To slow the rising cost of nursing care in this graying country, the Abe administration has decided to lower by 2.27 percent the compensation for entities operating facilities or providing services for nursing care for the elderly, starting in fiscal 2015. But because the move, which also includes a wage increase for nursing care workers, will impact the financial base of care service operators, it could weaken the foundation of the nursing care system.
The compensation — 90 percent of which is paid out of tax revenues and nursing care insurance premiums, with the remaining 10 percent covered by out-of-pocket payments by users of the services — amounted to some ¥10 trillion in fiscal 2014 and is expected to reach between ¥21 trillion and ¥22 trillion in fiscal 2025.
In its attempt to reduce the compensation, the Finance Ministry in particular targeted operators of intensive nursing care homes for the elderly, known as "tokuyo," which are alleged to have set aside their profits as internal reserves to the tune of some ¥300 million on average. But tokuyo operators point out that 30 percent of them are operating in the red. Under the decision, the compensation for tokuyo operators and providers of day care services will fall 4.48 percent, while compensation designated for improving nursing care workers' working conditions, and those for coping with senile dementia and nursing care at elderly people's residences will go up by 1.65 percent and 0.56 percent, respectively.