Executive Yuan spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) said yesterday the long-standing controversy over the allocation of national health insurance premiums between the central government and local governments is expected to be resolved soon.
The controversy lies in different interpretations of Article 27 of the National Health Insurance Act (全民健康保險法) on a method for calculating insurance contributions.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Administrative Court handed down a final verdict against the Taipei City Government in a lawsuit challenging the central government’s interpretation that municipal governments must make partial payments for people who work in the city.
The Taipei City Government argued that it was not its responsibility to pay the insurance for people who work in the city but have their household residence registered outside the city.
Despite losing the lawsuit, the Taipei City Government has yet to repay NT$34.7 billion (US$1.06 billion) in debt, accumulated since 1999, when President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), then-Taipei city mayor, launched the boycott.
Su said Vice Premier Paul Chiu (邱正雄) and Hsueh Hsiang-chuan (薛香川), Executive Yuan secretary-general, have talked the Taipei City Government into accepting a compromise deal.
Under the deal, the Taipei City Government will pay health insurance subsidies for people who work in Taipei and have registered as Taipei residents, while the central government will share half the subsidies for people who work in Taipei and are not registered as Taipei residents.
Since the national health insurance system was launched in March 1995, local governments have cited financial difficulties as an excuse for not paying the fees.
The Bureau of National Health Insurance said local governments had defaulted on NT$60.3 billion in debt as of last year.
The Executive Yuan is revising regulations on the allocation problem and improving the financial structure of local governments to resolve the issue, Su said.
On Thursday, Department of Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良) said he would prioritize the collection of National Health Insurance debt payments owed by local governments.
Among the 18 local governments that owe the Bureau of National Health Insurance the NT$60.3 billion in total debt, the Taipei City Government tops the list with NT$34.7 billion in debt.
Yang described the city government’s debt as the bureau’s biggest problem, saying: “The Taipei City Government must pay its debt or the National Health Insurance’s finances will collapse sooner or later.”
The Kaohsiung City Government came in second with NT$17.8 billion in debt, while the Taipei County Government ranked third with NT$4.3 billion.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
RSS