The new year brings with it the issuance of new health insurance cards, but for the hundreds of thousands of people who have yet to pick up their cards, a trip to the doctor could result in an unpleasant financial surprise.
Of the estimated 20 million people islandwide covered under the national health insurance scheme, as many as 2 million -- 10 percent of all cardholders -- had not picked up their cards, the Bureau of National Health Insurance said yesterday. The bureau began making reminder phone calls on Dec. 21, said Chen Chih-hua, director of the bureau's underwriting and eligibility department.
Reminder calls have been made to encourage people to pick up their new card which must be renewed each year, he said.
Those who have not yet picked up their new cards and must therefore pay the full fee to visit a doctor can be reimbursed for the cost is they come in with their new cards no later than one week after treatment.
This year is the first since the health insurance scheme was instituted that the bureau has not allowed a two-month buffer zone during which cardholders can use their old cards.
A new co-payment system introduced in August for high-volume users of the health care system has made it impractical to have a buffer period, Chen said.
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