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My municipality is demanding payment on national health insurance.

Income certainly has something to do with how much you pay. But yes, it does suddenly change after the first year. Mine went from 2,500 yen/month or so to 25,000 or so. That's completely normal because in your first year they have no record of anything you made in Japan the previous year. Live with it. It's life. I wasn't happy, and my employer had not warned me, but that's simply the way insurance operates.
 
So all I need to do is find another country that has cheap insurance for two years, and keep alternating between them every two years.
 
Glenski said:
That's completely normal because in your first year they have no record of anything you made in Japan the previous year.
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I'm aware of the first year being low because there's no income in Japan the year before. He says the increase happened after four years in Japan, so I'd assume his previous year's income passed a certain threshold. Or did he have very low income for those years?

HanSolo said:
So all I need to do is find another country that has cheap insurance for two years, and keep alternating between them every two years.
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Are you serious, or just railing against the expensive insurance payment? If you're serious, the overseas moves would certainly cancel out the insurance savings. And I doubt you'd find two countries that would let you keep doing that.

Medical care costs a lot of money, and that money needs to come from somewhere. If it's a government program, it's going to come out of taxes. Some countries might tuck the medical-related collection into a general tax category, but you're still paying it. Japan's collection happens to be separate. If you find a public insurance arrangement that truly is significantly cheaper, the quality of healthcare will probably be commensurate.
 
HanSolo said:
So all I need to do is find another country that has cheap insurance for two years, and keep alternating between them every two years.
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This sounds like a great example of "penny wise and pound foolish"
 
He says the increase happened after four years in Japan, so I'd assume his previous year's income passed a certain threshold. Or did he have very low income for those years?
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Good questions. Too bad Prometheus didn't give us enough information to go on. I find it a bit hard to imagine living on a salary that didn't have much insurance payments for four years, but stranger things have happened. He might also have moved to a different district and not carried over his insurance there. Details, details!
 
nice gaijin said:
So, my assertion is only accurate if you were to act on your musing?
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Lol I don't know man, I guess it would depend on the relative costs of the move and the insurance. I met an older woman in Japan once who's NH insurance costs were insane, I think more than the $600/mo mark. I can't remember the details why, something to do with a prior health issue / pre-existing or it might have been that the particular thing she needed ongoing treatment for needed a high co-pay, don't remember. When I told her I was paying $20 a month (during first 2 years) she looked at me with a face of disgust and then stated I was lying or mistaken lol.

So if such a thing were doable, I'm sure there'd be someone it was a good deal for.
 
HanSolo said:
I can't remember the details why, something to do with a prior health issue / pre-existing or it might have been that the particular thing she needed ongoing treatment for needed a high co-pay, don't remember.
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It can't have been either of those things as they are both irrelevant. Premiums have nothing to do with pre-existing conditions and co-pay rates have nothing to do with anything except whether a particular medicine or procedure is covered or not.
 
so, your takeaway from this interaction was that she should be moving around to game the insurance systems... As opposed to maybe feeling bad that she has to pay so much to get health care while you had been paying so little into the same system to get the same level of coverage?

If you don't feel like a selfish jerk, I don't think you're paying very close attention.
 
I thought you were a nice gaijin, nice gaijin? Have I upset you such that I must now be called names? Without even pointing anything in your direction?

I was just preferring a lighthearted wandering pondering of the matter, but if you'd like a full-blown debate on the morality of socialized healthcare, we can do that if you'd like.
 
So your take away from my post is that I'm upset and calling you names?

Why do you think that woman looked at you with disgust and accused you of lying? Do you think she was kicking herself for not gaming the system better?
 
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