[Answer]
Your father, who is staying in
Japan as a temporary visitor, is not eligible to join National Health Insurance
because foreign nationals qualified for National Health Insurance are those who
have completed Alien Registration and are expected to reside in Japan for one
year or longer. However, if you are a member of Employee Health Insurance, and your
father is recognized as your dependent, you may well ask your employer whether your
Health Insurance can cover your father’s medical expense.
Before inviting
your father to Japan you must have submitted a “certificate of fidelity
guarantee,” pledging to guarantee his economic conditions during his stay in
Japan. As a guarantor, you are expected to perform your
duty to support him financially. Please talk with the hospital over how to pay off
his medical fees. Treatments not covered by public health insurance can be
charged without using a 10-yen-per-point system, employed under the public health
insurance scheme, thus the cost can be a lot higher. Each medical institution employs
different calculation method for uncovered medical treatment. Therefore, before
getting treatment it would be advisable to check with your medical institution about
its method of calculation.
(Public medical
assistance)
“Law pertaining
to persons fallen sick or dead on wayside” covers foreign travelers as well
who get sick and need hospitalization due to lack of option for curing and do not
have anybody who takes care of them in Japan. On the other hand, since your
father has relatives in Japan that can look after him, he is not eligible for
this scheme provided under this law. The law excludes those who only need
medical attention as an outpatient.
Financial compensation provided to medical
institutions by local governments
Some local
governments including Tokyo, Kanagawa and Hyogo prefectures, have their own
compensation program to financially assist medical institutions which could not
recover unpaid medical fees from foreign patients.
Free or low cost medical care program is a non-universal program provided by the Social
Welfare organizations in Osaka and some other prefectures, covering those who
cannot afford medical expenses irrespective of residential status or
nationality of a patient.
Publicly
funded medical treatments are
available to foreigners irrespective of their residential statuses but if treatment
using health insurance is available medical benefits from the insurance will
take precedent and partial co-payment may be requested.
Publicly-funded medical
treatments available to foreigners irrespective of their residential statuses,
include:
・Contagious diseases
specified in Articles 7 and 21 of the Contagious Prevention Law
Welfare placement
at mental institutions
・Tuberculosis