No Public Aid for COVID-19 Medical Services in Japan from April

From Jiji

March 5 2024

TOKYO – Japan will no longer provide public aid for medical services related to COVID-19 from April, the health ministry officially announced on Tuesday. 

After the end of the public aid, patients will be asked to pay 10 to 30 pct of COVID-19 drug costs out of pocket under the country’s health insurance system. Hospitalization subsidies will also be scrapped at the end of this month.

Health minister Keizo Takemi told a press conference on the day that the decision to end the public aid was based on the infection situation in the country.

“We have been preparing to receive COVID-19 patients in general hospital beds,” Takemi said. “There is no problem with the transition to the ordinary medical service system.”

Full public coverage of COVID-19 drug costs began in 2021, in the midst of the pandemic. After COVID-19 was downgraded to a category that includes seasonal influenza under Japan’s infectious disease law in May 2023, the public aid was reduced in October, with patients asked to pay 3,000 to 9,000 yen in drug costs, depending on their income.