Social plan to support doctors, the elderly
The government endorsed emergency measures Tuesday to enhance the social security system, including financial support for rural doctors and promoting employment of elderly people willing to work.
Under the plan initiated by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda,
the government will help "Net cafe refugees," referring to young people who spend the night at Internet cafes without having a home or full-time job. The government will offer loans for them to rent apartments and secure living expenses, and help them find full-time employment.
The plan will be reflected in budgetary requests for fiscal 2009 or will be realized by revising related laws, officials said.
The five areas the emergency plan covers are policies on the elderly, medical services, child-rearing, irregular workers and reforming the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.
For the elderly, the government will support companies that hire people aged 65 or older — the age when they become able to receive pensions — and also plans to consider ways to guarantee minimum pension benefits in the government-run basic pension scheme.
The government plans to provide financial assistance to doctors who have been sent to remote areas facing shortages and those who are engaged in emergency care during nighttime or holidays.
A new welfare ministry panel will consider ways to restore public confidence in the ministry, the officials said.
沒有留言:
張貼留言