The government is seeking to cut health care spending to 49 trillion yen by fiscal 2025, or 7 trillion yen lower than its current goal, mainly by raising elderly people's insurance premiums and their share of the bills, according to a draft plan.
The new target figure accounts for 9.1 percent of Japan's national income, down from the currently estimated 10.1 percent, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said in a draft outline for health care reforms.
But the planned cut is less than the reduction recommended by the private-sector members of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's policy-guiding Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy.
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