From an economic perspective, the expanded municipal health checkup expenditure proved profoundly cost-effective. Moreover, the standardized format of SHC-SHG offers a scalable blueprint for harmonizing preventive health services nationwide while allowing customization to address diverse community needs. Its robust methodological framework and compelling empirical evidence illuminate pathways toward mitigating the public health and economic burdens of lifestyle diseases among vulnerable working-age populations through informed municipal health policy investment. Impacts of health checkup programs standardization on working-age self-employed and unemployed: Insights from Japan’s local government response to national policy. Journal of Health Economics, Volume 103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2025.103046Image Credits:Dr. Masato Oikawa, Waseda University, JapanKeywords:Health care, Health care policy, Epidemiology, Health equity, Socioeconomics, Alcoholism, Tobacco, Cardiovascular disease, Public health