A watchdog group yesterday accused several hospitals of cheating the National Health Insurance (NHI) system by limiting the number of hospital beds available, with the group calling National Taiwan University Hospital the biggest swindler.
Against the backdrop of government plans to increase health insurance premiums, the National Health Insurance Civic Surveillance Alliance said hospitals earn NT$10 billion (US$314.9 million) per year by charging patients extra for emergency hospital beds when such items should be covered by health insurance.
The National Health Insurance Act (全民健保法) requires the Department of Health (DOH) to demand that all hospitals, both public and private, reserve at least 65 percent and 50 percent of their beds respectively for people covered by NHI.
National Taiwan University Hospital — the nation’s biggest government-funded hospital — has only a 59.6 percent availability rate, the watchdog said.
National Taiwan University Hospital patients can opt to pay either the part not covered by the NHI or the entire amount — NT$700 to NT$8,000 — for a bed. Nevertheless, many people are still left without a bed, alliance spokeswoman Eva Teng (騰西華) said.
“The government only knows how to milk more money from the taxpayers, but doesn’t seem to care about the real culprits who are corrupting the system. It is useless to stabilize the Bureau of National Health Insurance’s finances if the quality of service remains shoddy,” she said.
Privately owned hospitals, such as Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, Chi Mei Medical Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital’s Linkou Branch and Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, although barely meeting the requirement, still charge patients between NT$800 and NT$6,000 for a bed.
Teng said the alliance has received many letters of complaint, saying it was nearly impossible to get a bed without personal connections or pressure from lawmakers.
She said the law also stipulates that hospitals failing to meet the requirement could be fined NT$20,000 to NT$30,000.
Dismissing the fine as a mere “slap on the wrist,” Teng urged the DOH to increase inspections as well as raise the requirements to 85 percent and 70 percent for public and private hospitals respectively.
In response, the DOH said it was open to all suggestions from the public and had already asked National Taiwan University Hospital to expand its availability of beds.
The hospital has agreed to make the changes, the DOH said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it