The Consumers’ Foundation yesterday said there are still many issues surrounding the second-generation health plan that need to be discussed and urged lawmakers not to vote on the bill during the legislature’s provisional session.
The legislature will hold a meeting today to discuss which bills would be put to a vote during the provisional session starting tomorrow.
The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), the Statute of Rural Renewal (農村再生條例) and the amendments to the National Health Insurance Act (全民健康保險法) are expected to be among items on the agenda.
Foundation chairman Hsieh Tien-jen (謝天仁) yesterday voiced opposition to the legislature’s plan to vote on the second-generation health plan during the provisional session.
“There are too many controversial articles in [proposed amendments to] the National Health Insurance Act,” Hsieh said.
“Problems such as controlling the quality of medical care, limiting excess waste of medical resources and addressing gaps in drug and medical expense reimbursement systems have not yet been resolved,” he said.
Lawmakers should not attempt to squeeze so many contentious topics into one session and rush the passage of such an important health plan that will have an impact on the nation’s population for decades to come, the foundation said.
Hwang Yu-sheng (黃鈺生), foundation secretary-general, said lawmakers who rush through the passage of the bill are putting the public at risk of an unfair and unjust health plan.
“The second-generation health plan calculates health premiums based on household income [rather than individual income], but many forms of household income are hidden and therefore cannot be considered by authorities,” he said.
He added that the plan is unfair to people living by themselves or couples with a double income, but have no children.
Overseas Taiwanese who have worked overseas but return to Taiwan to receive medical care would also only pay minimal premium fees, which is unreasonable, he said.
The Department of Health in April raised the premium insurance rate from 4.55 percent to 5.17 percent as a stopgap measure to keep the cash-strapped Bureau of National Health Insurance solvent.
Under the second-generation plan, 78 percent of those covered by the insurance program would be unaffected by the rate hikes because of offsetting subsidies.
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
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Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Friday laid out the Cabinet’s updated policy agenda and recapped the government’s achievements ahead of the one-year anniversary of President William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration. Cho said the government had made progress across a range of areas, including rebuilding Hualien, cracking down on fraud, improving pedestrian safety and promoting economic growth. “I hope the public will not have the impression that the Cabinet only asked the legislature to reconsider a bunch of legal amendments,” Cho said, calling the moves “necessary” to protect constitutional governance and the public’s interest. The Cabinet would work toward achieving its “1+7” plan, he said. The
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