The Department of Health has accused Taipei City and Kaohsiung City of being the two biggest deadbeats in the nation in terms of the money they owe the national health insurance program. They have, in fact, become habitual deadbeats, said the department. These two special municipalities receive more funds annually from the central government than any other local government, so there should be no excuse for not paying their bills. But neither city appears apologetic; if anything both governments bask in self-righteousness about the problem. Given the largess that comes their way, the "special" municipalities are dreadful role models. Should their behavior be imitated by the far more cash-strapped county governments, the national health insurance program -- which benefits so many people -- could cease to exist.
A pattern appears to be emerging under which the Taipei City Government holds its national health insurance debts hostage whenever the central government refuses to fork out. Last year, the city refused to make its payments to protest a reduction in the amount of centrally-allocated funds it received. This year it has again emphasized that the central government should first pay the money it owes to the city, including the funds for hosting World League baseball games, before asking the city to clear its debts.
Times are hard for the Taipei City Government as they are for everyone right now. But its attitude and tactics are simply unacceptable. Certainly, Taipei can whine all it wants about the lack of funds. There is no excuse, however, to link the city's debts with the funds allocated from the central government. After all, the government could threaten to withhold those funds until the city pays its debts and the whole cycle could start anew. Not only are such tit-for-tat antics childish, they are not constructive in finding a solution to the problem.
The Kaohsiung City Government is, regrettably, no better. The director of the city's Bureau of Finance, Lin Hsiang-kai (
Lin's statements are simply outrageous. The measures he mentioned have been imposed -- uniformly -- on all cities and counties. They were almost certainly a grater blow those administrations which receive less in funds from the central government to begin with. So why aren't those cities and counties complaining? How is it that they are managing to pay their national health insurance program dues? It is the city government itself that needs to engage in some serious self-criticism, starting with its attitude.
While the Department of Health's talk of pursuing administrative litigation is a step in the right direction, lawsuits are simply too time-consuming. Why not simply deduct the amount of the overdue bills from the amount of funds the deadbeats are supposed to receive from the central government next time subsidies are allocated?
The national health insurance program is not perfect, either in terms of funding or service. Long-term measures must be adopted to stabilize the program's funding; if this means raising the premiums for national health insurance, then so be it. The service would still be a bargain and of immense value for the vast majority of the people it serves and for the nation as a whole.
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