title: Health insurance system and payments provided to patients for the management of severe acute pancreatitis in Japan.
abstract: The health insurance system in Japan is based upon the Universal Medical Care Insurance System, which gives all citizens the right to join an insurance scheme of their own choice, as guaranteed by the provisions of Article 25 of the Constitution of Japan, which states: "All people shall have the right to maintain the minimum standards of wholesome and cultured living." The health care system in Japan includes national medical insurance, nursing care for the elderly, and government payments for the treatment of intractable diseases. Medical insurance provisions are handled by Employee's Health Insurance (Social Insurance), which mainly covers employees of private companies and their families, and by National Health Insurance, which provides for the needs of self-employed people. Both schemes have their own medical care service programs for retired persons and their families. The health care system for the elderly covers people 75 years of age and over and bedridden people 65 years of age and over. There is also a system under which the government pays all or part of medical expenses, and/or pays medical expenses not covered by insurance. This is referred to collectively as the "medical expenses payment system" and includes the provision of medical assistance for specified intractable diseases. Because severe acute pancreatitis has a high mortality rate, it is specified as an intractable disease. In order to lower the mortality rate of various diseases, including severe acute pancreatitis, the specification system has been adopted by the government. The cost of treatment for severe acute pancreatitis is paid in full by the government from the date the application is made for a certificate verifying that the patient has an intractable disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 173-8605, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Tadahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takada
authors.forename: Yoshifumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawarada
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hirata
authors.forename: Toshihiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mayumi
authors.forename: Miho
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sekimoto
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hirota
authors.forename: Yasutoshi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Kazunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: Shuji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Isaji
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koizumi
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Otsuki
authors.forename: Seiki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsuno
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000191:economics*; D007564:Japan; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000191:economics*; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000628:therapy*; D019472:Universal Health Insurance