Health Insurance for Baby (National Health Insurance Enrollment)

If your household is enrolled in National Health Insurance (NHI / Kokumin Kenko Hoken), you need to register the newborn as a new NHI member within 14 days of birth. Visit your municipal office on the same day as birth registration if possible.

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Documents needed

✓Guardian's National Health Insurance card or Certificate of Qualification (資格確認書)

✓Guardian's ID

✓Proof of birth (copy of Maternal and Child Health Handbook, or resident certificate extract)

✓Guardian's Residence Card

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Steps

On the same day as birth registration (or within 14 days), go to the NHI counter at your municipal office

File the National Health Insurance acquisition notification (the head of household is the one obliged to file, within 14 days - NHI Enforcement Regulations, art. 2)

Receive the baby's NHI card or Certificate of Qualification (資格確認書) (usually issued immediately or within a few days)

Once you have the card or Certificate of Qualification, apply for the Child Medical Expense Subsidy (医療証) at the same or nearby counter

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Important notes

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Many municipal offices allow you to handle this together with birth registration on the same visit

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If your spouse is on an employer's health insurance, you can instead add the child as their dependant. A child who becomes a dependant there is excluded from National Health Insurance (NHI Act, art. 6(v)), and the paperwork goes through your spouse's employer

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Registering after 14 days is still accepted, but the unregistered period may be treated as uninsured

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The baby's NHI premium is added to your household's existing NHI premium (no separate bill — your household premium increases)

🔗 Related procedures

Official info verified: 2026-09-10 / Source: laws.e-gov.go.jp ↗

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