Japan Ministry of Health to simplify long-term care certification renewals

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has announced plans to simplify the renewal process for long-term care certification in Japan. This initiative aims to reduce the administrative burden on local governments and shorten the overall review period for services.

Under the new policy, which was approved during a Social Security Council meeting, the criteria for omitting certain parts of the review process will be relaxed. Specifically, the eligibility for simplified procedures will be expanded from those with a previous certification period of 12 months or more to include those with a period of 6 months or more. This change is expected to affect approximately 60,000 cases annually. Implementation is targeted to begin as early as the current fiscal year.