🩺 Health Insurance Ordinance Draft: Comments

❓ What's changing?

On August 13, 2026, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) opened a public comment period on a draft ministerial ordinance package titled "Ministerial Ordinance on the Development of Related Ordinances Accompanying the Partial Entry into Force of the Act Partially Amending the Health Insurance Act and Other Acts." The case number is 495260132, the category is social insurance, and the responsible office is the Medical Economics Division of the MHLW Health Insurance Bureau. Comments are accepted from 23:30 on August 13, 2026 until 23:59 on September 12, 2026, under the procedure prescribed by the Administrative Procedure Act. The draft aligns the relevant MHLW ordinances with the partial entry into force of the amending act. The legal provisions cited in the notice include Article 85(8) of the Health Insurance Act (as applied mutatis mutandis under Article 86(5)) and Article 207, which cover inpatient meal-service benefits; the items of Article 42 of the Health Insurance Act Enforcement Order, which set the calculation thresholds for high-cost medical expense benefits; and Articles 61(6) (as applied under Article 63(5)), 66 and 155 of the Mariners' Insurance Act. The specific content is set out in the "Outline of the Draft Order" PDF and the "Comment Solicitation Guidelines" PDF published on the e-Gov case page.

👥 Who is affected?

• ●Insured persons and dependents under Health Insurance (Kyokai Kenpo or company health insurance societies) — foreign residents are covered regardless of nationality
• ●Insured persons under Mariners' Insurance, including foreign workers in shipping and fisheries
• ●People planning a hospital stay or high-cost treatment, or with a family member about to be hospitalized
• ●Administrative staff at medical institutions and HR/labor managers at companies
• ●Anyone who wants to submit a comment on the draft (until 23:59 on September 12, 2026)

🌏 Impact on foreign residents

Japan's public medical insurance applies regardless of nationality. Foreign residents enrolled in employer-based health insurance, Kyokai Kenpo, or Mariners' Insurance are treated the same as Japanese nationals in the areas the cited provisions cover — the patient share of inpatient meal costs and the calculation of out-of-pocket ceilings for high-cost medical expense benefits. Because these details are set by ministerial and cabinet orders rather than by the act itself, reading the draft now means fewer surprises at the hospital counter once it takes effect. Foreign residents may also submit comments; the submission method and required entries are set out in the "Comment Solicitation Guidelines" PDF (submissions are in Japanese). Short-term visitors are not enrolled in Japan's public insurance and are not directly affected.