Contributions to finance health care for the elderly has been the major burden for the program, said Yasoji Kawamoto, a Health Ministry official in charge of medical insurance. Funding the program will be a major challenge for new Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, whose main campaign promise was to curb Japan's growing national debt, among the largest in the industrialized world. He took office last week. Officials from the Health Ministry and the Prime Minister's Office have been discussing reform for years. They are expected to make a proposal next year, two years behind the initially targeted 2000.
Officials have to come up with plans by the annual budget request deadline in autumn.