A Call for Enhanced Healthcare Support for Increasingly Vulnerable Groups of Foreigners in Japan: Insights from a Former Thai-Native Medical Student in Japan

Access to Healthcare Services among Thai Immigrants in Japan: A Study of the Areas Surrounding Tokyo

“…Even though this study revealed the low rate of CHE incidence among these populations before hospital admission, CHE incidence is likely to occur when the individuals need hospitalization. Without an established supporting system like in other developed countries, this financial issue often causes concern and confusion for healthcare providers and sometimes results in high-cost unpaid medical bill issues [ 12 , 40 ].…”

“…Thus, retaining healthcare support for undocumented immigrants in Japan remains an unresolved problem at present. For some residents of foreign nationalities living in Japan, the embassies have played an important role in connecting a hospital and the family of the immigrant once admitted to the hospital, although it is often the case that support for medical fees is limited and only applies to certain conditions [ 12 ]. In terms of approaches to the immigrants and implementing health insurance for them, the illegal workers should be able to be legally registered with the healthcare system, specifically for funding for immigrants once admitted to the hospital without deportation back to their countries of origin [ 42 , 43 ].…”

“…It is often complicated to support the uninsured when being admitted to a hospital because of financial and language barriers. For them, various stakeholders, including the immigrant’s family, hospital, and governmental agencies, are often involved [ 12 ]. Although it is well acknowledged that the vulnerable group of immigrants, including the uninsured, often encounter financial issues that lead to unpaid medical bills, the socioeconomic status and health profiles of the vulnerable population before being admitted to a hospital are still unknown.…”