Foreigner dies, sticks hospital with 22 million yen unpaid bill | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

3 comments

1. That moment when you singlehandedly raise the yearly unpaid debt by 100% 👌

2. Edit: He died in 2017, was treated on and off since 2012. Why was this allowed to go so long?

3. How did this guy not have even national health insurance for 5 years? And why does it even matter if this guy was a foreigner or not?

   I was under the impression that Japanese law allowed next of kin/heirs to avoid inheriting debt as long as they waive the right to inheritance of assets, so pretty much any poor person who dies with medical debt could incur the same kind of situation. This guy probably just happened to double the hospital’s unpaid bills because this is Shibuya, a ward that’s likely to have higher than average wealth, and a lower percentage of elderly than other parts of Japan.

   Emphasizing this guy being a foreigner and how foreigners are responsible for 37% of unpaid debt just seems like thinly veiled race baiting