The National Health Insurance Bureau announced yesterday it will press ahead with a hike in national health insurance payments as well as patients' co-payments for medical costs despite the legislature's resolution to suspend them last Friday.
Chang Hong-jen (張鴻仁), NHIB's general manager, said the bureau will also continue the distribution of computerized "smart" health cards despite another legislative resolution to freeze the budget to implement the cards.
The Department of Health (DOH) convened an emergency meeting yesterday morning to discuss how to respond to the legislature's resolutions.
As the NHIB's price hikes and smart card distribution project were implemented in accordance with the law, it remains a controversial issue whether the legislature's resolutions have encroached on the administrations of the DOH and NHIB.
"The public wants to know whether the hikes have been revoked after the resolution was passed. The increases remain the same unless the DOH announces any changes to them," Chang said.
The cost increases were launched last September. The law permits the NHIB to launch increases in the health premiums as long as the premiums do not exceed 6 percent of people's monthly salaries.
"If the NHIB did not implement the price hike in health premiums, it would have gone bankrupt last October," Chang said.
As for the increases in patients' co-payments for medical costs, Chang said the NHIB needs three months to consider whether the rates should be changed.
Opposition lawmakers have claimed that the rise in health costs have made life even more difficult for impoverished people during the economic slowdown. But Chang said the equality of Taiwan's national health program has won international recognition.
"According to a recent survey conducted by Harvard University in the US, the equality in Taiwan's national health program is among the 20 best countries in the world," Chang said.
The survey is based upon WHO standards, Chang said, adding that the assessment examined whether rich and poor were treated equally by the nation's health system.
Meanwhile, Chiang Hung-che (江宏哲), NHIB vice president, said the bureau will continue to negotiate with the legislature about the frozen budget for smart cards.
"The project to launch smart cards is a three-year plan. This year is the final year. If we stop the project now, the government will lose more than NT$900 million," Chiang said.
The proposal to build up the national smart health card system was passed in the legislature in 2001. "We also need to make the present legislature know we have legitimate grounds to carry on the card project," Chiang said.
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