April 3, 2015
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2015 April 1 - 7 [POLITICS]
Government breaks its promise to use increased tax revenues to improve social welfare programs |
Japanese Communist Party Vice Chair Koike Akira on April 1 at a House of Councilors Budget Committee meeting revealed that in 2014, the government used only 16% of tax revenues generated by the consumption tax increase for financing social welfare programs.
Criticizing the government for deciding to slash welfare spending by 390 billion yen in FY 2015, Koike said, “Although the government introduced the higher tax rate by claiming to better social welfare services as justification, what it plans is the opposite which is an increase in welfare burdens and cuts in benefits.”
The JCP lawmaker took up the issue by pointing out that the government will abolish its measure to allow low-income pensioners to pay lower premiums to the medical insurance program for the elderly aged 75 and over. At present, this measure is applied to 8.65 million out of 16 million insured elderly people.
Koike presented a JCP estimate indicating that some people, who currently pay 5,650 yen in insurance premiums a year, will have to pay 56,500 yen annually when the government measure is abolished. Due to the abolition, low-income elderly will shoulder from two to ten times heavier financial burdens, he added.
Welfare Minister Shiozaki Yasuhisa only said, “When the calculation is made on a monthly basis, the results will change.”
Citing the government plan to increase the nursing-care service charge to 20% from the current 10% and double elderly patients’ medical charges at hospitals, Koike said, “The general public strongly opposes the government policy of reducing social welfare spending while raising the sales tax rate.”
Past related article:
> PM must retract decision to increase consumption tax to 8%: Shii [ October 2, 2013]
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