At the 2025 International Health Economics Association (IHEA) Congress held in Bali, Indonesia, Dr Megumi Rosenberg, Technical Officer at the WHO Centre for Health Development (WHO Kobe Centre – WKC), presented research highlighting persistent financial hardship among households with older persons in Japan. Her presentation was part of a full-day preconference session co-organized on 19 July by the World Bank and WHO, titled Improving Financial Protection in Health: Strengthening the Evidence to Policy Pipeline.
Dr Rosenberg’s talk showcased findings from a recent WKC-supported study using two decades of nationally representative data from the Japan Household Panel Survey (2004–2023). The study aimed to examine financial protection in health by applying the recently revised Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 3.8.2, which measures the proportion of households experiencing out-of-pocket health spending that exceeds 40% of total discretionary income.
While Japan is known for its universal health insurance system, the study revealed that many older adults still face significant financial burden, especially retirees under the age of 70 who have increasing healthcare needs but only the same level of financial protection as working age adults.
This research contributes to WHO’s global efforts to strengthen financial protection and promote equitable access to health services as part of universal health coverage. It also offers practical insights for Japan and other countries aiming to improve their health financing systems to better protect older populations.
Learn more about the study here: Financial hardship due to out-of-pocket spending on health care: An exploratory study using the Japan Household Panel Survey