| [ Summary ] |
National medical expenditures (NME) in Japan are expanding yearly because of the rapid aging of the population. Nevertheless, NME accounts for only 8.1 ％ of GDP which is very small compared to other OECD countries. This is because the Japanese government has made efforts to control increasing NME by implementing several cost cutting measures. However, these cost containment measures have gradually damaged medical services. Total medical expenditures for dialysis patients are also expanding because of increase of the number of patients, though the fee for dialysis treatment has been reduced every two years. However, the increase of the ratio of dialysis medical expenditure to NME seems to stop recently. |