 Nursing care insurance law worsened in Lower House committee The nursing care insurance law has been adversely revised in the House of Representatives Committee with the majority approval of the ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei parties, plus the opposition Democratic Party which jointly made a minor change to the original revision bill. Pointing out that the revision means the lowering of nursing services, the Japanese Communist and Social Democratic parties voted against it in the session on April 27. Yamaguchi Tomio of the JCP stated that the bill (with a slice amendment) will lead to deterioration of the present nursing care at home, and force users to pay all the costs of staying and eating at related facilities. The joint amendment calls on local autonomies to take preventive measures from abusing of old people. While the original bill called for taking preventive measures allegedly to decrease the number of users of this system by cutting nursing care insurance benefits, the amendment calls for review of this three years after its enactment. JCP Yamaguchi stressed that the amendment failed to improve on the defective original bill. About 200 protesters of the bill met in the Diet Building and focused their criticism on the Democratic Party for helping in its adverse revision. They were resolved to foil the passage of the bill through the House of Councilors. - Akahata, April 28, 2005 |