Prospects and Tasks for Health Care Policies in 2025

Abstract

Strengthening local healthcare should maintain the priority it has been given as one of the top agenda items of the times and proceed continuously as part of the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s effort to reform healthcare delivery. In this article, I explore key policies to be implemented in 2025 and associated tasks. I expect that policy measures will be introduced in earnest in 2025 across various healthcare areas to shift current approaches toward a more value-based system. These policies aim to adjust the allocation of acute care beds to healthcare institutions with different designated functions as necessary to meet changing needs, increase policy interventions to reduce existing disparities in fee-for-service rates, broaden the scope of the public fee-for-service reimbursement scheme, and expand alternative reimbursement models that link performance to incentives. In proceeding with these policies, the government should expand the role of public finances, respect patients’ right to choose, and provide information on the outcome of performance evaluation on small and medium-sized hospitals to help consumers make more informed healthcare decisions. Healthcare delivery system reforms must progress stepwise, with programs targeting healthcare institutions—including regulations and incentives—each playing distinct roles as part of a whole system.