National health insurance
We argued about Japanese medical system in the previous article. This medical system is the universal healthcare system based on the national health insurances. All Japanese have to join this national health insurance.
International students who will stay in Japan for more than 3 months also have to enroll in the national health insurance. If you enroll in it, 70% of your medical costs are covered by the insurance. You have to pay only 30% of that. However, some medical service such as hospitalization cost of a private room is exempt from this insurance. You can enroll in this insurance at the national health insurance division of your town. The annual insurance fee depends on your income and the town where you live, but it is mostly less than 200 us dollars.
Actually, the insurance fees of international students may be much cheaper than ordinary Japanese. I was surprised a little to find it. When I enrolled in a private insurance in overseas, it cost more than thousand dollars and eventually I didn’t use the insurance mostly. I don’t know whether I was lucky or not.
