Until you leave your company, you are covered by its social insurance. Once you leave, however, you must arrange your own insurance coverage.

If you move straight into a new job without a gap, your new employer will handle it, so there is little to think about. But if you take some time out of work to prepare to start a business or to rest, you will need to complete various procedures yourself. They are complicated enough already, and because they are unfamiliar, many people find them confusing.

What happens to your insurance after you leave? Let us look at two types of insurance.

Voluntary Continuation of Health Insurance

Voluntary continuation allows you to remain enrolled for up to two years in the insurance plan in which you were enrolled until you left your company (the Japan Health Insurance Association, a health insurance society, etc.).

Eligibility Requirements for Voluntary Continuation of Health Insurance

  • You must have a continuous insured period of at least two months ending on the day before the loss-of-eligibility date. (Mutual aid associations and similar bodies have different required insured periods.)
  • You must apply within 20 days of the loss-of-eligibility date. You cannot enroll if you miss the deadline.

How to Apply for Voluntary Continuation of Health Insurance

Complete the application form to acquire eligibility as a voluntarily continuing insured person and submit it to the counter of the Japan Health Insurance Association branch in the prefecture where you live. (For a health insurance society, the document may have a different name, so please check in advance.)

The procedure itself is very simple. If you call the health insurance society or other organization with which you wish to continue coverage, it will likely assist you courteously. However, many people fail to enroll because they forget to apply within the required 20 days, so take special care with the deadline. Act promptly once you leave your job.

When Eligibility for Voluntary Continuation of Health Insurance Is Lost

  • When two years have passed since the date voluntary continuation began.
  • When insurance premiums have not been paid by the payment deadline. Even a one-day delay results in loss of eligibility on the day after the payment deadline.
  • When you enroll in company insurance because you have found a job or for another reason.
  • When you acquire eligibility as an insured person under the healthcare system for people aged 75 and over.
  • When the insured person dies.

National Health Insurance

National Health Insurance is part of Japan's universal health insurance system, and anyone who is not enrolled in any other social insurance system must join it. Therefore, unless you start a job the day after leaving your old one or enroll in voluntary continuation, you will need to complete the procedure to switch to National Health Insurance.

How to apply

Take the following three items to the counter of the municipality where you live and complete the procedure in person.

  • Something that confirms your date of leaving employment (such as a separation notice, withholding tax certificate, copy of a health insurance loss-of-eligibility notice, or certificate of withdrawal from health insurance)

  • Photo identification (such as a driver's license, passport, or Basic Resident Registration Card)

  • Personal seal (an ordinary personal seal is acceptable)

You will also need to submit an enrollment notification, but it is available at the municipal counter and can be completed there.

The amount you pay varies from person to person. With voluntary continuation, the premium based on your final remuneration band, previously split equally with your employer, becomes entirely your own responsibility, so it simply doubles. That premium is fixed throughout the two years you are enrolled. However, there is a cap, so it will not exceed the maximum.

National Health Insurance is calculated based on the previous year's income. In addition, when you have dependent family members, a charge called the per-capita levy applies to every person, so premiums rise with the number of people. Premium rates also differ by municipality.

For these reasons, which option is more economical depends on your individual circumstances.

Voluntary continuation in particular has a strict deadline, so before you leave your job, it is a good idea to check your own insurance premium. Some health insurance societies also offer a range of supplementary services to promote health, so compare both premiums and service content before deciding.