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Frequently Asked Questions from Foreign Residents

特定疾患に関する質問

Q1 What is a specified rare and intractable disease?
Q2 By how much are medical expenses reduced through the recognition of a specified rare and intractable disease?
Q3 Where can the procedures for intractable disease certification be completed?

 

 

Q1：

What is a specified rare and intractable disease?
A1：

A specified rare and intractable disease is one of the intractable diseases, with severe symptoms that is difficult to treat and affects comparatively few people. There are 56, as shown below.

 

1)Behcet's disease 2)multiple sclerosis 3)myasthenia gravis
4)systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) 5)subacute myelo-optic neuropathy (SMON) 6)aplastic anemia
7)sarcoidosis 8)amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) 9)scleroderma, dermatomyositis or polymyositis
10)idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura 11)periarteritis nodosa 12)ulcerative colitis
13)Takayasu's arteritis 14)Buerger's disease   15)pemphigus
16)spinocerebellar degeneration 17)Crohn's disease 18)fulminant hepatitis
19)malignant rheumatoid arthritis
20)diseases related to Parkinson's disease (progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration, Parkinson's disease)
21)amyloidosis 22)ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) 23)Huntington's disease
24)moyamoya diesease 25)Wegener's granulomatosis
26) idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy(blood congestion type)
27)multiple system atrophy(striatonigral degeneration, Shy-Drager syndrome　group and olivopontocerebellar atrophy）
28)epidermolysis bullosa (junctional and malnutriotional) 29)pustular psoriasis
30)disseminated spinal canal stenosis 31)primary biliary cirrhosis 32)severe acute pancreatitis
33)idiopathic necrosis of the femoral head 34)mixed connective-tissue disease 35)primary immunodeficiency syndrome
36)idiopathic interstitial pneumonia 37)retinitis pigmentosa 38)prion diseases
39)primary pulmonary hypertension 40)neurofibromatosis type 41)subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE)
42)Budd-Chiari syndrome
43)idiopathic chronic pulmonary thromboembolism with pulmonary hypertension
44)lysosomal storage diseases 45)adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD)
46)familial hypercholesterolemia (Homozygous type)
47)spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) 48)spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) 49)chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy
50)hypertrophic cardiomyopathy 51)restrictive cardiomyopathy 52)mitochondrial disease
53)lymphangioleiomyomatosis 54)severe erythema multiforme (acute phase) 55)ossification of the ligamentum flavum

56)diencephalo-hypophysial dysfunction (Syndrome of abnormal secretion of prolactin, Syndrome of abnormal secretion of gonadotropin, Syndrome of abnormal secretion of antidiuretic hormone, syndrome of abnormal secretion of thyroid stimulating hormone, cushing disease, acromegaly, hypopituitarism)
Q2：

By how much are medical expenses reduced through the recognition of a specified rare and intractable disease?
A2：

The patient is liable for medical expenses up to a certain threshold as determined by income. Medical expenses over this amount will be covered by the government. Furthermore, if a person is certified as having a serious illness, then they are not liable for any expenses. However this does not apply for medical treatment outside of the certified serious illness.

 

For details, talk to a health center in the prefecture.
Q3：

Where can the procedures for intractable disease certification be completed?
A3： Please apply with all necessary documents including application form and personal clinical evaluation sheet completed by a doctor, to your local prefectural health care center. For more details, talk to your local health center (For Gifu city residents, Gifu city health care center).