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Social security policy should leave no one behind
The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)-led administration has called for a “shift from concrete to people” — spending taxpayers’ money on people’s livelihoods, rather than public works projects. This is reflected in the fiscal 2010 budget draft, but it suggests that the government desperately secured financial resources to carry out its election campaign pledges, rather…
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New pension body opens for business
Japan Pension Service, an organization set up to succeed the scandal-plagued Social Insurance Agency, started full operations Monday with a pledge to restore public trust in the public pension system. The names of 312 social insurance offices nationwide have been changed to pension service offices. The entity has drawn up 10 pledges to improve customer…
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Employers denying jobs to applicants based on medical histories, gov’t study finds
Some Japanese companies demand job applicants provide personal medical histories and deny employment based on their content, a Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) research group has discovered. The ministry has directed employers not to ask for medical information unrelated to the positions in question, citing a risk of employment discrimination, while the research…
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Pensions body faces tough test
Japan Pension Service, an organization set up to take over the work of the Social Insurance Agency, will start operations Friday. Though the new entity will attempt to regain trust of the public by tackling problems such as the pension records fiasco, it faces many hurdles. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama met the 13 people chosen…
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Ministries joust over whether to up medical fees
The issue is one of the focal points in the compilation of the fiscal 2010 budget. If the government decides to raise the amount of medical remuneration in fiscal 2010, it will be the first such increase since fiscal 2000. “To restore the nation’s ailing health care system, we need to consider increasing government expenses…
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Brace for a possible spring shock
When spring approaches next year, many foreigners in Japan could be in for a rude awakening: From April 1, all those who apply to extend their visa in Japan will be asked to show proof of enrollment in one or other of Japan’s main national health systems, the shakai hoken (social health insurance and pension)…
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Seizures rising over unpaid health insurance premiums
Municipal governments increasingly are seizing assets of individuals who are behind in their national health insurance premium payments, an Asahi Shimbun survey shows. The survey showed such asset seizures rose an average 1.7-fold from fiscal 2001 to 2005 in the nation’s 15 largest cities and Tokyo’s 23 wards. National health insurance programs cover self-employed people,…