From: "nantonaku" Newsgroups: fj.life.in-japan Subject: Best approach to health insurance Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2008 13:18:55 +0900 Lines: 40 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1807 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1807 NNTP-Posting-Host: 210.88.255.232 Message-ID: <479962c8@kcnews01> X-Trace: kcnews01 1201234632 210.88.255.232 (25 Jan 2008 04:17:12 GMT) Organization: Global Network Services - Remote Access Mail & News Services X-Complaints-To: abuse@prserv.net Path: news.ccsf.jp!news.heimat.gr.jp!news.northeye.org!gcd.org!leaf.gcd.org!news.unit0.net!news.glorb.com!newscon02.news.prodigy.net!prodigy.net!kcnewsm02.prserv.net!prserv.net!kcnews01!not-for-mail Xref: news.ccsf.jp fj.life.in-japan:166679 Hello all! I have lurked on this list off and on for some time and have enjoyed and learned a lot! I have been living in Japan for quite a while, and through some work circumstances, have not been part of Japanese National Health Insurance for quite a while. I am now eligible to join. Recently, a Japanese friend was forced to go freelance, and will therefore lose their company health insurance, and is contemplating joining as well. I have very little knowledge on what reliable private schemes are available here. So, I wanted to tap into your cumulative experience to ask if there is any advantage to joining JNHI, rather than looking for a private scheme. Or, whether a private scheme would be better? And, if so, do you have any recommendations for a reliable vendor? I have difficulty with the notion of having my health insurance premiums connected to my income - it makes more sense for them to be connected to my state of health (and, to some extent, my age). My friend is still young, so I am guessing they may also get a better deal out of it, if they intend on trying to increase their income as much as possible as they work for themselves. For me, I would have to do a more specific comparison to make the final decision. But, any recommendations for a private scheme would be very much appreciated! I also recall stories of people who found JNHI expensive, but then found that the could not get out of the system even if they wanted too. So, I would like to explore all options before taking on JNHI, if it is still the "sticky" system it was purported to be in the past. I would be very grateful on your insights and recommendations on this! Thanks in advance! Victor Shkawrytko Tokyo, Japan