【Aging, safety net and fiscal crisis in Japan】No.122: Factor Analysis of Increase in National Medical Expenses

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare released data on the factor analysis of the increase in national medical expenses at the health insurance committee held in April 2018. As shown in Table 1, as Japan's population has started to decline since 2008, the population factor is negatively related to national medical expenses. On the other hand, the aging factor is affecting more than 1% each year. Further, medical fee is revised every two years. The other factors that contribute toward national medical expenses, which are calculated after deducting the contribution rates of factors like population, aging, and medical fee revision, are very important. Mostly, expensive new pharmaceuticals and medical devices are the other factors considered to affect national medical expenses (see Column No.2).

Note: Figures for 2016 are rough estimate.
Source: Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare