The COVID-19 outbreak in China has renewed the debate over whether Chinese should be allowed to use the National Health Insurance (NHI) system.
Much of the controversy centers on a Taiwanese teenager who has hemophilia and lives in Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak, with his mother, a Chinese who obtained Republic of China (ROC) citizenship through a previous marriage.
Just as the teenager ran out of medication for the disease, the Taiwanese government sent a flight to Chengdu, China, to bring the mother and son to Taiwan, where he has since been on steady medication.
The source of controversy was a decision made by the administration of former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in 2015 that relaxed the rules on Chinese citizens’ eligibility for the NHI system by broadening the scope of resident certificates to include entry permits awarded to Chinese who are married to Taiwanese or are in the nation “visiting a relative.” The move was a clear violation of due legislative procedure and widely panned as overstepping the National Health Insurance Act (全民健康保險法). It also means that Chinese enjoy the same healthcare benefits as Taiwanese as long as they are given a residency certificate for visiting their Taiwanese step-parent.
According to statistics compiled by the National Health Insurance Administration, about 63,000 Chinese benefited from the rule change in 2015, which in turn increased NHI expenditure by NT$31.5 million (US$1.05 million at the current exchange rate).
In the wake of the controversy, lawmakers in the pan-green camp have issued calls for the rule to be abolished or amended, with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) and Taiwan Statebuilding Party Legislator Chen Po-wei (陳柏惟) vowing to close the loophole in the NHI system created by Ma’s administration.
Meanwhile, DPP Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) recommended amending the act to raise the NHI premiums for those who do not live in the nation for at least 183 days annually.
He proposed that the NHI rates for these people be set in proportion to their annual income overseas, which could see the monthly premiums of high-income earners raised from NT$749 to NT$12,000 — the highest possible rate under the insurance system in the absence of premium allocations from a local employer or the government.
The proposals to rectify the problem deserve praise, but with the DPP having been the ruling party for almost four years, such calls are long overdue.
Any government would adopt a hardline stance if a lobbyist called for a person of another nationality to enjoy the same social welfare as its citizens, so it makes no sense for Chinese to use the NHI just because they are visiting a relative and need an extended stay in the nation.
It defies the logic of any sensible government, and if any Chinese had thought about exploiting this rule, they would have succeeded if Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) last month had not overturned a Mainland Affairs Council policy that would allow the Chinese children of Taiwanese and Chinese couples to return from China.
The Mainland Affairs Council in the frequently asked questions section of its Web site states that any Chinese spouse who has not renounced their People’s Republic of China citizenship will have their ROC citizenship rescinded, so the debate of whether Chinese should be allowed to use the NHI is a non-starter, and should be responded to with a resounding “no.”
With Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) having clarified their stance for amending the rule, it is down to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to give the legislative effort the go-ahead.
KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) recent visit to Beijing and her upcoming visit to Washington will serve as a high-level test of her diplomatic mettle. In Beijing, Cheng was received with symbolic gestures, a warm reception, and high-level access. In Washington, she will receive far less pomp and far sharper questions about the KMT’s vision for the future of Taiwan. Her challenge will be to persuade Washington that the KMT’s engagement with China can coexist with strong deterrence. Cheng’s April 7-12 visit to mainland China coincided with an intense period of conflict in Iran. Despite the strategic significance of Cheng’s trip,
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent the vast Asian chemicals industry into a tailspin. Deprived of the likes of Qatari natural gas and Saudi Arabian oil, the region’s fertilizer and plastics plants are slowing production or even shutting down. Everywhere except China, that is. In petrochemicals, China is unique. As well as a traditional industry that uses oil and gas as feedstock, it has parallel output that relies on its abundant domestic coal. Unsurprisingly, India and other regional powers want to copy and paste the Chinese method. This would not be easy — or climate friendly. The
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto says he knows how to fix the problems facing Indonesia. Yet his economic mismanagement and authoritarian tendencies are steering the nation toward a familiar mix of currency instability and political chaos. The world’s fourth-most populous nation risks reversing the hard-won democratic and business reforms that came after the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997. At that time, the rupiah collapsed and the political upheaval that followed forced former president Haji Mohamed Suharto from power. Prabowo’s administration is ignoring similar warning signs. That disconnect was apparent in a national address on Wednesday, when Prabowo projected the swagger that has
“Of course you can choose not to be Taiwanese, just do not stay here,” chairwoman of Taipei 101 operator Taipei Financial Center Corp Janet Chia (賈永婕) said in an online interview with local entertainer Tai Chih-yuan (邰智源), triggering intense discussion on social media, with politicians across party lines weighing in. In the interview, which was aired on May 14, Chia and Tai’s discussion over a meal in Taipei 101 covered Chia’s career change from entertainer to chairwoman and US climber Alex Honnold’s free solo climb up the Taipei 101 building. During the interview, Chia said, “Being on this land, we
RSS