Pregnant in Japan: Health Insurance And Bills

Monday, February 20, 2017
Konnichiwa yurikachan desu~



This is part two of my previous post Pregnant in Japan: What to do? Sorry if it take too long to post this up. I was having second thoughts whether I should write this up or just make a VLOG about it since this might be a long post. Dont worry, I will try to simplify it as much as possible.

Now that you've confirmed your pregnancy you might be asking yourself of what are the other things you should do? should I go to a General Hospital or in a Maternity/birthing clinic? what are the benefits I could get from my health insurance? or how much money is needed for me to give birth here in Japan? All these questions are so stressful especially for a not so fluent with nihongo and to top of that a first time mom like me. I will give my very best to share everything and help you with your worries.

First is do you have a Health Insurance? Be it a government (kokumin kenkou hokken) or an employee insurance (shakai hokken). You need to have it because if not then I recommend you give birth to your home country but if you can afford to pay everything then why not. The birthing cost for normal delivery is around 40万 that includes your 5 days stay in the hospital/clinic and your health insurance will give you 42万 ( fix for normal/c section) known as shuusan teate. In my case, my hospital bill is around 39万 so the remaining balance was given back to me 1-2 weeks after discharge.

So how about c-section ? How much will it cost?

C-section will probably cost around 60万 or more. Honestly, I have no idea about this but our secretary at work gave me a paper which is actually an application form for Gendo-gaku tekiyō nintei (credit limit application). This will cover the excess birthing cost for those who will undergo c section. She told me that if I will be on c section, I should send the application form at least 3 weeks before the operation but if you will have an emergency c section you can still apply for it after. The hospital might require you to shell out some money first and be reimbursed by the health insurance office.

How to get the shuusan teate?

Our secretary who has been a great help explained to me that there are 3 ways to get the shuusan teate. (she gave me this fig below)



The first one or the chokusetsubarai (direct payment) is mainly used by most of the hospitals/clinic. They will be the one to process the application, there will be fees to it but you will have no more worries. The insurance will pay the hospital bill and give you the remaining balance. Simple as that.

A hagaki (notice) will come in to your mail 3 weeks after.
It contains the amount refunded to your bank account. 

Second is uketori dairi seido (receipt proxy system) this doesn't cost you any fees because you will be the one to process the application to your health insurance. But only a few hospital/clinic allows this scheme.

Third is the Sango shinsei hōshiki ( postpartum application method) you will have to pay everyhting straight from your pocket and have it reimbursed after giving birth. I wont recommend this for this is such a hassle.

Some of  My friends did this sango shinsei hoshiki because they gave birth in the Philippines. They just kept all the receipts so they could reimburse everything. They said that if you do this you will get more because giving birth in the PHILs is way more cheaper. But for me, this is just my point of view though. Its just the same. You will pay for your fare, you will pay for your prenatal check ups and as well as your daily expenses. Aside from that you wont be able to get your benefits especially if you are enrolled in the shakai hokken ( maternity leave and child care ).

Though you will be happy through out your pregnancy because you will be sorrounded with the people you love "poor hubby" though and sorrounded with food . But still, its up to you to decide. Whatever it is choose the one that you are comfortable with.

Good luck!

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