Job Discussion Forums

tom.s · Joined: 10 Aug 2006 Posts: 8

I've been looking around the internet, and this forum, and Nova's JMA Health Insurance doesn't seem to be very well regarded. However I've not had any luck finding any other health insurance that looks much good either.

I know there is (or should be) the option of the Japanese national health insurance.. but that actualy seems more expensive, and i'm not sure if it has much in the way of benefits. Not sure if its worth the hassle.

Other than that, looking from the UK, the only options i've found are "gap year travel insurance" policies from people like Endsleigh and Boots. But these seem to be designed more for emergencies and to bring you back to the uk than for ongoing and minor health issues in another country. Are these ok for teaching in japan?

If so, has anyone found any competetive ones they'd recommend?

Alternatively there seem to be more comprehensive ones like GoodHealthWorldwide.. but they are actualy a fair bit more expensive than JMA.

I looked in the FAQ, but it basically just gets sidetracked into the NOVA legalities side of things, and doesn't give much useful information on what to actually do.

Also, what about dental cover?

So, any recommendations on policies or companies?

I'm tempted to just take the Nova JMA cover as it doesn't seem much more expensive than any other options, and its a lot less hassle.

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

I can't advise you on foreign health insurance plans. I have the Japanese plan. You get 70% coverage with it. With many foreign plans, you get 100% coverage, so I hear. Look into each one carefully to be sure. One thing more is that some of the foreign plans don't pay your bills right away. Instead, they expect YOU to do that, then wait to get reimbursed. Even if that's a month, some of those medical bills can be pretty steep to pay in full on the day you go to the clinic. Plus, not all foreign insurance is accepted here.

Japanese national health insurance (kokumin kenko hoken, anyway) covers a lot, and you don't have to pay more than 30% of the bill. Moreover, in your first year here, your monthly premiums are only about 2500 yen, so that's not very much. However, there are 2 catches.

1. After the first year, your employment record is known to the authorities, so the monthly premiums are adjusted and will go up about tenfold.

2. If you don't opt for NHI, then decide to take it later, you will have to make back payments (up to 2 or 3 years worth), even if it's in installments.

bornslippy1981 · Joined: 02 Aug 2004 Posts: 271

I signed up today for Kokumin Kenko Hoken, and I got lucky.

I had something from JMA saying my last day of coverage is August 31. The lady at city hall said since I didn't sign up in April, I would have to make back payments for those months.

She called JMA, and they told her that Nova doesn't tell employees they can sign up for Kokumin Kenko Hoken in addition to having JMA. She felt sorry for me because I didn't know.

I had to go home and get a copy of my resignation form for her, and I also took my contract to show her the section saying "The Employee shall participate in an Employer approved health insurance program. The Employee is not eligible to participate in the Japanese Employees' Health Insurance and Employees' Pension Insurance programs (Shakai Hoken)."

I know I didn't get the pension deal today, nor did I want it. She made a copy of my resignation form, and was able to change my NHI start date to today, and saved me about 60,000 Yen in back payments for this fiscal year. I'm not sure why she needed the resignation form, but now I have much better coverage for 13,000 Yen/month instead of awful coverage from JMA at 8000 Yen/month.

I returned to her office about 15 minutes later with flowers and a thank you note. It's the least I could do.

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Good for you all around, bornslippy. I wish more ex-NOVA people could make it known that NOVA really doesn't tell its applicants the whole truth about insurance.

Flowers were a nice touch. They'll definitely remember you.

tom.s · Joined: 10 Aug 2006 Posts: 8

Its odd, the contract in the Booklet i got still has that exact phrase.. but they did mention Shakai Hoken in the interview as an option.. though they did gloss over it and say that they didn't think anyone had ever taken it.

What exactly is the problem with JMA? I can't see any major flaws with it, though there may be better deals out there. Then again, all te small print for all these deals confuese the heck out of me...

Is it worth asking for Shakai Hoken, even if it might not go down well with Nova? What exactly are it's benefits over JMA?

Topo Gigo · Joined: 01 Jun 2006 Posts: 57 Location: Japan

Nova don't tell you anything about insurance, other than that you can take out their JMA, and then a 'price comparison' exercise in which they claim insurance costs from 6k per month (JMA) to 30K per month (Japanese national) and that's pretty much all the info given. I think a lot of people opt for the JMA based on those figures and the ease - and I'll tell you what, it's been a real ball-ache trying to find out what the best option is!

After much deliberating, I've decided to go with the Kokumin Kenko Hoken as it is cheap in the first year as it is based on previous earnings and you don't have to get a pension with it, it is instantly recognised by everyone in Japan, the chances of it failing financially are pretty slim (JMA is linked with nova, who have had some worrying press re their financial situation recently), and it's legal.

Please correct me if I'm wrong about any of this!

Ta
TGx

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

wangtesol · Joined: 24 May 2005 Posts: 280

JMA is just accident insurance. And if there is a serious accident, then you will just be shipped to your home country for medical treatment. But if you get the flu, JMA doesn't pay for continuously seeing the doctor. Search for newspaper articles on Nova employee Steve Brown and his problems with a slipped disc caused by the lousy office equipment at Nova...
http://begunto.tripod.com/begunto/index.blog?entry_id=1138838

There should be more info at the Nova teachers branch union website...
http://www.novaunion.com

One big problem with JMA is that it is illegal, so some private hospitals will charged you 120% of your medical costs. Your health is not worth dicking around with.

I knew of one teacher without National Health Insurance who got into a car accident and the ambulance took her to a private hospital. She ended up in hospital for 2 weeks. It was a nightmare since her school would not talk to the hospital about her health insurance situation and why she wasn't enrolled (your employer has to enroll you). So the hospital was going to personally charge her 120% of the medical bill - even for the food! In the end, it got covered under Workers Compensation since the company said that she was on her way to work.

Nova recruiters are often little more than paid liars, and there is no legislation in the UK, US or Canada that prevents overseas recruiters from falsifying working conditions. They can lie their arses off, and they will never be held legally accountable (lies such as no Nova teacher has ever signed up for the National Health Insurance - give me a break).

There are other threads on this website on Nova's medical coverage. Try the search function for JMA, shakai hoken, etc.... There was a good thread last fall or so.

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Vince · Joined: 05 May 2003 Posts: 559 Location: U.S.

I used this company while I was in Japan and got great service:

http://www.bannerjapan.com/GHC/teacherhealthcare.htm

It was especially helpful when I got dental work done. They offer other financial services too (click the home link at the left of the page).

Note: I have no connection with them, other than being a former customer.

cafebleu · Joined: 10 Feb 2003 Posts: 404

Yes, it's too expensive BUT it gives peace of mind. It is recognised anywhere in Japan - if you are in an accident and are rushed to hospital without national health insurance you are going to be put through a lot of mental anguish. The hospital will bill you on the spot - bad luck if you don't have cash on you or don't know anybody who will bring it to you.

It happened to a foreigner friend of mine and my husband when I lived in Japan. We got an emergency call and had to bail our friend out as they didn't have Jp NHI and the hospital was demanding politely but very rigidly that they pay "ima". Shocked

When I first went to Japan I went with my employer to my city hall and was told if I could show proof of enrolment in a health insurance scheme already, I didn't have to join the Jp national one.

HOWEVER, that was some time ago. Since about 3 years ago, the authorities have been actively discouraging foreigners from having any health insurance plan that isn't the Jp one. They don't give foreigners a choice despite what Nova and other employers are declaring.

Better to be safe than sorry. My problems with the NHI were the costs - because I just couldn't work out how they calculated it. I seemed to be paying 10 percent in health insurance costs and I was also forced to join the pension system for the self employed. That is a potential problem if you join the NHI.

The pension scheme can be very confusing - let's just say to make it clear it wasn't the scheme that the JET people are on. They get a good refund when they leave Japan for good.

I was on the scheme for the self employed because my employer understated my work hours to the city hall. Yes, they were sly but I wasn't in a position to tell my first employer in Japan that. It cost me probably 12,000 per month back then - it's probably about 14,000 per month now.

So the danger of getting the national health insurance is that you can get signed up for the national pension as well. It doesn't matter how low your income falls - you can be unemployed with an income of zero each month but you must pay the mandatory amount. You also get a relative fraction refunded when you leave Japan for good if you have contributed longer than 3 years. Very unfair and typically Japanese.

Bornslippy's city hall were nice - they didn't force him on to the pension. Mine did. Evil or Very Mad

I'd just love to know how bornslippy is paying 13,000 per month. Surprised

Is your income (may I ask?) 130,000 yen per month? The NHI premiums seem to fluctuate according to whatever ward office/city hall area you're in.

Anybody care to cast light upon why I was paying about 10 percent of my income on health insurance? How about you Glenski? Maybe that is standard. I wasn't 40 or over, which is when they slap a 'nursing charge' which has really pissed off foreigner friends of mine who have never used the system or used it about once in 6 years or so.

So Tom S - beware the pension. Say that no thank you, you don't need kokumin nenkin if you sign up for health insurance at your ward office/city hall.

bornslippy1981 · Joined: 02 Aug 2004 Posts: 271

My income is more than double the amount you asked. I have privates and other misc. work, that makes it more, but the government doesn't know.

I was only in Japan 9 months in 2005, so that could be why my rate is lower.

I was trying to find the information last night as to how the rate is calculated. I'll look again when I have Internet at my new place, as now I don't have my links on the cafe computer. I don't think it's 10% though, at least with the insurance I got.

I did get the insurance information in the mail the other day, and my payments will be closer to 17,000 a month because I have one month extra that's factored in.

As for the pension, I think it's because I'm working for a small company with less than 5 employees that I don't have to get it. I had to have the company fill out a form for me that I took when I signed up.

Again, I'll have another look in the next week or two regarding the rules and regulations.

Sorry I can't help out now.

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

cafebleu wrote:

yamanote senbei · Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Posts: 435

JMA and the insurance offered by Banner is no substitute for the government run health insurance that you MUST be enrolled in. It's the law. If you're an employee, you MUST be enrolled by your employer. Most dodgy employers like Nova and Interac offer so-called "alternative" insurance for their "part time" employees, but they don't tell you that you legally must be on Kokumin Kenko Hoken as well if you are "part time".

The reason why shady employers don't want to put their teachers on proper insurance is that the company doesn' t want to pay half the premiums. If you get really sick and start asking questions, they know that you'll either leave the country to get medical assistance or die before you find out the truth.

tom.s · Joined: 10 Aug 2006 Posts: 8

So basically the options boil down to:

1 - JMA through nova at about �28 a month. But its apparently not much good. (though im still not specific on exactly what is wrong with it. Except its nova). (also not clear on what the excess is)

2 - National Health Insurance (shakai hoken) at 4% or about �45 a month. This covers 70% of costs, is that right? (But this might p*ss off nova before i even get there!, or they might take their share out of my salary)

2b - ?? Kokumin Kenko Hoken ?? Is this like a private verson of shakai hoken where you pay the full 10% premium yourself, rather than the employer covering part of it? Have i got that right? (so that would be about �90 a month!)

3 - Private insurance by someone like Banner. This works out at about �500 to �600 a year (or more or less depending on the options chosen). Or about �40 to �50 a month. Pays most of your costs except a small excess.

Have i got that about right as a simplfied summary? I still have no idea what to go for.. sigh..