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Health premiums unchanged after court ruling: Cho

The public won't face extra premiums in the wake of the Supreme Administrative Court's ruling on Monday that the Taipei City Government owed nothing to the Bureau of National Health Insurance, Cabinet Secretary-General and Spokesman Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday.

"No sweat. The ruling will not change anything. Insured people will not have to pay extra premiums, either," Cho said at a press conference held after the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday morning.

Court decision

He said the government has made alternative plans now that the Supreme Administrative Court's ruling on Monday had finalized the case.

The Taipei City Government and the bureau have been arguing over NT$10.8 billion (US$325 million) in health insurance subsidies.

The bureau claimed the subsidies were owed by the city government, but the city argued that subsidies should be charged on the basis of the location of the insured person's household registration.

The city government said it should not have to pay for people whose household registrations were not in Taipei, even though these people may be working for employers registered in the city.

Grand justices

In addition, Cho said the bureau will file a request for a constitutional interpretation by the Council of Grand Justices to clearly define the responsibilities of the bureau and local governments so that disputes like this would not happen again in the future.

In the meantime, the Cabinet will try to balance the income and costs between the central government and the city government by adjusting their shares of tax revenues.

"Nobody's legal rights will be impacted by this issue. I assure you of that," Cho said.
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