A political battle has heated up over a new health insurance plan covering 13 million people aged 75 or over and introduced April 1. Opposition forces Friday passed a bill through the Upper House to abolish the unpopular plan on April 1, 2009, and reintroduce the previous plan, but the ruling bloc-controlled Lower House is set to kill this bill.
While the ruling parties have a plan to slash premium payment burdens, the opposition forces are expected to submit a censure motion in the Upper House against Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, sharpening confrontation over the issue.
Under the new insurance plan, tax revenue funds 50 percent of the cost; "support money" from younger working people's health insurance associations, 40 percent; and premiums from plan participants, the rest. The plan is designed to raise participants' premiums if their medical costs increase. In a sense, the plan is viewed as a way to curb medical spending for elderly people.