The Japanese government on Friday approved a bill to introduce a system requiring patients prescribed drugs similar in ingredients and efficacy to over-the-counter medicines to pay an additional 25 percent of the medication costs.By reforming the medical insurance system, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government plans to strictly apply a mechanism reflecting financial income, such as stock dividends, in determining the share of medical costs borne by people aged 75 or older.The move is designed to ease insurance premium burdens on the working generation, but it will raise out-of-pocket co…READ FULL ARTICLE
