June 2, 2013
Tachikawa City of Western Tokyo on May 29 announced that it stopped forcibly collecting unpaid national health insurance premiums from people in arrears with payments if they meet certain conditions under the Local Tax Law.
The law stipulates that if the people in arrears have no assets or would fall into severe poverty due to compulsory collection, they can be exempted from the list of persons subject to the forcible action, such as seizure of bank accounts.
Japanese Communist Party Tachikawa City Assembly member Horie Shigehiro at an assembly meeting in March stated that local governments should not forcibly collect unpaid national health insurance premiums from insured person without considering his/her financial condition. He demanded that the city office carry out an investigation on the financial situations of households which were forced to pay their unpaid premiums by the city office.
In response to the JCP assemblyman’s request, the city on May 29 at a meeting of the welfare committee of the assembly reported that of all households who had not paid the tax, four households have no assets, 206 households are on welfare or could fall into poverty if they pay the tax, and six have no known address. The municipal office stopped its attempt to collect the unpaid tax from them.
Horie requested that the city office continue to carefully evaluate the financial situation of residents in arrears of payments in health insurance premiums.
The law stipulates that if the people in arrears have no assets or would fall into severe poverty due to compulsory collection, they can be exempted from the list of persons subject to the forcible action, such as seizure of bank accounts.
Japanese Communist Party Tachikawa City Assembly member Horie Shigehiro at an assembly meeting in March stated that local governments should not forcibly collect unpaid national health insurance premiums from insured person without considering his/her financial condition. He demanded that the city office carry out an investigation on the financial situations of households which were forced to pay their unpaid premiums by the city office.
In response to the JCP assemblyman’s request, the city on May 29 at a meeting of the welfare committee of the assembly reported that of all households who had not paid the tax, four households have no assets, 206 households are on welfare or could fall into poverty if they pay the tax, and six have no known address. The municipal office stopped its attempt to collect the unpaid tax from them.
Horie requested that the city office continue to carefully evaluate the financial situation of residents in arrears of payments in health insurance premiums.
