Tokyo aims to curb health care costs avoiding long term hospitalization of elderly.

March 26, 2014: In an attempt to reduce public spending in the health sector, the Japanese government has announced that it would cut the number of elderly hospitalized and fed through feeding tubes. The government has announced reimbursement for health care costs in the home and has asked public hospitals to speed up rehabilitation for patients on feeding tubes to help discharge them faster from hospitals. There are about 260 thousand patients throughout the country. Tokyo currently spends about 39 thousand billion yen (350 billion euro) on national healthcare costs. According to national economists this is too much. They said that health care costs will continue to rise, as the Japanese birth rate is among the lowest in the world and therefore the aging population is predominant.
According to data from the National Institute of Population and Social Security, a quarter of the Japanese population, which has about 128 million people is over 65. By 2060 the percentage is expected to rise even higher.
Source: AsiaNews