Treatment Costs and the High-Cost Medical Expense Benefit
The Big Picture
Every treatment for lumbar spinal stenosis and chronic low back pain is covered by national health insurance: conservative care, decompression and fusion surgery, and SCS alike. At the counter you pay 10 to 30 percent of the bill, depending on your age and income, never the full amount.
| Treatment | Typical out-of-pocket (30% co-payment) |
|---|---|
| Medication | a few hundred to a few thousand yen a month |
| Rehabilitation | ¥500–2,000 per session |
| Nerve block injection | ¥3,000–10,000 per injection |
| Surgery (decompression, fusion) or SCS | the bill is large, so even 30% is large → capped by the High-Cost Medical Expense Benefit |
Conservative care adds up to a few tens of thousands of yen a year. Surgery and SCS carry a much larger total bill, but your payment has a ceiling. That ceiling is the High-Cost Medical Expense Benefit. Ask the hospital's patient support office for an estimate based on your own income category.