President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) will meet Department of Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良) today to discuss details of planned premium increases for the debt-ridden National Health Insurance program.
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) revealed at the legislature yesterday that the Executive Yuan was likely to grant Yaung’s wish to implement a flat-rate payment scale because it would not require any legal revision. Pending approval by Ma today, the new scheme is expected to take effect on April 1.
Yaung resigned on Monday last week, saying he was unable to deliver on Wu’s promise to ensure that 75 percent of the insured population be spared from the proposed increase in premiums. The resignation was not accepted.
Yaung also voiced concern over the government’s possible implementation of a multiple-rate payment scale, saying that this would necessitate an amendment to the National Insurance Act (全民健保法).
Yaung said that a slight increase — to 5.09 percent — could help the Bureau of National Health Insurance recover an extra NT$48.5 billion (US$1.52 billion) a year. On average, each person would pay NT$78 more each month under the DOH’s plan, which in Yaung’s words, was “equivalent to the cost of a lunch box box.”
He has been on leave of absence since tendering his resignation and publicly supported former health minister Yeh Ching-chuan’s (葉金川) return to the post.
Yaung reportedly visited Ma yesterday to discuss the proposed price hikes, but Presidential Office Spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) declined to offer details, saying he could not confirm whether the meeting took place.
Wu yesterday hinted at the legislature that Yaung was likely to remain in his post.
Wu said he and Yaung have found more common ground on the issue and because both he and the president wanted Yaung to stay, the likelihood that this would happen was increasing.
Wu said he recognized Yaung’s effort in controlling an outbreak of A(H1N1) swine flu, adding that his commitment to reforming the health care program was obvious.
His desire for Yaung to remain in his position had never wavered, he said.
Wu said he and Yaung saw eye to eye on the direction of the program. They both realized a reasonable adjustment of the health premiums was necessary and their goal was to introduce a second-generation health insurance program.
Wu said the Executive Yuan’s plan was to adjust premiums as soon as possible under the condition that no legal revision was required and the fee structure was maintained. This would mean they could implement the second-generation health care program.
With the new program in place, Wu said the fee structure would be fairer and expenses would be better managed, making it more sustainable.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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