Job Discussion Forums

[sabina]

This is my first year in Japan and I just received my bill for my kokumin kenko hoken health insurance. The bill is for 15,100 yen which I thought was a little high since I have been reading on here that for the first year the price is very low. Does that price sound correct?

[seklarwia]

Is that the total bill for the year?

If so that is fine. You don't get billed per month really. You get a sheet that has tabs. You can either choose to pay the whole bill total in one go by the date stated on that tab (The one with the 全 kanji pattern) or you can choose to pay by installments by paying the number tabs by the different dates shown on those.

I just pay the total tab, so that I don't have the hassle of trying to make the awful banking hours every month or so.

[sabina]

Hmmm, it would make sense that that is the yearly price but it's also the only price I see and it's on every tab/sheet. No smaller price that could possibly be a monthly price.
15,100 seems high since I had no Japanese income last year for them to go off of.....
I'll ask my boss to look it over again.

[seklarwia]

You've never worked in Japan before, right?

The first year is low. I think I paid about 13,000 for my first year in total (although I think that may be low really compared to others since I often see the 2,000/month figure being quoted)

I'm in my second year and if I remember correctly, my total was 126,500 for this year - again I just paid the total so haven't looked at that sheet the best part of a year.

But that does sound strange because both years, mine had a total tab and then maybe 8/9 numbered tabs with smaller figures and different payment deadlines.

Are you signed up to just the insurance or are you paying the pension as well?

I'm not paying the pension so don't know how that would work. Best to ask your employer to look over it.

[sabina]

[Glenski]

Definitely have your boss look at it. You should be paying roughly 2000 yen per month (and only 10 times for the whole year if I'm not mistaken). If you want to calculate what you should be paying, it's something like this:

Contribution for regular months (without bonus payment)
Contribution amount = Your Standard Monthly Remuneration* � Contribution rate ***

Contribution for bonus months (regular salary + bonus)
Contribution amount = Your Standard Monthly Remuneration* � Contribution rate *** + Your Standard Bonus Amount**� Contribution rate***

* Standard Monthly Remuneration
The Standard Monthly Remuneration serves as the basis for calculating the benefits and insurance contributions for Employees� Health Insurance and the Employees' Pension Insurance. Your actual remuneration paid from the employer is classified into the prescribed remuneration table, and your Standard Monthly Remuneration is determined.
Your remuneration includes every payment such as salary, wage and any allowance which you receive from your employer in return of your service performed. However, the bonus and such received at intervals of more than 3 months are excluded.

** Standard Bonus Amount
The Standard Bonus Amount is the amount of bonus you receive from your employer at intervals of more than 3 months, rounded down to the nearest \1,000. The maximum of the Standard Bonus Amount for the purpose of contribution calculation is a total of \5.4 million in bonus payments per one fiscal year (from 1 April to 31 March).

*** Contribution rate (as of September 2007)
The contribution rate for the Government-managed Health Insurance (SEIFUKANSHO KENKO HOKEN) is 82/1000. If you are aged 40 or over but under 65, the contribution rate is 94.3/1000 including the contribution for Long-term Care Insurance.
http://www.sia.go.jp/e/ehi.html
Note: This is for the Employee's insurance plan, which is a bit different than kokumin, but close enough to make a rough estimate.

Not to open a can of worms here, but why are you on kokumin in the first place?

Why aren't you paying into pension, too? I know the ward office has separate sections, so they probably don't know, but it's required by law. Plus, you can get back about 3 years' worth when you leave.

[seklarwia]

[sabina]

[Glenski]

Re: pension
I don't tell people how to run their lives, but hear me out. If you are pretty darned sure you will be here 3 years or less (and I mean very certain!), then get on the pension plan because you will get most of it back.

Otherwise, who can say whether you will be here 2 or 3 or 10 or 20 years? Things happen that give people cause to stay longer than they originally expected. You may want to buy/build a house, get married, have children, apply for Permanent Resident status, whatever. If you get PR, you can backdate the starting point of pension 20 years so that you only need 5 more years before you start collecting. (Mind you, you will only collect on the years you actually put into a pension plan, but at least this is somewhat helpful.)

It's not an easy or clearcut decision to make, but it's the law even if it's not openly enforced. And, if you change jobs such that you have to start paying into shakai hoken instead of kokumin kenko hoken, paying into pension becomes automatic.

[the4th2001]

[sabina]

[Glenski]

I honestly do not remember what I did my first year here with regard to pension. I probably didn't even bother asking about it. If there truly is a grace period, take it, but find out whether that period will count in some way towards the 25 years you need to put in to claim the pension down the road.

And, absolutely find out what that 15,000 yen is for!

[seklarwia]

Okay, I looked through my paper work for my first year and I found that right at the beginning after I registered for the insurance, I was sent a bill for a single payment before they had calculated and sent me the payment sheet for the year. It was for 900yen!

Do let us know what is up with your bill(s) when you find out. I am quite curious. And it would be good to know in case others post here with a similar issue in the future.

[gwynnie86]

I've been paying about 8900 a month on kokumin kenko hoken... according to people in my area, that's around the average price!!! Where do people get this 2000 figure from? Does it depend on the area?

My IC told me that I didn't need to pay pension, but I still received the blue pension book and payment slips. I haven't paid any in, though... I plan to leave before 2 years are up... what will happen? Will I be forced to pay it or fined?

[seklarwia]