healthcare question

[tone]

hey

one more question

we have health insurance in the states and will be moving back to tokyo indefinitely in early september

my wife is a japanese national but hasnt lived in japan since 2003

what are our healthcare options, and what will i have to look forward to as far as process, cost and variables? i know very little about the japanese health care system, and also want to be covered during the transition to having coverage. should i get some kind of stopgap insurance?

thanks - i really do appreciate it, and open the shooting range to anyone wanting to reiterate my idiocy back at me

[FG Lurker]

If you're moving here permanently you probably want to get into the national healthcare system. If you don't start when you arrive and need to enter it later you will be hit for 3 years of back payments, up to 1mil yen.

The first year will be super cheap, less than 10,000yen per month for you and your family. After that is based on your income. Should still be quite a bit cheaper than what you had in the US and there is no insurance company BS to deal with.

[tone]

how quick does that ramp up?

when I enter the country I may or may not (more likely) be all set up with my spouse visa... i did hear japan is fairly quick on processing visas. i remember my teaching visa back when was processed within a month

just worried about american style coverage lapses to the tune of gym bags full of cash

[dimwit]

Generally once you've registered at city hall and gotten your gaijin card you can get your health insurance. Once you have registered I think you are covered immediately, but I am not 100% sure about that.

[Greji]

Generally once you've registered at city hall and gotten your gaijin card you can get your health insurance. Once you have registered I think you are covered immediately, but I am not 100% sure about that.

As Dimmer says, it should be done at city hall once you have a residency visa. Your wife's will be done there as soon as she registers her new current residence which she is required to do right away. What Lurk said about back payments can sometimes occur, but if she has her passport showing her dates of departure and return, when she goes to the city office, they will normally excuse time she has been outside of Japan. They did that with my wife in calculation of her national retirement (kokuminnenkin). If she worked at all outside of Japan (or sometimes even not working), they may give her credit for her kokuminnenkin for the period, without payment. Those of course, are the optimal results, but could be short of that depending on the asshole-itis of the clerk behind the window when she registers.

[IparryU]

in minato-ku office I applied for insurance for my whole family of 4 and the cards were printed and issued in 30 min.

If you want additional coverage (e.g. for "overseas" vaccines that you can get at Tokyo Medical Surgical Clinic) or for the ~30% of the bills that are not covered, you can get International Health for you and your children (not wify cause she is Japanese, unless she has non-Japanese passport).

You should get the NHI cause you are required to and it does effect your taxes. I learned the hard way and thought that if I had Intl. Health I didnt need NHI... JPY80000 later I quickly realized that I was wrong

[FG Lurker]

What Lurk said about back payments can sometimes occur, but if she has her passport showing her dates of departure and return, when she goes to the city office, they will normally excuse time she has been outside of Japan.

I was more meaning for "tone". If he lives here for a few years and then decides to go onto national health it is nearly certain that he will be charged for back payments. They didn't do this before unless you were joining to make an immediate large claim but these days it is standard procedure to force back payments from what I have seen.

[Greji]

I was more meaning for "tone". If he lives here for a few years and then decides to go onto national health it is nearly certain that he will be charged for back payments. They didn't do this before unless you were joining to make an immediate large claim but these days it is standard procedure to force back payments from what I have seen.

I think you are right on about that Lurk. I was more referring to his wife, who may have to justify her missing payments. This would depend on filing location of course, but most places recognize being overseas as a reason for not paying NHI and National Pension fees.

I did have a mate who being grossly arrears in all bills owing to everyone and everything, moved to a new city and re-registered for national health and they enrolled him with no charge on previous missed payments. They simply started him from the date he enrolled with them. I would assume such a case is the exception, but it did show that it is still possible in some locations.

[tone]

any of you guys in tokyo, i'd love to repay the advice with a drink. this is good stuff to know. hopefully the person at the window gives us a good outcome

[Taka-Okami]

in minato-ku office I applied for insurance for my whole family of 4 and the cards were printed and issued in 30 min.

If you want additional coverage (e.g. for "overseas" vaccines that you can get at Tokyo Medical Surgical Clinic) or for the ~30% of the bills that are not covered, you can get International Health for you and your children (not wify cause she is Japanese, unless she has non-Japanese passport).

You should get the NHI cause you are required to and it does effect your taxes. I learned the hard way and thought that if I had Intl. Health I didnt need NHI... JPY80000 later I quickly realized that I was wrong

They tried the same on me, and I made a big scene, ranting and raving, and never got the bill.