Article 64Claims for Damages

①When the event giving rise to benefits is caused by an act of a third party and Municipalities and Societies provide insurance benefits, they shall obtain, to the extent of the amount of said benefits (or, when such insurance benefits are benefits for medical treatment, the amount calculated by deducting, from the amount of expenses incurred in such benefits for medical treatment, the amount equivalent to the co-payment to be borne by the insured person with respect to such benefits for medical treatment; hereinafter the same shall apply in paragraph (1) of the following Article), the right to claim compensation for damages held by the insured person against the third party.

②In the case referred to in the preceding paragraph, when a person to be granted insurance benefits receives compensation for damages for the same reason from a third party, Municipalities and Societies shall be exempted from the responsibility to pay said insurance benefits to the extent of the amount of such compensation.

③In order to ensure the appropriate implementation of insurance benefits by the Municipalities within the prefecture, in the cases specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as cases found necessary from a wide-area or specialized perspective, a prefecture may, upon entrustment from a Municipality, carry out all or part of the affairs of collecting or receiving damages pertaining to the right of claim under paragraph (1) that the Municipality has acquired pursuant to the provisions of that paragraph.

④Municipalities and Societies, and prefectures that carry out affairs under the provisions of the preceding paragraph upon entrustment from Municipalities, may entrust the affairs of collecting or receiving damages pertaining to the right of claim under paragraph (1) acquired pursuant to the provisions of that paragraph to a Federation of National Health Insurance Associations set forth in Article 45, paragraph (5) that is specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

⑤The national government is to endeavor to take the measures necessary for the smooth implementation of those affairs for a prefecture that carries out the affairs under the provisions of paragraph (3) upon entrustment from a Municipality.