Population ageing and new challenges in health care systems for the elderly in Japan

Abstract

Japan has one of the world's comparatively largest elderly populations. Over time, prevalent traditions of family care have declined while the need for such care, as more patients live to experience chronic and acute illnesses, increases. In order to manage these changes effectively, the Japanese government has experimented with different insurance and health care systems. The author explores long-term care insurance and new medical insurance systems that have been tried thus far with an eye towards their effectiveness and financial impact.