Ajust-released welfare reform plan by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare aims to integrate in-home and other services for disabled people. Currently, the availability of services varies by the recipient's type of impairment--physical, intellectual or mental.

The plan calls for a set of service guidelines based on levels of disability, asks the disabled to pay for their share of the services used, and offers job training opportunities to encourage the disabled to be self-supportive.

In other words, the ministry wants disabled people to make effective use of the available welfare facilities and services and shoulder an appropriate share of the cost burden.

The reform is being prompted by a financial crisis in the government's welfare policy for the nation's approximately 6.5 million disabled people.

In fiscal 2003, a new system was introduced to enable people with disabilities to choose the services they require, rather than let the government decide for them. This program has a budget of about 700 billion yen, but thanks to its ``success'' in creating new demand, it has been running a deficit for two straight years.

Moreover, the program's manner of implementation differs among municipalities and villages, and the nature and hours of services also vary from community to community. People with mental disabilities are excluded from this program.

The reform plan also explains another reason why the ministry is trying to reform its welfare policy for the disabled. The current policy is entirely reliant on taxpayers' money, and the government now wants to tap into nursing care insurance funds we well. But to do so, various services and policies for the disabled have to be brought into unification.

Whatever the ministry's motive, there is no question that welfare services for the disabled must be run fairly for all and, of course, in an efficient manner.

For instance, the planned reform will enable all disabled people to use facilities and in-home services that are now available only to the physically disabled. This is a long-overdue improvement. It was certainly hard to comprehend why the mentally disabled had to be excluded from the support program.

The reform plan also says the state should set an objective standard of services according to levels of disabilities, but it should be up to local review committees to look at each individual case and determine the nature and extent of services accordingly.

Some people argue that this is against an idea that disabled people should choose the services they want. However, to ensure fairness to all, there is no getting around setting up an objective standard and having a panel review each case. We believe this is necessary for gaining the understanding of taxpayers, too.

Under the current system, the cost burden to be borne by each service recipient is determined by his or her financial situation. The reform plan says the size of the bill depends on the extent or amount of services received. We agree with this general direction. However, we also believe each disabled person's circumstances must be taken into account. There are many people who require round-the-clock care, such as those afflicted with ALS (amyotrophic lateral scelerosis).

Being gainfully employed is vital to independence. In this sense, Japanese corporations have hardly done enough to employ disabled people, even though the required hiring quota is at least 1.8 percent of the total number of workers. More than half the companies do not meet this standard, and that includes The Asahi Shimbun.

Coming so soon after the 2003 support program, the ministry's reform plan is causing confusion among many disabled people, and we are not surprised. But including the question of how best to apply the nursing care insurance system, this time around, its welfare policy must be workable over the long term.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 20(IHT/Asahi: October 21,2004) (10/21)