📝 Draft Order for Social Welfare Act Reform: Comments Until Oct 7

❓ What is happening?

On 7 September 2026 the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) published a draft cabinet order and opened a public comment period. The draft adjusts existing cabinet orders so that they fit the parts of the "Act Partially Amending the Social Welfare Act and Other Acts" that come into force first. Comments are accepted from 20:00 on 7 September to 20:00 on 7 October 2026 — a full 30-day window, with the "reason for a period shorter than 30 days" field left blank. The e-Gov case number is 495260180. The draft does not create new policy on its own. It is technical housekeeping: aligning the wording and the allocation of administrative tasks in existing orders with the amended law. Three provisions are listed as the legal basis — Article 69-33, paragraph 3 of the Long-Term Care Insurance Act (Act No. 123 of 1997); Article 69-33-2, paragraph 4 of the amended Long-Term Care Insurance Act, a provision newly added by the reform; and Article 252-19, paragraph 1 of the Local Autonomy Act (Act No. 67 of 1947). The first two are the clauses through which the Long-Term Care Insurance Act delegates detailed rules to a cabinet order; the third is the special provision under which government-designated cities handle certain tasks in place of the prefecture. In short, the draft concerns who administers long-term care matters and how. The responsible office is the Dementia Policy and Community-Based Care Promotion Division, Health and Welfare Bureau for the Elderly, MHLW (03-3595-2889). The full text is published as PDFs — the comment submission guidelines and the outline of the draft order — and both must be read before submitting an opinion.

👥 Who does this concern?

• ●Foreign residents who use long-term care services or care for a family member in Japan
• ●Foreign nationals working in care and welfare (Specified Skilled Worker "Nursing Care", EPA candidate caregivers, technical intern trainees, etc.)
• ●Residents aged 40 or over who are enrolled in Japanese health insurance and pay long-term care premiums
• ●Anyone involved in running or handling paperwork for care providers and social welfare corporations
• ●Anyone who wants to comment on the draft — submission is open regardless of nationality or place of residence

🌏 Impact on foreign residents

Long-term care insurance is not a "Japanese-only" system. Anyone aged 40 or over with a resident registration and Japanese health insurance pays long-term care premiums regardless of nationality, and can use services if they meet the requirements. Because this draft rests on the Long-Term Care Insurance Act and the Local Autonomy Act and touches on which local government handles which task, it can affect where you apply and which counter helps you in the future. Care and welfare is also one of the fields employing the largest number of foreign workers — Specified Skilled Workers in nursing care, EPA candidate caregivers and technical intern trainees. Any change in how facilities deal with local authorities filters down into workplace procedures. Most importantly, public comment in Japan is open to everyone; there is no nationality or residence-status requirement. Submissions are made in Japanese, but this is one of the few chances to tell the ministry — before the rules are fixed — what is inconvenient in practice for foreign service users and foreign care staff. The deadline is 20:00 on 7 October 2026.