Despite the government mapping out a number of solutions to bolster the ailing National Health Insurance (NHI) system that would avoid raising insurance rates, critics say the financial crisis besetting the system remains undiminished.
With bankruptcy for the NHI looming, the Department of Health proposed "tiny fare increases in multiple areas" last month to balance an estimated NT$12.8 billion (US$414.5 million) deficit for this year. The scheme includes an extra NT$11 billion injection from the government, raising the indexed salary ceiling from NT$87,600 to NT$131,700, and increasing the proportion of the assessed salary from 82.42 to 87.04 percent for the nation's military, civil and teaching personnel.
The plan also includes proposals that require revisions to the law, such as a NT$10 health tax levied on each pack of cigarettes, an air-pollution tax, and making people responsible for injuries pay medical fees.
The Bureau of National Health Insurance has also decided to make patients pay more for their visit to hospitals, a plan that the Executive Yuan will implement in October to tap into an estimated NT$6.39 billion in extra revenue.
To attract public support, the Bureau of National Health Insurance has promised that most people will be free from premium hikes for the next three years if all the measures are enforced.
Medical professionals, however, say that the policy will take too long to have an effect and will not save the NHI from its crisis.
"A slow remedy cannot meet an urgent need. Among the proposed solutions, very few immediately provide the money the NHI system needs," said Wu Shuh-min (
Wu said the bureau's funding reserves will be used up this month, whereas the proposed measures would only bring in about NT$3.5 billion by next month at the earliest.
Of the strategies floated, only two -- raising the indexed salary ceiling and increasing the percentage of assessed income for public servants -- will put money in the bureau's pocket in a short period.
"The fate of some of the drafts, such as the NT$11 billion budget and those that require legal revision, is far from certain. The health authority still needs time to lobby legislators and wait for government agencies to process the annual budget. We don't see a timely solution in the government's policy," said Chen Yong-shing (陳永興), superintendent of Kaohsiung Municipal United Hospital.
The policy of minor fare hikes, Chang said, was merely a makeshift strategy devised by a government that does not dare to publicly explain the NHI's financial dilemma and thus risk ruffling the public's feathers.
"The government cannot even ensure that the policy will be enforced within three months to ease the NHI's financial difficulties this year. How can they promise that insurance rates will remain the same for the next three years? It is a false promise that the government has used to pamper potential voters," Chang said.
In a similar vein, former Democratic Progressive Party legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) berated the Cabinet for passing on the NHI's financial woes to the next administration.
"It's clear that the government doesn't have the guts to tackle the NHI within its three-year tenure. The key problem is that the NHI's revenue is failing to match its ever-growing expenditure. Yet neither Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) nor the new director-general of the Department of Health, Hou Sheng-mou (侯勝茂), have got to the heart of the problem," said Sheng, one of the most vocal critics of the NHI.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS