Paying for the health and social care of the elderly.

The aging population of Japan is causing serious concern among social policymakers. The most urgent issue is to find a way to pay for the health and social care of the frail elderly. After universal coverage of pension and health insurance was achieved, but just before the economic growth rate was considerably slowed, in part, because of the oil crisis, the Japanese government more than doubled pension benefits and made medical care for the elderly free. Since the early 1980s, the government has tried hard to cut and control these benefits, only with moderate success. With a consumption tax rate of only 5%, rather than the proposed 7%, the government is now considering establishing a new health and social care insurance scheme for the elderly to finance the increasing cost of their care.