[HISTORY OF MEDICAL SERVICE SYSTEM IN UROLOGY]

The present paper is a review of the history of the medical service system. Medical treatments were performed mainly as free services until the Edo era. In the Meiji period, the necessity of medical insurance was advocated from the point of view of health care, especially for young males. Around the end of the Taisho period, the health insurance act was established despite incomplete legislation. In 1961, the medical insurance service system was chosen as the health care system for the entire Japanese population and was completed after several revisions. Reimbursements for medical services for urological diseases are shown chronologically from the Edo era until present time and they provide interesting results. Finally, the activities of the JUA health insurance committee are summarized and are demonstrated to have a considerable impact on the present medical insurance system.