Tokyo Opposes Cuts to Disability Welfare Subsidies

From The Fukushi Shimbun via Yahoo! Japan

January 16 2026

TOKYO – On December 23 last year, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government submitted a request to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Children and Families Agency regarding the June 2026 interim revision of disability welfare service fees, calling on them not to implement a nationwide reduction in basic compensation for newly established providers of certain services.

Tokyo is currently developing disability welfare services based on its 7th-term plan for fiscal years 2024–2026, and pointed out that changing policy during the plan period would hinder service development. The metropolitan government warned that such a move could lead to restrictions on new market entry and, amid regional disparities in service availability, could result in an inability to provide users with the services they need.

At a meeting in December to review disability-related compensation, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare indicated its intention to lower basic compensation, limited to newly established providers, for the period from June 2026 to March 2027 for the following services: Employment Continuation Support Type B; group homes (daytime service–supported type and comprehensive care service type); child development support; and after-school day services.

Disability welfare compensation is, in principle, revised once every three years, with the next regular revision scheduled for April 2027. For this reason, Tokyo also pointed out that basic compensation, being fundamental to the operation of service providers, should properly be reviewed in the April 2027 revision.

In Tokyo, the number of newly established providers for each of the four services is around 50 to 90 per year. However, because the figures fluctuate depending on the fiscal year and policy trends, the metropolitan government said it is not possible to simply estimate the impact of lowering basic compensation.