The legislative resolution calling for an end to the increased national health insurance fees threatened to antagonize executive and legislative branches yesterday as parties bickered over its legality.
Opposition lawmakers vowed to seek the impeachment of top health official Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲) and topple the Cabinet altogether, if the government continues to ignore the legislature's demands.
Twu has said the Department of Health will stick to the current fee scheme introduced last September to save the National Health Insurance program from bankruptcy.
The DPP legislative caucus argued lawmakers have no right to meddle with the department's jurisdiction and that the resolution at issue has no binding effect.
The lawmaking body on Friday attached an opposition-sponsored resolution to the government's budget urging the health department to cancel the four-month-old hikes in health insurance premiums and co-payment rates.
Proponents have insisted that the program can stay afloat if authorities step up efforts to crack down on dishonest medical institutions and pharmaceutical firms.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said a resolution is tantamount to a legal rule with which the Cabinet must comply.
"Any violation is illegal and bound to be punished," he said. "The legislature will not sit around seeing its authority trampled on."
Budgetary codes say government agencies should observe qualifications and constraints attached to their proposed budgets. The requirement, however, does not apply to terms that clash with existing laws.
Health rules stipulate legislative consent is not necessary so long as the insurance premium does not exceed 6 percent of subscribers' monthly income.
The present rate stands at 4.55 percent, up from 4.25 percent before the latest hike under which subscribers have to pay NT$40 more each month.
Independent Legislator Sisy Chen (陳文茜) said she and fellow colleagues will petition the Control Yuan on Monday to impeach Twu for failing to curb irregularities involving hospitals and druggists.
She said the health department, when formulating the fee hikes, did not take into consideration the economic crunch and rising unemployment as a result of which 300,000 people can no longer afford the insurance.
In addition to the monthly premium, patients have to pay up to NT$300 more for each clinical visit.
"Now that the DPP is in power, it must not turn its back on the economically disadvantaged, the party's backbone constituency," Chen said.
Taking a tougher stand, PFP legislative whip Liu Wen-hsiung (
"The passage of the resolution showed how unpopular the hikes are," he said. "We will not rule out mounting a campaign to depose the Cabinet, if prompted by the people to do so."
The disputed resolution passed the legislature with a vote of 118 to 99, thanks to the defection of independent lawmakers to the opposition camp.
Premier Yu Shyi-kun said he regretted the outcome and refrained from making criticism.
DPP Legislator Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said the resolution, if allowed to stand, would set a bad example of the lawmaking body encroaching on the Cabinet's power.
He said the administration does not need to make a policy reversal, as the resolution is advisory in nature.
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