The government plans to unify welfare policies covering services for physically and mentally disabled people, according to officials.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry will compile a bill to this end for submission to next year's ordinary Diet session, together with other bills aimed at helping disabled people find jobs and providing services for them in local communities, the officials said Wednesday.
The plan is designed to boost the efficiency of services for the disabled, to encourage disabled people to be independent and thus to reduce financial costs, the officials said.
Welfare minister Hidehisa Otsuji has asked the ministry to review the current strategy of having separate policies for different disabilities as part of reforms to welfare policies for the disabled scheduled for fiscal 2005.
The ministry's welfare reform proposals call for making necessary services easily accessible to all categories of disabled people and encouraging the disabled to contribute to their communities.
Under the plan, municipal governments would serve as primary service providers with financial support from the central and prefectural governments, the officials said.