Motomatsu Kenichi, Hirata Natsuko, Imamura Toko
St. Mary's Junior College 422, Tsubukuhon Machi, Kurume-City, Hukuoka-Prefecture, 830-8558, Japan.
Jpn Hosp. 2002 Jul(21):23-7.
The Japanese have enjoyed the longest average life span in the world for these ten years. The universal health insurance system with free access and low cost seems to play the most important role among the proposed causes. We didn't need to worry about the charges at hospitals when we consulted a doctor, although we had to pay a premium in proportion to our income, and we received a national benefit which was money-paid by tax-payers. Unfortunately, the economic depression started around 1990 has driven us to a difficult situation. We are now planning several new policies to prevent the bankruptcy of the universal health insurance system due to the reduction of the medical expenditure. New attempts, such as reduction in the number of hospital beds, shortening of the average hospital stay, introduction of a long-term care insurance system, and the reduction of fee schedule by 2.7% from April 2002, and so on are being considered. On the other hand, the percentage of medical expenditure to GDP in Japan is the lowest, along with England, among the developed countries. Having realized that the poor medical system was due to low medical expenditure, the British government decided to raise the budget of the national health service. The situation concerning medical expenditure in Japan might become the worst among developed countries in the near future.
在过去十年里，日本人一直享有世界最长的平均寿命。免费就诊且成本低廉的全民健康保险制度似乎在诸多可能的原因中发挥着最为重要的作用。我们去看医生时无需担心费用问题，尽管我们需要按收入比例缴纳保险费，而且我们能领取由纳税人出资的国家福利。不幸的是，始于1990年左右的经济衰退让我们陷入了困境。我们目前正在规划几项新政策，以防止全民健康保险制度因医疗支出减少而破产。正在考虑一些新举措，比如减少病床数量、缩短平均住院时间、引入长期护理保险制度，以及从2002年4月起将收费标准下调2.7%等等。另一方面，在发达国家中，日本的医疗支出占国内生产总值的比例与英国一样是最低的。意识到医疗体系不佳是由于医疗支出过低，英国政府决定增加国民医疗服务体系的预算。日本医疗支出的情况在不久的将来可能会在发达国家中变得最为糟糕。
