Article 46Accumulation of Reserves

①JHIA must, at the end of each business year, accumulate the amount of surplus of that business year as a reserve until it reaches the sum of the amount equivalent to one-twelfth of the average per business year of the amount of expenses required for insurance benefits provided in that business year and the two business years immediately preceding it (including the amount of expenses required for payment of young-old payments, etc., aid for the old-old, etc., and day laborer contributions, long-term care payments, and contributions for securing medical care in the early phase of an epidemic, etc. (where there is a young-old subsidy, the amount after deducting it), and excluding the amount of childbirth and childcare grants and the amount of national subsidies pursuant to the provisions of Articles 153 and 154 of the Act), and the amount determined by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare in consultation with the Prime Minister, within a range not exceeding the amount equivalent to one-twelfth of the amount of expenses required for payment of the children and child-rearing support levy made in that business year, taking into account the expenses required for the payment of the children and child-rearing support levy by insurers in that year.

②A health insurance society must, at the end of each business year, accumulate the amount of surplus of that business year as a reserve until it reaches the sum of the amount equivalent to three-twelfths of the average per business year of the amount of expenses required for insurance benefits provided in that business year and the two business years immediately preceding it (excluding the amount of expenses required for insurance benefits relating to medical treatment that an insured person or the dependent of that person received from a hospital, clinic, or pharmacy listed in Article 63, paragraph (3), item (iii) of the Act, and the amount of childbirth and childcare grants), the amount equivalent to one-twelfth of the average per business year of the amount of expenses required for payment of young-old payments, etc., aid for the old-old, etc., and day laborer contributions, long-term care payments, and contributions for securing medical care in the early phase of an epidemic, etc. provided in that business year and the two business years immediately preceding it (where there is a young-old subsidy, the amount after deducting it), and the amount determined by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare in consultation with the Prime Minister, within a range not exceeding the amount equivalent to one-twelfth of the amount of expenses required for payment of the children and child-rearing support levy made in that business year, taking into account the expenses required for the payment of the children and child-rearing support levy by insurers in that year.