Disabled persons and the state reach consensus on lawsuits over ‘self-support’ act

Japan Press Weekly

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Disabled persons and the state reach consensus on lawsuits over ‘self-support’ act

In lawsuits filed by disabled persons demanding abolition of the “beneficiary-pays system” under the disabled persons’ “self-support” law, the government admitted its fault.

Plaintiffs of the lawsuits and the state on December 7 signed a basic consensus document.

At the signing ceremony, Welfare Minister Nagatsuma Akira said, “I express my heartfelt remorse for impairing disabled persons’ dignity.”

The document clearly declares that the “beneficiary-pays system” should be scrapped without delay and the government should create a new law after repealing the existing law by August 2013.

Calling for the revocation of the “beneficiary-pays principle” of the “self-support” assistance law, 71 disabled persons filed lawsuits against the government at district courts across the country. They claimed that the law violates disabled persons’ constitutional right to live by requiring them to pay 10 percent for the cost of the medical and social services they receive.

A male plaintiff in the Tokyo lawsuit said, “It is significant that the document clearly states that in the light of the Constitution, the “beneficiary-pays system” should be abolished. However, there still remain some problems such as the lack of a reduction of the burden of medical payments. Taking this agreement as a start, I want to include our voices in a government panel on promoting a revision of the system for disabled persons in which they themselves can participate, and to increase our movement in order to create a better system for handicapped persons by which they can live without undue anxiety.”

- Akahata, January 8, 2010