Long-Term Care Insurance Act

The designation under Article 47-2, paragraph (1) is to be made, pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, upon the application of a person that conducts a registered facility long-term care support business, for each office that conducts a registered facility long-term care support business (hereinafter referred to as "Business Office" in this Section (excluding Article 85-11, paragraph (1))).

The mayor of a Municipality, in a case of an application to provide service as set forth in the preceding paragraph and when it corresponds to any of the following items, must not provide an appointment as service provider as set forth in Article 47-2, paragraph (1):

when the applicant is not a person specified by Municipal Ordinance;

when the number of Long-Term Care Support Specialists at the Business Office pertaining to said application does not meet the fixed minimum number of employees as determined by Municipal Ordinance as set forth in Article 85-5, paragraph (1);

when it is determined that the applicant cannot properly manage a registered facility long-term care support business in accordance with the standards pertaining to the management of the business of Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support prescribed in Article 85-5, paragraph (2);

when the applicant is punished by imprisonment or to a more severe penalty and said execution of the penalty has not been completed or has not yet expired;

when an applicant is punished by a fine pursuant to the provisions of this Act or another Act concerning citizens' health and medical care or public aid as provided by a Cabinet Order and execution of said penalty has not yet been completed or has not yet expired;

when the applicant is punished by a fine pursuant to the provisions of a law concerning labor as determined by a Cabinet Order and execution of said penalty has not yet been completed or has not yet expired;

when the applicant has, with regard to insurance premiums, etc., by the day before the date of said application, received a disposition of delinquency based on the provisions of a law that provides for the obligation of payment, and has continuously been delinquent, for a period of three months or more without justifiable grounds from the date of receiving said disposition, in the payment of all insurance premiums, etc. whose due dates arrive on or after the date of receiving said disposition;

when the applicant is a person whose designation has been rescinded pursuant to the provisions of Article 85-9, paragraph (1) or Article 115-35, paragraph (6) and five years have not elapsed from the date of said rescission (in a case when a person whose designation has been rescinded is a juridical person, including a person that was an Officer, etc., of said juridical person within sixty days prior to the date of notification pursuant to the provisions of Article 15 of the Administrative Procedure Act pertaining to the disposition of said rescission and five years have not elapsed from the date of said rescission, and in a case when a person whose designation has been rescinded is a Business Office that is not a juridical person, including a person that was a manager of said Business Office within sixty days prior to said notification and five years have not elapsed from the date of said rescission), excluding, however, a case in which the rescission of said designation falls under one that is specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as being appropriate to treat as not falling under the rescission of the designation prescribed in the main clause of this item, among the rescissions of the designation of a Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support Provider, in consideration of the facts that were the grounds for the disposition of said rescission, the status of efforts toward the establishment of an operational control system by said Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support Provider to prevent the occurrence of said facts, and other matters on the degree of responsibility that said Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support Provider had in relation to said facts;

when a person that has a close relationship with the applicant has had its designation rescinded pursuant to the provisions of Article 85-9, paragraph (1) or Article 115-35, paragraph (6) and five years have not elapsed from the date of said rescission, excluding, however, a case in which the rescission of said designation falls under one that is specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as being appropriate to treat as not falling under the rescission of the designation prescribed in the main clause of this item, among the rescissions of the designation of a Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support Provider, in consideration of the facts that were the grounds for the disposition of said rescission, the status of efforts toward the establishment of an operational control system by said Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support Provider to prevent the occurrence of said facts, and other matters on the degree of responsibility that said Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support Provider had in relation to said facts;

when the applicant provides notification of abolishment of business pursuant to the provisions of Article 85-6, paragraph (2) from the date of notification pursuant to the provisions of Article 15 of the Administrative Procedure Act pertaining to the disposition of rescission of the designation pursuant to the provisions of Article 85-9, paragraph (1) or Article 115-35, paragraph (6) to the date of making said disposition or the date of determining not to make the disposition (except for a person that has a reasonable basis for said abolishment of business) and five years have not elapsed yet from the date of said notification;

when the applicant is a person that provided notification of abolishment of business pursuant to the provisions of Article 85-6, paragraph (2) during the period from the date on which an inspection pursuant to the provisions of Article 85-7, paragraph (1) was conducted until the expected hearing decision date (meaning, in the case where the mayor of a Municipality has notified said applicant, within ten days from the date on which said inspection was conducted, of a specific date as the date on which it is expected to be decided whether or not to hold a hearing on the disposition of rescission of the designation pursuant to the provisions of Article 85-9, paragraph (1) based on the result of said inspection, pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, said specific date) (excluding a person that has a reasonable basis for said abolishment of business), and five years have not elapsed from the date of said notification;

in a case when abolishment of business pursuant to the provisions of Article 85-6, paragraph (2) was duly provided by notification during the period pursuant to the provisions of item (x), when the applicant who was an Officer, etc., of a juridical person (except for a juridical person that has a reasonable basis for said abolishment of business) pertaining to said notification or a manager of a Business Office that is not a juridical person pertaining to said notification (except for one that has a reasonable basis for said abolishment of business) within sixty days before the notification as set forth in the same item, and five years have not elapsed from the date of said notification;

when an applicant performs a wrongful or significantly unjustifiable act concerning In-Home Service, etc. within five years prior to an application of appointment as service provider;

when the applicant is a juridical person and any of its Officers, etc. corresponds to any provision of item (iv) to item (viii) or item (x) to the preceding item;

when the applicant is a Business Office that is not a juridical person and its manager corresponds to any provision of item (iv) to item (viii) or item (x) to item (xiii).

A Municipality, in establishing the Municipal Ordinance set forth in item (i) of the preceding paragraph, is to establish it in accordance with the standards determined by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

An appointment as service provider as set forth in Article 47-2, paragraph (1), if it is not renewed every six years, ceases to be effective when said period expires.

In a case of application of renewal as set forth in the preceding paragraph, when a determination of the application does not occur prior to the expiry of the period as set forth in the same paragraph (hereinafter referred to as "Effective Period of Designation as Service Provider" in this Article), the prior appointment as service provider remains in force after expiry of the Effective Period of Designation as Service Provider until a determination is reached regarding said application.

In a case as set forth in the preceding paragraph, when the appointment as service provider is renewed, said Effective Period of Designation as Service Provider is to be from the date following the date of expiry of the prior Effective Period of Designation as Service Provider.

The provisions of paragraph (1) and paragraph (2) of the preceding Article apply mutatis mutandis to a renewal of appointment as service provider as set forth in paragraph (1).

A Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support Provider must, in accordance with the standards concerning the management of the business of Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support prescribed in paragraph (2) of the following Article, provide appropriate Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support according to the mental and physical condition, etc., of a Person Requiring Long-Term Care, and endeavor to always provide it from the standpoint of the person that receives Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support, by evaluating the quality of the Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support it provides itself and by taking other measures.

A Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support Provider, when it has confirmed the Opinion of the Certification Committee concerning an Insured Person through the presentation of the certificate of insured person, etc. by the Insured Person who intends to receive Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support, must endeavor to provide said Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support to said Insured Person with consideration given to said Opinion of the Certification Committee.

A Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support Provider must employ the number of Long-Term Care Support Specialists as determined by Municipal Ordinance for each Business Office pertaining to said appointment as service provider.

In addition to what is prescribed in the preceding paragraph, the standards concerning the management of the business of Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support are to be specified by Municipal Ordinance.

A Municipality, in establishing the Municipal Ordinance set forth in the preceding two paragraphs, is to establish the following matters in accordance with the standards determined by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and is to take into consideration the standards determined by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for other matters:

the standards concerning the employees that engage in Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support and the number of said employees;

matters concerning the management of the business of Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support that are determined by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as being closely related to the appropriate use of services by Persons Requiring Long-Term Care who use them, appropriate treatment, ensuring of safety, and maintenance of confidentiality, etc.

The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, when intending to provide the standards determined by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare prescribed in the preceding paragraph (limited to the part concerning the handling of Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support), must hear the opinion of the Social Security Council in advance.

A Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support Provider, when it has provided notification of the abolition or suspension of the business pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (2) of the following Article, must, with regard to a person who received said Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support within one month before the date of said notification and who wishes to continue to be provided with services equivalent to said Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support even on or after the date of said abolition or suspension of the business, provide convenience, such as coordination with other Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support Providers and other relevant persons, so that necessary In-Home Service, etc. is continuously provided.

A Designated Registered Facility Long-Term Care Support Provider must respect the personality of a Person Requiring Long-Term Care, act in compliance with this Act or an Order based on this Act, and faithfully perform said duty for a Person Requiring Long-Term Care.