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Ministry of Health Seeks Public Comment on Ordinance Changes Tied to Health Insurance Act Amendment
Healthcare

Ministry of Health Seeks Public Comment on Ordinance Changes Tied to Health Insurance Act Amendment

Japan's health ministry is accepting public comments until November 24, 2026 on draft ministerial ordinances that would update National Health Insurance rules following amendments to the Health Insurance Act.

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Key Points

  • • Health ministry opened public comment on draft ordinances tied to Health Insurance Act amendments
  • • Comment period runs from October 26 to November 24, 2026, closing at 23:59
  • • Changes involve National Health Insurance enforcement order and treasury subsidy calculation rules
  • • This is a draft proposal under the Administrative Procedure Act, not yet finalized

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has published a draft ministerial ordinance for public comment concerning changes needed to implement part of a law amending the Health Insurance Act and related statutes [1]. The notice, issued through the e-Gov public comment portal, was posted on October 26, 2026, and the ministry is accepting opinions from the public until 23:59 on November 24, 2026 [1].

According to the notice, the draft ordinance falls under the category of social insurance and is formally titled the "Ministerial Ordinance on the Development of Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare-Related Ministerial Ordinances Accompanying the Enforcement of Part of the Act Partially Amending the Health Insurance Act and Other Laws" [1]. The legal basis cited includes Article 29-7, Paragraph 6, Item 6 of the Enforcement Order of the National Health Insurance Act, as well as several provisions of the Cabinet Order on the Calculation of National Treasury Subsidies for National Health Insurance, specifically Article 5, Paragraphs 11 (Item 2), 12, and 13 (Items 1 and 2) [1].

The ministry states that this is a procedure based on the Administrative Procedure Act, meaning the public comment period is a required step before the ordinance can be finalized [1]. The responsible office is the National Health Insurance Division of the ministry's Health Insurance Bureau, which is listed as the contact point for inquiries [1]. The reception period began at 22:00 on October 26, 2026 [1].

The official notice does not specify, in the text provided, exactly how the ordinance would change day-to-day National Health Insurance procedures, nor does it give an effective date for when any resulting rules would take effect [1]. The ministry has made available a summary document and the full text of the proposed ordinance via PDF links on the e-Gov site, and it urges anyone submitting comments to review both the

Source credit 出典：「健康保険法等の一部を改正する法律の一部の施行に伴う厚生労働省関係省令の整備に関する省令案に関する御意見の募集について」（e-Govパブリックコメント）（https://public-comment.e-gov.go.jp/servlet/Public?CLASSNAME=PCMMSTDETAIL&id=495260237&Mode=0）、PDL1.0（https://www.digital.go.jp/resources/open_data/public_data_license_v1.0）を加工してJapan News (j.apan.news)が作成 This article is Japan News's own English summary of the Japanese original. It has been translated and edited by Japan News; it is not an official translation, and the e-Gov Public Comment did not write or review it.

Sources

This article was written by AI from these Japanese-language reports. Check them before acting on anything here.

  1. [1] e-Gov — original report (Japanese)

AI-written summary of Japanese reports; not human-reviewed; check the linked sources. How we write articles