Since they are doubling my premiums (even though they promised for over 10 years that premiums won’t go up just if claims are made) I just can’t afford the premium going up from around $6,000/year to $12,000/year. So I could bank the $6,000 I was planning on paying for that rainy day.

For trips to the U.S. it seems I can just get short-term trip insurance that covers everything, including accidents, sickness, personal liability, baggage loss and trip delays. A top-tier plan for legal residents of Japan traveling to the U.S., without exclusions, looks like it’s just about $110 for 15 days.

Otherwise, I guess I’ll could just depend on the Japanese National Health system which I have always had, and pay income-based premiums for.

Here’s an article which explains the benefits. At least nobody here has to worry about selling their home to get the health care they need:

http://blog.japantimes.co.jp/yen-for-living/tag/national-health-insurance/

I might also look into a supplemental plan to cover extras, but as this next article explains, that’s really to cover extras, such as  private rooms which national health insurance doesn’t. And provide a daily indemnity. It’s more of a “piece of mind” extra insurance.

http://blog.japantimes.co.jp/yen-for-living/before-obamacare-japans-national-healthcare-system-saves-some-for-private-insurers/

The main reason I started the ex-pat insurance back in 2000 was because the U.S. company I worked for paid for it. Now they don’t (or to be more precise, I own my own business now and just can’t afford to pay $12,000 in insurance premiums). So I guess I’ll stick with Japanese National Health insurance, possibly a supplemental plan I can get here, plus travel insurance.

And maybe under Obamacare I can get some better plan at the end of the year. Otherwise I just can’t move back to the U.S., or travel to the U.S. for medical treatment, until I become eligible for Medicare, which is no time soon.

I still feel IMG were clearly were deceptive when they said my premiums would not go up based on claims I made. It’s not credible to imagine that my pool’s expenses suddenly jumped so much. My own claims were just a few thousand dollars – much less than my premium. I filed a complaint with the state insurance commissioner’s office, so I’ll see if they can provide any help. Doubtful, but who knows.