April 13, 2023

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

Disabled persons who turned 65 years old will be faced with a problem in which welfare services for disabled people will be converted into elderly-care services. This conversion leads to the reduction in available services for them and the imposition of a financial burden on them. It is a matter of life and death for low-income elderly disabled people.

For people with disabilities, the shift from welfare services under the law on assistance to disabled people to services under the public long-term care system makes it impossible to maintain their same level of daily activities.

Welfare services based on the law for disabled persons aim to provide support that covers the whole of their daily life, including social participation in various activities, so that disabled people are respected and treated as individuals. On the other hand, the nursing-care insurance program is designed to offer elderly people who are in need of care only a limited amount of support.

Disabled persons aged 65 and over who are eligible for a residential tax exemption used to receive welfare services for free under the law to support disabled people. Now, they are required to pay 15,000 yen a month for services under the long-term care insurance program. In 2018, with the introduction of a new measure in the long-term care insurance program, some elderly disabled people who meet certain requirements can receive a reimbursement of the nursing-care service fee but have to wait several months before receiving the refund.

The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2022 conducted the assessment of the Japanese government’s policy in regard to disabled persons. The UN committee criticized the Japanese government for failing to respect disabled persons’ human rights and establishing legislation with the lack of a standpoint of treating the disabled equally with others. The UN committee issued a recommendation calling on the Japanese government to implement necessary measures and an appropriate budget in order to narrow the regional gap regarding services and support needed for disabled people in their daily lives.

The Kishida government should accept the UN recommendation and decide to work to create a society where disabled people are recognized as equal members.