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Debate proposed on health insurance

Department of Health (DOH) Director-General Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) hopes to engage Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in a debate to resolve the dispute over NT$10.8 billion in health insurance subsidies which the city government has accrued since 2000, the department announced yesterday.

Deputy Director-General Chang Hong-jen (張鴻仁) said yesterday that the department would like to clarify the whole controversy through debate in order to protect the health of all the nations' people and uphold the principle of justice.

Chen is willing to debate with Ma or any other city officials who can speak on the mayor's behalf to prevent the National Health Insurance Program from going bankrupt due to its huge debt problem, Chang said.

"Director-General Chen thought the endless quarrels over health insurance premiums should be brought to and end," Chang said. "The health department has a responsibility to prevent further misunderstandings."

Chang also urged Ma not to violate the National Health Insurance Law (全民健保法), which was enacted in 1993 while Ma served as the minister of justice.

City Government Spokesman Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said in response that the city would be happy to accept the department's challenge, and that he or Ma could take part in the debates.

Ma said that the sooner the debates are held, the better.

Earlier in the day, Bureau of National Health Insurance Vice President Lei Lei Chin-hsiang (賴進祥) said Ma's refusal to pay back the debts were reminiscent of two notorious figures in Taiwan who "violated laws overtly and knowingly" -- the controversial self-styled career protester Ko Szu-hai (柯賜海) and fugitive tycoon Chen Yu-hao (陳由豪), who is wanted on embezzlement charges.

"It is so disappointing and confusing to see Mayor Ma, who earned a doctorate in judicial science and served as the minister of justice, giving up the legal channels and appealing to his supporters," Lei said.

The city held public meetings last Sunday and Monday to explain the health insurance dispute to Taipei residents, but the meetings turned into small campaign rallies as attendees cried out slogans like "We support Mayor Ma" and "We protest against the laws to the last."

After yesterday's weekly municipal meeting, Ma said that the people who proposed revising the National Health Insurance Law were blurring the whole issue, since the problem was not a legal one.

Premier Yu Shyi-kun said yesterday that the Cabinet would deal with the dispute according to the law, but urged the city to show its sincerity over solving the debt problem.

In response to a request by Ma to discuss the city's debts with Yu, the premier said that the Cabinet always welcomes discussion on issues beneficial to the people.

"But I think the best timing to meet Mayor Ma is after Ma has met the city's debts," Yu said.

Cabinet Spokesman Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said the best way to solve the dispute was for the city government to propose a clear and feasible installment plan as soon as possible.

Chen Chi-mai said that the National Health Insurance Program is a social security system protecting the health of the nation's 23 million people, which means that the central government and local government must share the reasonability.

"But so far, none of city government's actions have changed the fact that it should pay back the debts it owes," Chen Chi-mai said.
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