JET participants can be covered under four (4) types of insurance:
1) Employee Health Insurance
[Private School Mutual Aid (Short-Term Benefits)]
2) Employee Pension Insurance
[Private School Mutual Aid (Short-Term Benefits)]
3) JET Accident Insurance
4) Employment Insurance
More information on the Employee's Health Insurance and Pension system can be found here:
https://www.nenkin.go.jp/international/japanese-system/employeespension/employee.html
1) Employee Health Insurance
[Private School Mutual Aid (Short-Term Benefits)]
2) Employee Pension Insurance
[Private School Mutual Aid (Short-Term Benefits)]
3) JET Accident Insurance
4) Employment Insurance
- 1) Employees’ Health Insurance, 2) Employees’ Pension Insurance, and 4) Employment Insurance are mandatory by Japanese law.
- As a JET you pay one half of the combined premiums, and your Contracting Organization pays the other half.
- Your insurance does not cover personal belongings, even if there’s a natural disaster and you lose everything.
More information on the Employee's Health Insurance and Pension system can be found here:
https://www.nenkin.go.jp/international/japanese-system/employeespension/employee.html
Employee Health Insurance
- When you arrive, you receive a blue card from your BOE that looks like this (Front):
- This is a card you should carry at all times.
- Employees’ Health Insurance covers 70% of medical expenses for the insured JET, and the JET must pay the remaining 30%.
- Employees’ Health Insurance covers:medical examinations, medicines/medical care supplies, emergency treatments, surgeries, in-home medical care, hospitalization, and nursing care, etc.
Employees’ Health Insurance does not cover: preventative vaccinations, unnecessary health check-ups, cosmetic surgery, unnecessary dental implants, orthodontic treatment, teeth whitening, exams and check-ups for normal (without complications) pregnancies, highly advanced medical treatments, etc.
- For extremely high-cost medical care, where the price of Total Medical Expenses before Health Insurance deductions is greater than 267,000 yen JETs can utilize this equation:
What this means is that usually JETs pay for 30% of their medical bills thanks to insurance, but for bills that exceed 267,000 yen, JETs will actually pay less than 30%!
For example:
Total Medical Expenses before Health Insurance = 1,000,000 yen
Usual 30% JET burden would mean the JET bill should be = 300,000 yen
BUT thanks to the equation (again, because 1,000,000 > 267,000):
What the JET Actually Pays = 80,100 yen + 0.01 (1,000,000 – 267,000)
= 80,100 yen+7,330
= 87,430 yen!
In order to qualify, please go to this website and accomplish the required forms:
https://www.kyoukaikenpo.or.jp.e.ame.hp.transer.com/g2/cat230/
https://www.kyoukaikenpo.or.jp.e.ame.hp.transer.com/g2/cat230/
- Dependents of JETs receive the same coverage and benefits as the JET, as long as the dependents’ yearly income(s) is less than 1,300,000 yen. The names of dependents must be written on the back of the JET’s insurance card, and the JET must give their BOE a Health Insurance Notification of Alteration to Dependents Form (Kenkō Hoken Hi-fuyōsha Idō Todoke):
For more information, please read the health insurance section of the JET Programme GIH.
http://jetprogramme.org/en/gih/
Additional explanation on the National Healty
Employee's Pension Insurance
- The Pension Insurance System will provide for you or your family in the event that you are seriously injured or pass away.
- Every month, roughly 8% of your monthly salary (before taxes/deductions) will be deducted and placed into your pension fund.
- After leaving Japan you are entitled to apply for a Lump-Sum Withdrawal Payment, or a partial refund of the money you paid into the pension insurance.
- For a detailed explanation about how to acquire your pension refund (the Lump-Sum Withdrawal Payment), please click here, and you will be redirected to the After JET page of our website.
JET Accident Insurance
- Under this policy, comprehensive insurance coverage for overseas travel accidents is provided by a group of insurance companies headed by Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd., under a contract with CLAIR.
- There is no mandatory need for JET participants to be enrolled individually, and insurance premiums are paid entirely by your BOE. Furthermore, no changes or additions can be made to the insurance coverage. (The contents of the policy are identical for all JET participants).
- This insurance covers treatment of illness and injury after you arrive in Japan for the portion of costs not covered by Employees’ Health Insurance, with the requirement that the medical treatment is covered by the Employees’ Health Insurance. Claims can also be made in the event that the JET participant passes away or sustains residual disability. Treatment will be covered in the case where a JET participant becomes ill or injured while temporarily returning to their home country or visiting a third country.
- The coverage begins either the day before you arrive in Japan or the day you leave for Japan (whichever is later), and ends:
- when you return home after JET OR
- April 30th of the following year for JETs who arrive in April but do not return to their home countries OR
- August 31st of the following year for all other JETs who do not return to their home countries
- For new JETs, before you leave your home country, please download the JET Accident Insurance Insured’s Confirmation of Agreement Form from the JET Program website (again, prior to your departure), sign it, and submit the form to the Embassy or Consulate General of Japan according to their deadline (if you wish to enroll).
Note: The Insured’s Confirmation of Agreement Form requires each JET participant to stipulate a beneficiary/beneficiaries. Please be aware that only parents, spouses, children, grandparents or siblings may be designated (i.e. friends, girlfriends/boyfriends do not qualify)
- For specific information regarding necessary documents and procedures for making claims, you should contact the appropriate Insurance Service Center within 30 days of the accident or the start of the illness and follow their instructions. In order to file claims, please keep all related receipts.
You are also able to ask questions in English concerning claim procedures. A list of service centers can be found in the policy guide and on the JET Program website.
- For further details, please read: http://jetprogramme.org/en/jpai-outline/
Employment Insurance
- It is possible for persons who fulfill the necessary requirements to receive unemployment benefits if their period of stay is still valid.
- Enrollment begins at the same time as your employment period.
- JETs pay 4/1,000 of their gross annual remuneration during their time on JET. The BOE is responsible for paying an amount equal to 7/1,000 of your gross annual income.
(The JET participant’s annual contribution depends on their gross annual income, but is estimated to be between ¥17,000 and ¥20,000 per year. [based on the 2016 fiscal year; subject to change in the 2017 fiscal year])
- In general, the premium payment will be deducted at source from the JET participant’s monthly remuneration.
- You are able to receive unemployment benefits if, after completion of the JET Program, you fulfill all of the below requirements:
1) continue to live in Japan;
2) are deemed eligible for unemployment benefits by the Head of the Public Employment Security Office. Please contact the Public Employment Security Office for details about the receipt of unemployment benefits;
3) are willing and able to work, but are unable to find employment;
4) in principle, have made employment insurance payments for more than six months in the year prior to becoming unemployed;
5) have submitted your proof of unemployment along with your Application for Employment and registered as a job seeker at the nearest Hello Work office.
Note: The equivalent system is offered through the “Private School Mutual Aid.”
- The following JET participants are not required to enroll in Employment Insurance. JET participants who believe that they may be exempt should consult with their BOE immediately.
1) Foreign Government Employees (“Foreign” refers to any country other than Japan)
2) Participants who can prove that they are eligible to receive unemployment insurance benefits in a foreign country.
3) Persons who work in a Japanese office after entering into an employment contract established in a foreign country.
Note: The employment relationship formed between the JET participant and the contracting organization does not come under category 3 above.