How Much Does It Cost to Visit a Hospital In Japan?
For foreign visitors to Japan, preparing for unforeseen health issues is an important part of their travel plans. However, it can be quite difficult to know in advance about the healthcare system and medical costs in a foreign country, which can lead to anxiety in emergencies.
This article explains the typical costs of visiting a hospital in Japan. Japan has a well-established public healthcare insurance system that provides certain medical expense subsidies, but the scope and conditions vary.
We will introduce the points that foreign visitors to Japan should know when visiting a hospital. To enjoy your trip with peace of mind, let’s deepen our understanding of the Japanese healthcare system.
Insurance Treatment And Self-pay Treatment
In Japan’s healthcare system, there are two common types of treatment: insurance treatment and self-pay treatment.
Insurance treatment refers to treatment covered by public health insurance. Most people living in Japan are enrolled in public health insurance, and a portion of the treatment costs are subsidized under certain conditions. In insurance treatment, consultation fees, examination fees at hospitals, and prescribed medications at pharmacies are covered by insurance.
On the other hand, self-pay treatment is treatment not covered by insurance, and patients are responsible for paying the full cost. Self-pay treatment may include tests and procedures not covered by insurance, specific treatments, or more advanced medical services.
Therefore, the cost may be higher than insurance treatment. Japan’s public health insurance system is generally aimed at residents registered in Japan. Therefore, foreign travelers to Japan generally cannot enroll in Japan’s public insurance, so medical treatment received by foreign visitors in Japanese hospitals is basically self-pay.
In self-pay treatment, patients need to pay the full cost of the hospital visit. The hospital will charge consultation fees, examination fees, prescription issuance fees, as well as management fees and the cost of medications at the pharmacy.
Initial Consultation Fees For Insurance Treatment
The initial consultation fee for receiving insurance treatment at a hospital in Japan generally includes the following components.
Firstly, there is an initial consultation fee. When a patient visits an outpatient clinic at a hospital for the first time, they will be billed an initial consultation fee of 288 points. Converted into money, 1 point equals 10 yen, so 288 points x 10 yen = 2,880 yen. In other words, for those who are responsible for 30% of medical insurance, they will pay “864 yen (rounded to the nearest 10 yen)” of 2,880 yen.
Next, there are examination fees. For example, a chest X-ray examination costs about 2,000 yen, an electrocardiogram (ECG) costs about 1,300 yen, and a blood test costs about 8,000 to 10,000 yen. Also, if an MRI examination is performed, it may cost between 20,000 and 50,000 yen. These examinations are generally covered by insurance, but some advanced or special examinations may be considered self-pay treatment.
The cost of the examination varies greatly depending on the type of examination, but generally, the cost of the initial examination is around 5,000 to 15,000 yen. If you have Japanese public health insurance, you will be responsible for 30% of this amount.
Initial Consultation Fees For Self-pay Treatment
In the case of self-pay treatment, it is not necessary to adhere to the medical treatment fee set by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and the medical institution can determine the consultation fee on its own. Therefore, in hospitals where self-pay treatment is not carried out regularly, the fee for self-pay treatment will depend on the hospital.
However, in many cases, hospitals that do not regularly perform self-pay treatment do not set the fee for self-pay treatment and simply apply the fee for insurance treatment. In this case, the aforementioned amount will be billed as is. Additionally, if you have purchased traveler’s insurance, you may often need an English diagnosis certificate. In that case, a separate fee is usually charged for issuing the diagnosis certificate.
Costs At the Pharmacy
At the pharmacy, there are dispensing basic fees, pharmaceutical management fees, drug adjustment fees, medication management fees, etc. The dispensing management fee varies depending on the pharmacy, and regarding management fees, etc., they fluctuate depending on the type and quantity of prescribed drugs, so it is not possible to specify a specific amount.
However, since drugs prescribed at the first visit are usually not for long-term use and not of many types, the cost other than the drug price is usually around 1,000 to 1,800 yen. In addition, the cost of the drugs actually handed over will be added to this.
If the hospital is covered by insurance, the pharmacy will also be covered by insurance, so you will be responsible for 10% ~ 30% of the total amount. If the hospital is self-pay treatment, the pharmacy will also be self-pay treatment, so we will charge you the full amount. Above, we have briefly explained the costs incurred when receiving medical care in Japan.
We hope that you can understand that the actual cost may vary depending on the tests conducted at that time and may change depending on the prescription content, and we hope you have been able to understand the text.
We hope that everyone can visit medical institutions in Japan with peace of mind.
