Insurance / Pension
資格情報のお知らせ / 資格確認書: Japan's New Health Insurance Papers
Japan stopped issuing the old health insurance card (健康保険証) on 2 December 2024. Instead, your insurer now mails you a paper document. If you have registered your マイナンバーカード (My Number Card) as your health insurance card, called マイナ保険証, you receive a 資格情報のお知らせ ("notice of insurance qualification information"). If you have not registered, or cannot use the card, you receive a 資格確認書 ("qualification confirmation certificate"). The sender on the envelope is your insurer: your city or ward office (for 国民健康保険 / 後期高齢者医療), or a 健康保険組合, 協会けんぽ or 共済組合 through your employer. Neither document is a bill; nothing has to be paid. The 資格情報のお知らせ usually arrives as an A4 sheet or postcard and cannot be used on its own at a clinic, you show it together with your My Number Card if the card reader fails. The 資格確認書 works like the old insurance card: you hand it in at reception by itself.
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Everyone enrolled in Japan's public health insurance receives one of the two. People who have registered their My Number Card for insurance use get the 資格情報のお知らせ, typically when they join an insurer or when their coverage details change. People without a My Number Card, people who have one but have not registered it for insurance, people whose electronic certificate on the card has expired, and people who cannot realistically use the card (elderly residents, people with disabilities) get the 資格確認書. If you are on 国民健康保険 or 後期高齢者医療 (late-stage elderly medical care), it comes from your municipality; if you are an employee or a dependent, it comes from the company health insurance society via your workplace. Children and dependents each get their own document.
What to do
- 1Check who sent the envelope (city office, 健康保険組合, 協会けんぽ) and whether the title of the document inside says 資格情報のお知らせ or 資格確認書.
- 2Read the fields for your name, date of birth, insured symbol/number (記号・番号), insurer name, cost-sharing rate (負担割合) and expiry date (有効期限), and confirm the details are correct.
- 3Keep the 資格情報のお知らせ stored with your My Number Card; if you received a 資格確認書, carry it like the old insurance card and present it at the reception desk.
- 4If anything is wrong, if it never arrived, if you lost it, or if a family member's copy is missing, contact the insurer printed on the document (your municipality's 国保年金課, or your workplace's health insurance society).
- 5To check, add or cancel マイナ保険証 registration, use マイナポータル, the city office counter, or a card reader at a clinic or pharmacy.
About the deadline
The 資格確認書 has an 有効期限 (expiry date) field; after the date printed there, it can no longer be used at a medical counter. Most insurers mail a replacement automatically before it expires, but if nothing arrives you must contact them yourself. The 資格情報のお知らせ often has no expiry date, but it becomes invalid in practice when your insurer changes, for example when you change jobs, leave a job, move to another municipality, or move on or off a dependent's coverage. Always read the actual date from the field on your own document; no general date can be given here because it differs by insurer and by year.
Common misunderstandings
- Can I just show the 資格情報のお知らせ at the hospital?
- No. On its own it is not valid for treatment. It is a backup you show together with your My Number Card when the card reader is out of order. If you do not have or have not registered a My Number Card, ask your insurer about getting a 資格確認書 instead.
- Do I have to get a My Number Card or lose my health coverage?
- No. Getting the card is voluntary. People who do not register receive a 資格確認書, which works the same way the old insurance card did.
- Do I need to apply for the 資格確認書?
- For the time being most insurers issue it automatically to those who qualify, but in some situations an application is required. If it does not arrive, do not simply wait, ask your municipality or your workplace's health insurance society.
- Can I keep using the same document after moving or changing jobs?
- No. Changing insurer changes your enrolment, so the old document stops being valid. You must complete the enrolment procedure with the new insurer, and return or dispose of the old 資格確認書 as instructed. If you delay, you may have to pay 100% of the medical bill at the counter for a while.
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This page is general information. For your own case, confirm with the office that issued the document, or with a qualified professional.