Why Japan?
- Janice Chia
- Jul 14, 2017
- 2 min read
Japan took centre stage having experience a fourfold increase in their ageing population making them a super ageing society from the 1990s. The stark change in demographics has driven and qualified Japan as leaders in developing innovative product and services for the eldercare industry, beyond that being community-driven, rather than health care-system driven. Japan has the world's oldest population, with more than a quarter of its citizens aged 65 or above. By 2025, the youngest baby boomers will turn 75 years old.
In 2012, the Japanese government implemented the community-based integrated care system, which integrates various health-related resources within the community through cooperation among formal, long-term care facilities, welfare and medical care specialists, and informal voluntary activities by the residents.
The Long Term Care Insurance (LTCI) scheme is named on of the most generous long-term care systems in the world, in terms of coverage and benefits.
The mechanism of Japan's Long Term Care Insurance
LTCI was introduced in 2000 to provide social care to people from the age of 65 on the basis of individual need, not the ability to pay. The scheme is funded in part by the central government, in part by compulsory premiums, which you start paying when you reach 40, in addition to pension contributions and health insurance. Typically, 90% of the cost of care is then met by the insurance scheme, with the remaining 10% paid by the individual, although the system has since been tweaked so the co-payment for wealthier people is 20%. While it drastically improved access to care facilities for older persons, it resulted in the over-provision of care and products, including pharmaceuticals.
The system is far from perfect, but Japan has been unafraid to improve the system as they learned its limitations, and as an economic boom gave way to zero growth.
In 2018, the Japan government will be reducing long term care insurance. Because Japan’s government, businesses and society are facing these challenges way ahead, this allows the world to learn and benefit from their stumbles, innovations and experiments.
Join my team and I as we dig deeper into Japan through speaking to some of the most influential and successful people, as we hear their stories (some personal but mostly professional), on successful strategies as well as their vision to create a better tomorrow for our elderly.
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