Ordinary pensioners have difficulty paying doubled cost of nursing care
insurance premiums

Mr. and Mrs "A" live on a pension of 74,000 yen a month in a Tokyo
government-run apartment in Adachi Ward. To them, the payment of an extra
2,400 yen a month from October as nursing care insurance premiums is a
serious problem.

The nursing care insurance system started in April 2000 for elderly
people 65 years or older. The system is funded by premiums collected from
all Japanese citizens aged 40 or older. To reduce burdens of payment, the
amount of premiums collected from elderly people aged 65 or older has been
reduced to half until September. From October, the amount of premiums paid
by elderly people 65 or older will be doubled.

Mr. and Mrs "A" say that out of the 74,000 yen they pay 30,000 yen for
food, 18,000 yen for utilities, 3,900 yen for rent, and 7,400 yen for
national health insurance and medical services. It is a real burden on their
household to pay 4,800 yen every month from October for nursing care
insurance.

Mr. "A" said, "To date we have managed by withdrawing money bit by bit
from our savings, but we cannot afford it any longer."

Mr. "A" is a former plasterer who had a brain infarct in his forties. He
applied for nursing care services for his back pain. The examiner dismissed
the application on the grounds that Mr. "A" can walk with a walking stick.
Mr. "A" said, "What is the use of nursing care insurance, then?"

If one has savings, no matter how small, they cannot apply for livelihood
protection.

The Japanese Communist Party Dietmembers Group and the JCP Tokyo Assembly
Members Group on September 28 petitioned the health, labor, and welfare
minister that a national exemption system be established and that the
government not interfere in the exemption systems of local municipalities.

In Adachi Ward, the nursing care budget has a surplus of 5.3 billion yen
because the use of services was less than estimated. The JCP in the ward
assembly is working to get the money used to set up the exemption system.
(end)