Top court rules nonpayment of disability benefits constitutional

Monday 06th October, 03:36 PM JST

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15 Comments

buggerlugs at 05:01 PM JST - 6th October

so by this logic, ex-primeminister Koizumi should also not get a pension due to the fact that he did not pay all his dues to the kokmin nenkin while he was a student...
Notginger at 05:05 PM JST - 6th October

So what's going to happen? Are they going to be allowed to just wither away and die? How will they support themselves?
MichaelJP at 06:47 PM JST - 6th October

buggerlugs:: so by this logic, ex-primeminister Koizumi should also not get a pension due to the fact that he did not pay all his dues to the kokmin nenkin while he was a student...

Yeah, I'd like to see this rule applied to politicians rather than the most disadvantaged in Japanese society. Sadly, discrimination against those least able to protect themselves; the disabled, the single mothers, etc, is a part of life here in Japan. Let's hope there are some charities and some kind individuals who can help them in their times of need.
cleo at 07:56 PM JST - 6th October

Hang on, we're not talking here about three old-age pensioners who aren't getting their pensions because of a few missed payments fifty years ago.

These are people trying to claim disability pension benefits for disabilities incurred when they were (by choice) not paying the kokumin nenkin premiums. I know of no insurance scheme in the world that pays out retrospectively.

With so many people failing to pay into the kokumin nenkin, the state is surely under no obligation to pay out to those who choose not to pay. Bottom line, if you want to be eligible for disability benefit, start paying the premiums when you hit 20, or at least get the paperwork filed (students over 20 with no income can defer payment and still be covered for disability).

There should of course be some kind of safety net for the disadvantaged, but these people are not entitled to benefit from the kokumin nenkin insurance. Suggesting that they are makes a mockery of the whole scheme.
butterfly1 at 08:16 PM JST - 6th October

cleo - I completely agree ;)
whatanidiot at 08:17 PM JST - 6th October

cleo, i only read the article on JapanToday, so i may not know the whole story. but here they say "Alll three plaintiffs became handicapped when they were students". As students, you may think you dont have to pay yet, whatever... and if you get handicapt around that age, the doctors or some social workers should have checked that with them... they may have had other things in mind (like recovering !) than check all their paperwork. That is pitty, that is not very smart... but if they paid after that from the time they started their active life... if only few years are missing... that is quite a hard judgement form the court. they should ask them to pay what is due, and they let them get their pension. i know that is a very naive suggestion... but i feel sorry for them !
butterfly1 at 08:18 PM JST - 6th October

P.S you need to pay into the scheme for a certain amount of years to be eligable. and the amount you pay into is relative to the amount you recieve- so Mr. Koizumi is probably eligable for the full amount cause he has probably paid for the required amount of years...
borscht at 09:23 PM JST - 6th October

Mr. Koizumi is probably eligable for the full amount cause he has probably paid for the required amount of years...

If the government didn't 'lose' his records.
butterfly1 at 09:40 PM JST - 6th October

good point!
Ah_so at 09:47 PM JST - 6th October

I do not know whether this is "constitional" or not, but it seems as though the government is being quite vindictive - punishing a small group of people for quite arbitary reasons and which would have little impact or cost on society as a whole.

Court cases in Japan often seem to have this theme.
buggerlugs at 10:57 PM JST - 6th October

in Japan the system of ins starts fromthe age of 20, butmost people don't pay during that time,they back pay 2 years worth to cover themselves. due to these 3 people becoming disabled, they may not have been able to back pay for the missing time as everyone else does. as far as I know the system changed rather recently to cover cases like this, but it is not to be back dated past a certain date... thereis no evidence here that the 3 are working or have any income, but evenif they dowork the systemis against them. You, I or joe smith can now all back pay the 2 years and recieve the benefits... but... the case of koizumi it was ruled that because he was out of the country he did not have to pay for the missing time (although normal people must)
cleo at 12:45 AM JST - 7th October

whatanidiot -

As students, you may think you dont have to pay yet, whatever...

As a student you don't have to pay if you do the paperwork. I know because my student son gets to jump through the hoops every year to keep himself up to date. He'll be able to catch up on his payments once he starts working, but in the meantime he's covered if (God forbid) anything should happen to make him disabled. While you have to have paid so many years to get an old-age pension, it's my understanding that you're covered for disability pension from the day you join the scheme.

In the case of these three people, we're talking about 20-30 years ago, when the system was a bit different and the kokumin nenkin was not compulsory for students (or housewives); you had the choice of not paying and, if you didn't pay, of not being covered. These three chose not to pay. And they cannot legitimately claim that they 'didn't know'; the government sends pamphlets and leaflets to everyone eligible explaining the advantages of paying your dues, and the disadvantages of not paying. If they were students, presumably they were able to read.

I'm not saying that, with their disabilities, they should just be thrown out into the street and left to fend for themselves. There must be some kind of safety-net for people unable to support themselves. I'm simply saying that they are not and should not be entitled to a disability pension under a scheme they chose not to pay into.

As for Koizumi, when he was not paying his premiums the rule was that you couldn't back-pay after a certain (very short) amount of time. The same applied to 'normal' people, too. But I don't think Mr. Koizumi will lose much sleep worrying about his old age pension; as a member of the Diet he has been eligible for Iin nenkin, which means he gets many, many times what the kokumin nenkin pays out. If they scrapped the Iin nenkin next week and put all the politicians in the kokumin nenkin, we'd see the system fixed well before Christmas.
buggerlugs at 07:21 AM JST - 7th October

aha, thanks for the heads up. I'll make sure I get all these things done so if the worst comes my lil' uns don't end up in the same boat. there really needs to be updates to the systems here... the only way you can learn the hoops is from others who've found the right ones... Or that's my experience...
neverknow2 at 08:08 AM JST - 7th October

Another great point in Japan's unique culture.
cleo at 09:33 AM JST - 7th October

the only way you can learn the hoops is from others who've found the right ones... Or that's my experience...

Nah, once your student offspring turns 20 (is about to turn 20? can't remember) they send you all the stuff explaining what you have to pay and why, who's eligible for an exemption and what to do to get it. (Submit an application together with proof of studenthood) If you don't do the paperwork they keep sending you bills and letters reminding you how much you owe and what dire consequences lie in store if you don't pay up.