Ishiba drops plan to hike medical costs as opposition mounts

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has reversed course on his government's controversial plan to raise medical costs in August, facing opposition even within his ruling party as a key nationwide election is approaching this summer.

The latest about-face comes as a boost to the main opposition party, which has been urging Ishiba to scrap the plan, and as a relief to patients already paying high costs for cancer treatment and other serious conditions, analysts said.

The government and the ruling camp led by Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party may be forced to revise the draft budget for the next fiscal year starting in April once again to accommodate the policy change, senior lawmakers said.

The current spending plan, formulated by Ishiba's minority government, cleared the powerful House of Representatives earlier this week after a rare revision aimed at securing support from the Japan Innovation Party, a small opposition party.

"I've decided to postpone implementing the overall review, including the planned hike in August," Ishiba told reporters at his office Friday after meeting with a group of patients opposed to the plan.

Ishiba said the decision was difficult but necessary to ease worries among patients and the government should take responsibility for its failure to ensure a "careful" policy-making process. He added his government will map out a new plan by the fall.

Calls have grown within the ruling coalition for a review of the plan, as Japan holds an election this summer for the House of Councillors. Senior LDP lawmaker Masahisa Sato said on a TV program on Thursday, "It's time for a political decision."

Ishiba has pledged to ensure a "thorough" discussion to find common ground with the opposition bloc, as the ruling parties alone cannot pass budgets and bills. But he also risks being seen as a leader who easily yields to opposition demands.

Opposition parties criticized Friday's announcement by Ishiba. Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, told reporters that the chaos "could have been prevented if (Ishiba) had listened to patients first."

Under the existing system, the government sets the maximum amount that patients should pay for medical treatment according to income, while the rapid aging of its population is driving up social security expenses for debt-ridden Japan.

The government initially intended to revise the system in stages from 2025, with the first hike slated for this August.

But the plan met stiff opposition at a time when households are coping with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. Ishiba said in late February that the government will "reconsider" the scheme from 2026 onwards but did not budge over the scheduled rise for this year.

© KYODO