[My Work] From December procedures, "New health insurance cards will no longer be issued" [HR and Labor-related tasks]

"Starting with December procedures, the current health insurance cards will no longer be issued"

is what will happen.

Since this is a topic covered by many media outlets, you may have already seen or understood the above, but as this is an issue I also receive many inquiries about, I would like to summarize it as well.

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First, as a premise, there is no doubt that little by little, the current format of "health insurance cards (made of paper or plastic) will disappear".

Naturally, when you visit a hospital, it is necessary to verify your eligibility, so a form of health insurance card (or something similar) will continue to exist in a different format than before.

The problem here is that

not all citizens

have issued a My Number Card / have linked their health insurance eligibility to their My Number Card.

That is the point.

It goes without saying.

However, since the "Universal Health Insurance System" is the foundation of Japan, they will not abandon such people, and provisional measures have been taken regarding this health insurance card issue as well.

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Point 1

For now, as long as you currently hold a health insurance card and have not lost your eligibility due to leaving your company or other reasons, "the health insurance card you currently hold can be used for one year".

Therefore, if you are a company employee and possess a health insurance card issued through procedures handled by your company, there is no problem for the time being, so please continue to take your health insurance card to medical institutions as you have done until now.

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Point 2

For those who do not fall into the above category and possess a My Number card but have not linked it to their health insurance (it is not a "Myna Insurance Card"), the procedure can be completed using the "My Number linking" devices installed at many medical institutions.

Therefore, it is presumed that as long as you have your My Number card, you will (presumably) not face the worst-case scenario of being unable to receive medical treatment.

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Point 3

If you join a company as a new employee on or after December 2024, you can have a "Certificate of Eligibility" issued if you inform your company, and with that, you can receive the same services as a health insurance card for the time being.

When a new employee joins, the company's general affairs/HR department performs the qualification acquisition procedure, and a new field has been added to the documents used at that time to issue a "Certificate of Eligibility."

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As you can see from the above, it seems they are assuming that everyone will "possess a Myna Insurance Card (My Number card + health insurance)" in a year's time, but I wonder how that will turn out...

It seems there will still be plenty of confusion.

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