Long-Term Care Insurance Act

A Long-Term Care Service Provider must, according to the categories listed in the following items, notify the person specified in each of those items of matters concerning the establishment of an operational control system, as provided by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare:

a Long-Term Care Service Provider other than the Long-Term Care Service Providers listed in the following item through item (vi): the prefectural governor;

a Long-Term Care Service Provider other than the Long-Term Care Service Providers listed in the following item through item (vi), whose Business Offices pertaining to said designation, or facilities pertaining to said designation or permission (including those with different types of In-Home Service, etc. pertaining to said designation or permission), are located in the areas of two or more prefectures and in the jurisdictional areas of not more than two Regional Bureaus of Health and Welfare: the prefectural governor of the prefecture where the principal office of said Long-Term Care Service Provider is located;

a Long-Term Care Service Provider other than the Long-Term Care Service Providers listed in item (v), all of whose Business Offices pertaining to said designation, or all of whose facilities pertaining to said designation or permission (including those with different types of In-Home Service, etc. pertaining to said designation or permission), are located within the area of a single designated city under Article 252-19, paragraph (1) of the Local Autonomy Act (hereinafter referred to as a "designated city"): the head of the designated city;

a Long-Term Care Service Provider other than the Long-Term Care Service Providers listed in the following item, all of whose Business Offices pertaining to said designation, or all of whose facilities pertaining to said designation or permission (including those with different types of In-Home Service, etc. pertaining to said designation or permission), are located within the area of a single core city under Article 252-22, paragraph (1) of the Local Autonomy Act (hereinafter referred to as a "core city"): the head of the core city;

a Long-Term Care Service Provider that conducts only Community-Based Service Business or Community-Based Preventive Long-Term Care Business, all of whose Business Offices pertaining to said designation (including those with different types of Community-Based Service or Community-Based Service for Preventive Long-Term Care pertaining to said designation) are located within the area of a single Municipality: the mayor of the Municipality;

a Long-Term Care Service Provider whose Business Offices pertaining to said designation, or facilities pertaining to said designation or permission (including those with different types of In-Home Service, etc. pertaining to said designation or permission), are located in the jurisdictional areas of three or more Regional Bureaus of Health and Welfare: the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare.

A Long-Term Care Service Provider that has submitted notification pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph must, when there is a change in the matters notified, notify the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, prefectural governor, head of a designated city, head of a core city, or mayor of a Municipality to whom said notification was submitted (hereinafter referred to as the "Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, etc." in this Section) of that fact without delay, as provided by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

A Long-Term Care Service Provider that has submitted notification pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (2) must, when, due to a change in the categories listed in the items of that paragraph, it submits notification to a Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, etc. other than the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, etc. to whom it submitted said notification pursuant to the provisions of that paragraph, notify the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, etc. to whom it submitted said notification of that fact as well, as provided by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, etc. are to cooperate closely with one another so that notification pursuant to the provisions of the preceding three paragraphs is made properly.

A Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, etc. that has received notification pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (2) of the preceding Article may, when deeming it necessary with regard to the establishment of an operational control system pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) of that Article by the Long-Term Care Service Provider that submitted said notification (excluding, for a Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, etc. that has received notification pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (4) of that Article, a Long-Term Care Service Provider that submitted notification pursuant to the provisions of that paragraph), order said Long-Term Care Service Provider to report or to submit or present record books and documents, request said Long-Term Care Service Provider or an employee of said Long-Term Care Service Provider to appear, or have personnel ask questions of the relevant persons, or enter the Business Offices of said Long-Term Care Service Provider pertaining to said designation, or the facilities pertaining to said designation or permission, offices, or other places related to the provision of In-Home Service, etc., in order to inspect their facilities, record books and documents, and other items.

When the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare or the prefectural governor specified in paragraph (2), item (ii) of the preceding Article exercises the authority under the preceding paragraph, it is to do so in close cooperation with the prefectural governor who made the designation or permission pertaining to said Long-Term Care Service Provider (referred to as the "relevant prefectural governor" in paragraph (5) of the following Article) or the mayor of the Municipality who made the designation pertaining to said Long-Term Care Service Provider (hereinafter referred to as the "relevant municipal mayor" in this paragraph and paragraph (5) of the following Article), and when the prefectural governor specified in paragraph (2), item (i) of the preceding Article exercises the authority under the preceding paragraph, it is to do so in close cooperation with the relevant municipal mayor.

A prefectural governor, when deeming it necessary with regard to the establishment of an operational control system pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article by a Long-Term Care Service Provider pertaining to a designation or permission that the governor has made or is about to make, may request the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare or the prefectural governor specified in paragraph (2), item (ii) of that Article to exercise the authority under paragraph (1), and a mayor of a Municipality, when deeming it necessary with regard to the establishment of an operational control system pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) of that Article by a Long-Term Care Service Provider pertaining to a designation that the mayor has made or is about to make, may request the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare or the prefectural governor specified in paragraph (2), item (i) or item (ii) of that Article to exercise the authority under paragraph (1).

The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare or a prefectural governor, when having exercised the authority under paragraph (1) in response to a request from a prefectural governor or a mayor of a Municipality pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, must notify the prefectural governor or the mayor of the Municipality who requested the exercise of said authority of the result, as provided by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

The provisions of Article 24, paragraph (3) apply mutatis mutandis to questions or inspections pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1), and the provisions of paragraph (4) of the same Article apply mutatis mutandis to the authority granted pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1).

A Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, etc. that has received notification pursuant to the provisions of Article 115-32, paragraph (2) may, when finding that the Long-Term Care Service Provider that submitted said notification (excluding, for a Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, etc. that has received notification pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (4) of that Article, a Long-Term Care Service Provider that submitted notification pursuant to the provisions of that paragraph) has not properly carried out the establishment of an operational control system in accordance with the standards specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare prescribed in paragraph (1) of that Article, recommend to said Long-Term Care Service Provider, setting a due date, that it properly establish an operational control system in accordance with said standards specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, etc., in a case of providing a recommendation pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, may provide public notice of the fact that the Long-Term Care Service Provider that was issued said recommendation did not act in compliance with said recommendation within the due date as set forth in the same paragraph.

The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, etc., when the Long-Term Care Service Provider that was issued a recommendation pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) does not implement the measures pertaining to said recommendation without a justifiable basis, may, setting a due date, order said Long-Term Care Service Provider to implement the measures pertaining to said recommendation.

The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, etc., when issuing an order pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, must issue public notice of said fact.

When a Long-Term Care Service Provider violates an order pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (3), the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare or the prefectural governor specified in Article 115-32, paragraph (2), item (ii) must notify the relevant prefectural governor or the relevant municipal mayor, and the prefectural governor specified in item (i) of that paragraph must notify the relevant municipal mayor, of the details of the violation, as provided by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.