Japan Press Weekly

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2010 August 18 - 24 [WELFARE]

Residents call for continuation of public medical services

This was conducted by representatives of residents’ groups and municipalities. Oita’s Yufu City Mayor Shuto Houbun and Akita’s Noshiro City Mayor Saito Shigenobu also took part in the representations.

Under the “pension reform” promoted by the former Liberal Democratic-Komei parties government in 2005, Kosei Nenkin hospitals and Social Insurance hospitals were sold. They are now temporarily run by the independent administrative agency, “Readjustment of Facilities for Insured Persons and Beneficiaries Organization (RFO)”.

In the last ordinary Diet session this year, the bill to build a new institution to run those public hospitals was scrapped. The following extraordinary session of the Diet established a law to extend the RFO for another two years, which had been scheduled to be dissolved at the end of September.

JCP Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi promised that the JCP will continue its efforts to have the government publicly run the hospitals. House of Councilors member Tamura Tomoko reported that she took up this issue at her first questioning session in a Diet meeting, adding that Health Minister Nagatsuma Akira said in response to her that the government will maintain the structure of local medical services.
- Akahata, August 24, 2010