Yoshio Mitsumori |
On September 11, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) led by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi celebrated a historical landslide victory in the lower house general election.
The election was called for public judgment with respect to the postal reform and its privatization that was proposed by Koizumi and had been denied by an upper house session. Eventually the postal reform was widely supported and the LDP gained the great victory. Many protesters that were even inside LDP had lost the game.
The Post Office Association, one of the biggest supporters of the LDP, strongly opposed the postal reform, but the outcome was not on their side. Now with the postal reform almost over, the political interest has been shifted to pension and medical reform.
The medical reform, which became the top political issue after the general election, was a political commitment by Koizumi in presenting a fundamental reform plan within fiscal 2005.
In such a political environment, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) is about to make public the draft of a medical reform plan, in which the MHLW projects a significant cutback of medical expenditures by promoting cost containment programs such as a fixed payment system called DPC (Diagnosis Procedure Combination) for in-patient care. The plan may demand more self-burden even for the elderly, and exclude the meal and accommodation fees from the insurance coverage in cases of long hospital stays.
In addition to the short-term strategy, the MHLW has projected the middle-and-long-term strategy, such as the enhancement of regional programs to prevent the life-style diseases.
Yoshio Mitsumori is the president and CEO for Tokyo-based ADMIS, a consultant specializing in the medical device industry. He has more than 25 years of experience in the medical industry, including positions with the Itochu Corp., U.S. Surgical, National Medical Enterprises and Century Medical. A member of RAPS, he has spoken at many industry events and worked extensively in international trade of medical products and technologies. He can be reached at ymitsumori@admis.co.jp