Japan formally completes digitizing health insurance card, following EU nations

Japan has completed the integration of its national health insurance program into the My Number ID system, as it moves to phase out physical health insurance cards. Existing cards officially expired Monday, but will be accepted until the end of March to ease people into the transition.

A report from The Mainichi says that, as of the end of October, the number of people who have registered My Number cards as their health insurance cards with the ministry of health stands at around 87.3 million, or 88 percent of total holders. Only 37.1 percent have actually used the cards for health insurance.

That said, as of this week, the 12-digit My Number ID is the primary way for citizens to verify eligibility for public medical services in Japan.

While the transition has raised concerns over potential vulnerability to data breaches, the move has precedent in Germany, France and Luxembourg, all of which have moved their health insurance programs online.

In January 2025, Luxembourg’s online portal, MyGuichet.lu, made it possible to activate an eSanté account online and access the Electronic Health Record, the Dossier de soins partagé (DSP), using a LuxTrust login.

More recently, in November 2025, began allowing people to activate their Vitale card on their smartphone, regardless of their health insurance plan. It calls the Digital Vital Card “a dematerialized alternative to the physical card” that offers “a very high level of security,” as well as other advantages like automatic updates and expense tracking.

In Germany, the German National Digital Health Agency (Gematik) partners with biometrics provider Nect to allow users to create their Health ID, a digital identity for online healthcare services issued by health insurance providers. It has also begun supporting remote identity verification through biometrics through the Nect Ident ePass.

The 2026 eIDAS deadline for EU nations to offer a EUDI Wallet for digital credentials will likely be a further driver of the transition to health insurance tied to identity across the bloc.

Nigeria is also pursuing integration, according to a report from Tech Africa News. The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), with the intention to create a unified framework that links citizens’ national identity data with health insurance records.

Article Topics

digital ID  |  Europe  |  healthcare  |  Japan  |  medical insurance  |  My Number  |  patient identification