The health ministry is weighing cuts to some services provided under the public nursing care insurance system to people with less than serious conditions — a measure intended to reign in the ballooning costs of nursing care for a rapidly aging population and to focus on services for the elderly with more severe health problems.

The government should carefully consider the impact that such a step will have on the people needing help. A deterioration in the care recipients' health as a result of the cutoff in services will defeat the purpose of the planned measure. It needs to take adequate steps to mitigate the physical and financial problems that these people could face.

Under the nursing care insurance program, people entitled to care services are classified into five categories in ascending stages depending on the severity of their conditions. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is thinking of excluding from the program's coverage some services that people in the first and second categories — the least serious — receive at home, and instead making them pay the full cost if they want to continue receiving them. The ministry plans to submit the relevant bills to the Diet next year based on discussions by its Social Security Council.