August 1, 2026

An Akahata survey revealed that the number of municipalities with either no home-visit care service providers or only one such provider continues to rise.

The number of municipalities with fragile service infrastructure increased by six over the past six months, reaching 401. This figure approaches one-quarter of the nation’s 1,741 cities, wards, towns, and villages.

In April 2024, the LDP-Komeito government cut the basic reimbursement rate for home care services by up to 3%. Compared to the end of 2023, the number of municipalities with “zero or only one home care provider” has increased by 35.

To rebuild the nursing-care infrastructure, it is essential to reverse the reimbursement reduction and use public funds to raise care workers’ wages to the level of the overall industry average.

However, the current LDP-Ishin government is turning its back on these measures. In fact, the government abandoned uniform national standards and adversely amended the Long-Term Care Insurance Act in the latest Diet session. The revised law designates regions with declining elderly populations as “specified regions” and relaxes staffing standards for managers, professionals, and night-shift staff at care facilities in those areas.

If the already meager staffing standards are relaxed further, the number of home care visits will inevitably decrease. Providers will be unable to accept new users and will fail to meet demand. Furthermore, staff will have increased workloads, leading to higher turnovers.

The adversely-revised Long-Term Care Insurance Act should be repealed.

Past related article:
> Takaichi gov’t cuts social security in preparation for increased fiscal demands under pro-military policy [July 16, 2026]