Insurance benefits
Health insurance pays various prescribed insurance benefits in the event of nonoccupational sickness or injury, childbirth, and death. The term “insurance benefits” refers to the provision of medical care services and payment for these services.
- Description
- FAQ
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- Insurance benefits are benefits from health insurance paid in cases of nonoccupational sickness or injury.
- Benefits are available only for treatment authorized in advance by the national government as eligible for insurance coverage.
Benefits paid for nonoccupational sickness and injury
If you suffer form a sickness or injury resulting from nonoccupational causes, you can undergo treatment, including the treatments listed below, by showing your health insurance card at the counter of a hospital or clinic that accepts health insurance:
- Medical consultation
- Provision of medicines or therapeutic materials
- Treatment, surgery, or other medical care
- Medical care or nursing care at home
- Hospitalization or nursing care
Use Worker's Accident Compensation Insurance for injuries sustained at work or while commuting
Health insurance provides benefits for nonoccupational sickness or injury. Worker's Accident Compensation Insurance covers injuries sustained at work or while commuting. Note that you cannot receive benefits from health insurance in such cases.
Contact your employer’s person in charge of Worker’s Compensation Insurance and apply to the Labour Standards Inspection Office.
- *When even illnesses and injuries on-the-job are not targeted for benefits of the Worker's Accident Compensation Insurance, benefits of the health insurance are provided except the duties as the officer of the corporation (except for a corporation less than five employees).
Benefits-in-kind and cash benefits
Insurance benefits are provided in two ways: provision of the medical care itself to treat a sickness or injury and provision of money to cover the cost of medical care. “Benefits-in-kind” refer to the provision of medical care; “cash benefits” refer to the provision of cash to cover medical care costs.
In some cases you cannot use health insurance
Health insurance benefits are available only for treatment authorized in advance by the national government as eligible for insurance coverage as safe and effective treatment methods.
| ✕When you cannot use health insurance | ○When you can use health insurance |
|---|---|
| Freckles, birthmarks, pimples, moles, body odor, and the like that do not obstruct job execution or interfere with everyday life | If you have symptoms that require treatment |
| Nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism and strabismus with no chance of recovery | For medical consultations, checkups, and lens prescriptions by an insurance doctor for a vision abnormality |
| Cosmetic surgery | For cosmetic surgery to treat an injury |
| Health examinations, screenings for lifestyle related diseases, complete check-ups | For treatment deemed necessary following a medical consultation |
| Immunizations and preventive internal medicines | For immunizations against tetanus when the possibility of infection is present |
| Normal pregnancy and delivery | When treatment is needed for pregnancy-induced hypertension, abnormal delivery, or other related conditions |
| Voluntary abortions for economic reasons | For abortion pursuant to the Mother's Body Protection Law for reasons other than economic reasons |
In some cases, insurance benefits are provided subject to certain restrictions
Insurance benefits are restricted in the following cases, even for nonoccupational sickness or injury:
| All benefits restricted (not including funeral expenses) |
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|---|---|
| All or some benefits restricted |
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| Some benefits restricted |
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- ** Insurance benefits also are not provided to individuals in Juvenile Training Schools, penal institutions, detention facilities, or similar facilities for various reasons, including the availability of alternate medical care benefits at public expenditure.
System for payment of medical care costs
Once you have shown your health insurance card for medical care, the medical care institution bills the Health Insurance Society monthly for the medical care costs covered by insurance. Note that it would be a highly complex undertaking for all medical care institutions and health insurance societies to handle such billing and payment individually.
Accordingly, billing and payment of medical care costs is carried out through healthcare bill check and payment organizations such as the Health Insurance Claims Review & Reimbursement Services (HICRRS). The Health Insurance Society is billed for medical care costs about two months later. Payment of benefits from health insurance to insured persons takes place three or more months after the month in which the medical care is provided.
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