2024-07-13 21:00:00
The government is also putting pressure on health insurance unions to increase the use of Miner insurance cards.
Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Keizo Takemi announced in the Diet that “the current health insurance card will be abolished in December regardless of the utilization rate,” but the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has announced that various unions will “use 50% of the cards as of November.” .
Health insurance unions are nervous regarding the government’s demands, which appear to impose “quotas”. How do unions really feel regarding setting targets that are too high? (Hiromi Kubobo, Fumina Ebisuno)
◆Set a target based on 50% usage rate
“Our association has made no effort to increase utilization,” said a health insurance manager at a large beverage and food manufacturer.
About 5,000 people, including family members, are insured. Currently, the usage rate of Bago insurance cards is only regarding 7%.
In late January this year, the union received a letter from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
The Director of the Insurance Regulatory Bureau issued a notice requesting cooperation in further promoting the use of Bago insurance cards, requiring all trade unions to report the usage rate as of May, August, and November this year. They set goals and required reports to be submitted before the end of February.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said the target would be “set by each insurance company,” but in a separate document supplementing the notice, it suggested that “for reference, as of November, the target will be 50%.”
Maina insurance card reader installed in a hospital in Nagoya, photographed in July 2023 (part of the image processing)
A health insurance representative said, “The monthly target is regarding 5%. Since the original abolition of insurance cards was to strongly increase usage, we do not think it is necessary to set targets or conduct promotions.” Measures.
◆Even if you hang candies…
I checked online and found that many health insurance associations have set a target of “50% before November”, and the government sets this target as the “basic” rate.
A head of health insurance in the IT industry who set a 50% target emphasized, “This is the government’s policy, so we have no choice but to follow it.” They spread the message on their homepage and published it in magazines.
In order to promote the use of the product, the government has also prepared a “carrot” for the unions. Achieving a 50% utilization rate is listed as one of the conditions for reducing the medical cost burden on union seniors.
The medical expenses of the elderly are partly borne by insurance premiums paid by the working-age population, so if premiums are reduced, the burden on the medical insurance association will be reduced.
However, utilization remains in single digits in many unions.
◆If you are not satisfied, the goal is nominal.
Although the Aichi Prefecture Health Insurance Association reports that the target is “50%,” they do not hide the fact that this is only in name.
A person in charge of the health insurance association said: “Health insurance companies around us are angry regarding the government’s requirements, so we decided to only write the targets set by the government. It is impossible for us to reach 50%.”
“The way the country is moving forward is too hasty.” At a health insurance union meeting in the Kansai region earlier this month, some unions expressed dissatisfaction with the national government’s promotional measures.
◆”If it’s convenient, it will spread by itself”
The utilization rate of the Tokyo Health Insurance Association finally exceeded 4% in April.
A person in charge of the Medical Insurance Association said, “When pharmacies still require you to ‘bring a medication notebook,’ I doubt whether switching to a minors medical insurance card can really bring benefits to the insured.” I have no intention. Do this,” he said.
The person in charge said, “The 50% target is impossible. If minors’ medical insurance cards are convenient, they will popularize them on their own, and the government has no way to tell the union.”
◆ Health insurance members are also angry regarding “voluntary consent”
In late June, a male employee in his 30s at a large gaming company received a notice from the company requiring him to switch to a Bago insurance card.
The company’s notice did not provide any explanation of the “Eligibility Confirmation Letter” that can temporarily be used in place of the existing insurance card. Some of his colleagues reportedly mistakenly believed they had to obtain a minors health insurance card.
The notice comes in response to a request from the company’s health insurance association. The Health Insurance Association has set a target of “50% utilization rate in November” based on national guidelines.
One male employee said of the government’s encouragement of health insurance unions to promote use: “I feel very angry because it feels like they are forcing people to use health insurance. Obtaining health insurance is voluntary, but setting a goal is itself one question.
◆Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare “50% is a certain standard”
Regarding the goal of “50% utilization rate”, the head of the Medical Care Cooperation Policy Division of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare explained that this is “the established standard of each insurance company.”
Late last year, the government began setting specific numerical targets for the use of health insurance cards for minors.
Usage has declined for seven consecutive months since peaking in April 2023, falling to 4.33% in November 2023.
Notice from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on the target value of “50%” for the usage rate of minors’ insurance cards of medical insurance companies
After sensing a sense of crisis, the government asked public medical institutions such as the National Hospital Organization in December of the following year to set utilization targets from the end of May to the end of November 2024. Efforts should be made to promote its use.
This time, the government’s goal for public medical institutions is to “increase the utilization rate by more than 50 percentage points from October 2023 to November 2024.”
◆The actual situation is 7%…but there are no plans to change the target value.
The “50% target by November” proposed to the National Health Insurance Association is to include public medical institutions.
An official from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said, “We hope that public medical institutions will proactively use minors’ health insurance cards, so we came up with the idea of setting a higher rate.” However, he explained that “50%” The basis for a target value is “I don’t know. There’s nothing to explain why this number was chosen.”
The utilization rate as of May was 7.73%. There is still a big gap from the “basic” target of 50% set by the national government.
An official from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said, “There are currently no plans to change (the target value).”
Set Bago Insurance Card Usage GoalsIn a supplementary document sent by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to the health insurance union, it was clearly stated that “50% may be the basic idea by November” as a reference for setting the target. “By setting utilization goals based on certain basic ideas…we hope the effect is that medical institutions, pharmacies, business owners, etc. can work together.”, encouraging the setting of a 50% goal.
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