Japan’s Welfare Ministry Confirms it Will Apply Collective Liability to ‘Megumi’ Operator of Homes for Disabled

From Jiji

June 26 2024

TOKYO – Japan’s welfare ministry said Wednesday that it has decided to apply a collective responsibility system to Megumi Co. under a related law over irregularities including overcharging, banning renewals of service provider designations for all of its group homes for disabled people.

The ministry notified the company and local governments concerned of the decision. The punitive action was based on the comprehensive law on support for disabled people.

Earlier in the day, the Aichi prefectural government and the city government of Nagoya, the capital of the central Japan prefecture, issued a revocation order for such designations for five Megumi-operated homes for disabled people in Aichi–one in the town of Kota and four in Nagoya.

The ministry decided to apply the joint liability system in the belief that there was organized involvement in irregularities committed by the group home operator, such as service fee overcharging.

Subject to the service provider designation renewal prohibition are roughly 100 Megumi group homes in 12 prefectures–Miyagi in northeastern Japan, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa in eastern Japan, Aichi, the Aichi neighbors of Shizuoka and Gifu, Fukuoka in southwestern Japan, and Tokyo.