July 5, 2018

Akahata on July 5 reported that the Welfare Ministry has retracted its decision to terminate the payment of disability pension benefits to 1,010 recipients.

The 1,010 people in question became disabled before reaching the age of 20. Between December 2017 and January 2018, they were notified by the operator of the nation’s public pension system Japan Pension Service that they will be excluded from the pension benefit payment although the severity of their impairment remains unchanged. In addition, the public pension operator already stopped paying the benefits to 2,933 persons who became disabled after the age of 20 years old.

The termination decision was made following a change in the system to assess the eligibility for the disability pension in April 2017.

Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Takahashi Chizuko in June took up this issue in the Diet and urged the government to pay disability pension benefits to all those who qualify.

According to Akahata, the Welfare Ministry will continue paying the benefits to the 1,010 recipients. Of the 2,933 people whose pension payments were terminated, the ministry will resume payments to around 420 who qualify.

Commenting on the ministry’s recent decision, Takahashi said that she is glad to help open the way for the continuation and restart of the pension payment. She expressed her determination to work to ensure the proper operation of the disability pension program, a lifeline for the disabled.

Past related articles:
> 2,900 disabled persons' pensions already terminated [June 4, 2018]
> Gov’t plans to stop paying basic disability pension benefits to more than 1,000 recipients [May 30, 2018]