one million people throughout Japan are uninsured. Residents in arrears with insurance premiums should visit the local government office to receive a short-term insurance card, but some of them cannot go for various reasons, and are then left without a health insurance card, he explained.

For example, Koike said, in Ibaraki Prefecture 21,958 residents, including 2,086 children aged 12 and younger, have not yet received the short-term insurance card as of October 30.

Health and Welfare Minister Nagatsuma Akira in reply said, “We will request each municipality to immediately reach them on the phone or by home visits in order to hand them a short-term insurance card.”
- Akahata, November 28, 2009