Japan’s Welfare Ministry to Reduce Disability Reimbursement for 4 Services, Including Type B, Limited to New Facilities

From The Fukushi Shimbun via Yahoo! Japan

December 24 2025

TOKYO – The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) has decided on a policy to make an extraordinary revision to disability service fees in June 2026, under which the basic remuneration for newly established providers of four services, including Continuous Employment Support (Type B), will be reduced for fiscal year 2026 only. Existing providers will continue to receive the current basic remuneration. The aim is to ensure the sustainability of the system amid continued growth in total disability welfare expenditures. The proposal was presented at the “Disability Welfare Services Remuneration Revision Review Team” meeting on the 16th.

In addition to Type B, the targeted services are:

Group homes (daytime service–supported type and comprehensive care service type), Child development support, and After-school day services.

The measures apply to services that account for at least 1% of total annual expenditure, had an operating surplus margin of 5% or more in fiscal year 2024, and saw provider growth rates of 5% or more in each of the past three years.

While no committee members voiced opposition, concerns were raised that restricting new market entry could fail to resolve service shortages in underserved areas, and that applying uniform measures by service category may be problematic given differences in care quality among providers.

For Type B services, the current eight categories of basic remuneration units will be further subdivided. Following the fiscal 2024 revision, which changed the method for calculating average monthly wages (工賃), average wages rose and more providers moved into higher remuneration categories. As a result, new categories and remuneration units will be created within the current top seven tiers.

Providers whose category did not increase before and after the fiscal 2024 revision will be excluded. Even for providers whose category is lowered, consideration will be given so that “the reduction in units will be limited to a few percent” (according to MHLW). Implementation is scheduled for June 2026.

In addition, the employment transition support system bonus, which applies to these four services including Type B, will be revised. Under the current system, remuneration increases according to the number of users who move into regular employment and continue working for at least six months. However, as cases of misuse have been observed, a cap will be placed on the number of users per provider for whom the bonus can be claimed. This revision is scheduled to take effect in April 2026.

MHLW states that all of these measures are limited to fiscal year 2026, and that policies for fiscal year 2027 onward will be reviewed separately.