Abstract
The medical expenditure and its share of public expenditures have been increasing in Japan. While it should not necessarily be seen as a problem if the increase is caused by health care needs, it has been reported that some of the medical practices are “excessive” and the “excessive medical care” may damage the health of people in some cases. In addition, under the current austerian fiscal policy, the increase in medical expenses may put pressure on other budgets, such as education, defence and infrastructures, and it is concerned that the total public interest may be harmed. However, there has not been enough empirical research on “unnecessary health care” and it is even unclear whether it actually exists. In this study, we developed a comprehensive health index of prefecture residents and tested the correlation between the index and age-adjusted per-capita medical expense to provide basic knowledge on unnecessary health care. If there is a correlation between them, it can be assumed that the difference in medical expenditure is determined by the health status of the residents, and the probability of the existence of unnecessary health care will be reduced. On the other hand, if there is no correlation, the probability will increase. Therefore, the correlation is basic empirical evidence of whether unnecessary health care exists. The result showed that there is no correlation between the comprehensive health index and age-adjusted per-capita medical expenditure among prefectures. This can be interpreted as an empirical finding that provides relative support for the possibility of the existence of unnecessary health care.
