Department of Health (DOH) Minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良) said yesterday that he agreed with a suggestion made by several lawmakers and experts to include income earned from shares, real estate and overseas sources as income on which national health insurance (NHI) premiums are calculated.
At a public hearing on the Executive Yuan’s proposed amendments to the National Health Insurance Act (全民健康保險法) during the legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee meeting yesterday, former and current legislators and representatives of civic groups suggested the government calculate the premium to be paid by each household based not only on salary, but also capital income, such as profits on stock market investments, real estate gains and income from overseas.
Yaung said that, as long as the Ministry of Finance and other income tax and finance-related agencies could agree on the issue, the NHI premium calculation could be decoupled from the income tax formula and incorporate income earned from other sources as well.
Son Yu-lian (孫友聯), convener of the National Health Insurance Civic Surveillance Alliance, urged government officials to hunt down wealthy “fat geese” that earn exorbitant incomes by manipulating soaring property prices.
“The government increases the premiums for everybody, but does nothing about the real ‘fat geese,’” Son said. “The government should track them down and increase the premiums for this group of people so as to meet the expectations of the public and ensure a sustainable national health insurance fund.”
Aside from bringing capital income into the equation, DOH officials said they were also mulling whether to set diminishing premiums for each additional member of a low-income household. Under the plan, a low-income family of four would only need to pay about the same amount as an average family of three.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all