Remaining a member of the Association (Voluntarily and Continuously Insured Persons)
- Description
Remaining a member of the Association (Voluntarily and Continuously Insured Persons)
While you will lose your eligibility as an insured person under the health insurance system the day after you leave your employer, a system is available whereby you can remain an insured person under the Health Insurance Association if you meet certain conditions. This is known as the system for Voluntarily and Continuously Insured Persons.
Who can become a Voluntarily and Continuously Insured Person
To become a Voluntarily and Continuously Insured Person, you must meet all of the following conditions:
- You must have lost your eligibility as an insured person under the health insurance system for specific reasons: for example, you left your employer.
- You must have been an insured person for at least two consecutive months prior to the date you lost your eligibility.
- You must apply to become a Voluntarily and Continuously Insured Person within 20 days after the date on which you lost your eligibility.
** If you start working at a new employer, you will be covered by health insurance at your new employer and cannot be a Voluntarily and Continuously Insured Person.
How long you can be a Voluntarily and Continuously Insured Person
You can be a Voluntarily and Continuously Insured Person for up to two years. You will be issued a new health insurance card. Since your health insurance card code will change, be sure to show the new card when you visit a medical care institution.
** Since you must join the Medical Care System for the Advanced Elderly when you reach the age of 75, you will lose your eligibility as a Voluntarily and Continuously Insured Person at that point, even if two years have yet to pass.
Insurance premiums you are required to pay
You must pay the full amount of the applicable insurance premiums yourself, including the amount paid by the insured person and the amount previously paid by your employer. The employer will not pay any portion of your premiums after you become a Voluntarily and Continuously Insured Person. You must pay all premiums yourself by the specified deadline.
You can pay insurance premiums monthly or in advance for a fixed period of time. Those paying in advance will receive statutory discounts on their premiums.
You can pay premiums in advance for one half-year (April through September or October through March) or one full year (April through March).
Contact the Health Insurance Society for more information.
The standard remuneration used as the basis for calculating your insurance premiums is the lesser of the following: ① your standard monthly remuneration at the time you lose your eligibility; or ② the average standard monthly remuneration of all insured persons in the Health Insurance Association as of the end of the September of the previous year.
Payment of insurance premiums
You may choose from one of two ways of paying insurance premiums: monthly or prepayment. (You receive an annual discount of 4.0% in prepayment.) If you choose to pay monthly, you must pay the premiums by the 10th of each month.
You will automatically lose your eligibility if you fail to pay your premiums by the deadline.
Benefits from the Health Insurance Association
The benefits you can receive as an insured person (dependent) under the Health Insurance Association will remain unchanged.
| 1 | Medical care benefits by using your health insurance card |
|---|---|
| 2 | Health insurance benefits (Patient Cost-Sharing Reimbursements and Additional Benefits, Dependents’ Medical Care Additional Sum, etc.) |
| 3 | Subsidy programs for health examinations |
| 4 | Other |
Remittance account for health insurance benefits and notice of payment
Health insurance benefits will be remitted into the bank account you indicate when leaving your employer. You can view notices of payment on the Web under “insurance benefit/medical care cost information.”
Paying your premiums
| 1 | Your first premium will cover the period from the month in which you left your employer (or the following month if you left your employer on the last day of the month) through March of the following year. |
|---|---|
| 2 | You will be informed of how to pay premiums for the following fiscal year in early March of each year. |
| 3 | Keep both the statement of payment and the remittance receipt in a safe place. You will need them to declare the deduction for social insurance premiums when completing your final income tax return. |
Changes in address and other information, changes in family dependents
Please call the Health Insurance Association promptly in the event of a change in address or telephone number or an increase or decrease in your list of family dependents. The Association will send you the appropriate application form.
Loss of eligibility as a Voluntarily and Continuously Insured Person and date of loss of eligibility
You will lose your eligibility for coverage by the Health Insurance Association in the following cases. Promptly contact the Association and return your health insurance card.
| 1 | The day after the end of the period of eligibility (two years) The Health Insurance Association will send you notification documents about one month prior to the end of your period of eligibility. |
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| 2 | The day after any date on which you fail to pay insurance premiums on time |
| 3 | The point in time at which you become an insured person under another health insurance, for example, if you begin to work at another employer |
| 4 | The day after death |
| 5 | The point in time at which you apply to cancel your eligibility (The date of loss of eligibility will be the first of the month following the month in which the Health Insurance Association receives the application.) |
Withdrawal
You must take specific steps in cases 3,4 and 5 above, including procedures to withdraw from coverage and to cancel your eligibility for reimbursements. Be sure to contact the Health Insurance Association in such cases.
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