Debt fray could end up in courts

The Bureau of National Health Insurance yesterday threatened to take legal action against the Taipei City and Kaohsiung City governments should they fail to come up with plans to pay their health insurance subsidy debts.

The bureau gave the governments an ultimatum of two months to make their plans.

"If the two city governments do not respond with goodwill by March, we will turn the case over to the Ministry of Justice," said Chang Hong-jen (張鴻仁), the bureau's general manager.

If the bureau were to sue the two city governments, it would be the first time in Taiwan's history that a government agency has filed suit against other government agencies.

Chang made the comments yesterday, adding that the decision was handed down by the Cabinet's Department of Health.

Chang said that as of December of last year, 21 cities and counties nationwide owed the bureau some NT$25 billion in health insurance subsidies.

"The Kaohsiung City Government and the Taipei City Government ranked as the top two [places] with the largest amounts owed of NT$8.3 billion and NT$6.9 billion respectively," Chang said.

According to information provided by the bureau, local governments that carry debts of over NT$1 billion include the Yunlin County Government, which owes approximately NT$2 billion and the Chiayi and Pingtung County governments, which owe around NT$1 billion each.

Chang said that despite the fact that the Kaohsiung City Government owed more money to the bureau, "the warning sent out by the Department of Health yesterday was meant more for the Taipei City Government than the Kaohsiung City Government, because we don't see the Taipei City Government making an effort to take care of their debt," Chang said.

Chang was referring to a decision on Friday by the Taipei City Council to cut NT$1 billion from the city government's proposed NT$4 billion budget for this year's labor and health insurance subsidy appropriation.

"Judging by [the council's decision], we feel that the issue lies not on the Taipei City Government's ability, but rather willingness, to pay," Chang said.

Chang said the bureau hopes the city government would negotiate with its city council to find ways to take care of its debt.

Taipei City Government spokesman Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said that "it is not that the city government doesn't want to pay its debt, it is simply that the city government has no money to pay it because of financial difficulties."

Wu said that the Taipei City Government's good intentions to pay off its debt could be seen in the amount proposed in its labor and health insurance subsidy budget.

"One shouldn't put the blame on the city government" when it was that the city council that allocated less money than asked for, Wu said.

Cheng Tsun-chi (鄭村棋), director of the city's Bureau of Labor Affairs, said that if the bureau is determined to take the issue to court, "I personally don't think it's a bad idea to do so."

Cheng said that the Taipei City Government "wouldn't mind taking care of these administrative conflicts through the legal system."

Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said that "despite the [city's] financial difficulties, it will try its best to make the labor and health insurance subsidy a priority when planning its budget appropriation."

The Kaohsiung City Council passed the NT$607 million proposed by the Kaohsiung City Government for this year's labor and health insurance subsidy budget.