Hello everyone.
I am a new member here, and this is my first post. I am indeed living in Japan now. I am living in Osaka, and this is my second year paying Kokumin Hoken (before that it was Shakai Hoken). I have been paying 16000 for my health insurance, but just this past week I got a notice on the mail and I had bills EACH month to pay a new premium, which is around 39,000 yen per month. Has anyone had to pay this much before? Is there anything I can do besides biting the bullet and paying? Any help on this would be appreciated. Thanks.
7 comments
Isn’t this based on your previous year’s salary? Your 1st year your health insurance rate is low because they had nothing to base it on. Now they have something to go by, so your premium went up.
You can thank your lucky stars to live in a country that has nationalized its health care and prioritizes prevention for all over profit. It’s based on your income, so you just need to factor it into your expenses. You’ll be extremely grateful that’s all it is when you see how cheap your hospital visits are and receive your free health checkup application each year to be sure everything is all right.
Nope. You gotta pay it and kokumin is based on your previous year’s income. Silver lining is that you can deduct the premiums from your income tax when you file in February. I think the monthly premium cap is around Â¥70,000 but it depends a little on your city or ward.
I pay 5man-ish for health insurance. it depends on your pay. They increase it the more you earn.
It’s percentage of your income that increases until you reach the maximum payment. Nothing you can do. Average is 3.5万 to 4万.
Social payments in Japan (insurance, pension, tax) is a total of between 30% and 46% depending on your income.
As people have stated it is calculated on the previous year’s income *but* the actual amount you pay can vary wildly depending on where you live.
A quick example based on Hokkaido for A san and B san (both under 40 years old on 4 million a year for the sake of simplicity) A lives in Teshio so has to pay 39000円 / month. B lives in Horokanai and only pays 12000円/ month.
Granted, that’s an extreme example, but basically A loses a month’s salary more than B for the exact same medical coverage. B has a month more salary to help him in these tough economic times. It certainly pays to research regional premiums if you’re ever considering moving house.
If you were only paying 16,000 then you were paying near the base minimum. Also, if you pay yourself and not through your company it will be more expensive. I pay through my company and I pay 55,000 a month.