For a Filipino man visiting Tokyo in May last year, the tour of the capital was supposed to be a fun sightseeing trip.
For a Filipino man visiting Tokyo in May last year, the tour of the capital was supposed to be a fun sightseeing trip.
But the man collapsed after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage and was rushed to NTT Medical Center Tokyo in Shinagawa Ward for an emergency operation. Fortunately, the surgery saved his life. But the trouble didn’t stop there. As a tourist, his medical costs were not covered by Japan’s national health insurance system, pushing his medical bills to an eye-popping ¥5.4 million. “If you are covered by the health insurance system, you may need to pay just ¥100,000 or ¥130,000 or so even if the actual cost is something like ¥2 million to ¥3 million,” said Isao Ebihara, a medical coordinator for foreign patients at NTT Medical Center Tokyo. “But if you are a tourist not covered by any insurance, you have to shoulder all of the actual costs on your own.
