Free Health Care in the Budget

While the United States ponders universal health care, a town near Tokyo has decided to foot the bill for its elders. Hinode-machi (pop. 16,000) will start paying medical expenses for all residents 75 and older next year. Embracing this policy will cost the town’s government about 85 million yen annually, or roughly $800,000, to care for its 1,830 eligible residents.

The increased tax revenue associated with the opening of a large shopping mall last year made free health care for the elderly viable. Japan’s Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry says Hinode-machi’s experiment is a first for a Japanese municipality.