Japan’s Health Insurance Associations Face Revenue Decline from Fiscal 2021

The estimated financial results for the 2020 fiscal year for 1,388 Japanese health insurance associations in which employees of large corporations are enrolled show that premium income fell by 0.7% year on year to ¥8.2 trillion due to deteriorating corporate performance amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The hotel and restaurant industries in particular were directly impacted by the pandemic and struggled as a result. Meanwhile, many people refrained from visiting medical institutions to avoid infection, so that the total amount of expenditure was limited, with the cost of insurance benefits decreasing by 5.1% to ¥3.9 trillion. Overall, there was a surplus of ¥295.2 billion, marking the seventh consecutive annual surplus.

The surplus in fiscal 2020 was specifically due to people refraining from medical consultations during the pandemic. As income from insurance premiums continues to decline and members of the baby-boom generation pass 75 years old, the financial forecasts for fiscal 2021 to 2023 released by the Health Insurance Federation are all deficits.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)