Medical expenses over 42 trillion yen A record high due to aging Last year's September 26, 17:31
Last year, medical expenses were paid to medical institutions nationwide for the treatment of illnesses and injuries, and the estimated medical expenses for FY2018 were about 42.60 trillion yen, a record high due to the progress of aging.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the total cost of medical expenses for the previous fiscal year, excluding workers 'compensation, and excluding workers' compensation insurance, was 42,571.3 billion yen, about 300 billion yen compared to the previous year, a 0.8% increase in rate, for two consecutive years And updated the highest ever.
The medical cost per capita was 337,000 yen, an increase of 4000 yen from the previous year.
By age, it was 222,000 yen for those under 75 years of age, while that for those 75 years and older was 939,000 yen, more than quadrupled.
By type of medical treatment, hospitalization accounted for 17.03 trillion yen, accounting for 41% of the total, outpatient hospital was 14.60 trillion yen, dispensing was 7.5 trillion yen, and dentistry was 3 trillion yen.
On the other hand, the use rate of generic drugs, which are cheaply priced by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, so-called generics, was 77.7% last year in terms of volume, up 4.7 points from the previous year.
With the declining birthrate and aging population, it is estimated that medical expenses will rise to the 70 trillion yen level in 2040 when the number of elderly people peaks, and it is expected that discussions on the review of benefits and burdens will be inevitable.