With cancer diagnoses rising steadily nationwide, the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) yesterday said that it spent nearly NT$80 billion (US$2.56 billion) on cancer treatment last year, with the majority going to therapies for colorectal cancer.
The agency’s latest statistics showed that last year alone it allocated NT$78.2 billion to cancer treatment, accounting for about 13.3 percent of its total NT$590 billion in expenses for the year.
Colorectal cancer treatment topped the spending list with NT$10.9 billion, followed by lung cancers with NT$10.8 billion, breast cancers with NT$10.3 billion, liver cancers with NT$8.4 billion and oral cancers with NT$6.6 billion, the statistics showed.
Rounding out the top 10 most expensive cancers were leukemia with NT$4 billion, non-Hodgkin lymphomas at NT$3.9 billion, prostate cancers with NT$3.1 billion, stomach cancers with NT$2.5 billion and esophageal cancers, NT$2.3 billion.
“The treatment expenses included the costs of surgeries, examinations, anesthesia, hospital stays and medicines, as well as diagnostic fees, with prescription drug expenses for the 614,415 Taiwanese diagnosed with cancer last year amounting to NT$29.4 billion constituting the largest portion at nearly 30 percent,” agency researcher Chen Shang-pin (陳尚斌) said.
Chen said that the increase in spending on cancer drugs was the most prominent budget increase in the past three years, at 6.9 percent, followed by 5.8 percent growth in the total expenses for cancer treatments and 4.8 percent growth in the number of cancer patients.
Liver cancer drug costs saw the largest increase — 20.4 percent, while those for non-Hodgkin lymphomas and leukemia climbed by 13.7 percent and 11.9 percent respectively, Chen said.
“The significant growth in the cost of medicines could have been because the inclusion of new anticancer drugs into the National Health Insurance program over the past two years,” Chen said.
The NHIA would continue to widen insurance coverage to include more effective and advanced medicines to increase patients’ chances of recovery and survival, while reducing the financial burden of medical treatment for individuals.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires
Many Chinese spouses required to submit proof of having renounced their Chinese household registration have either completed the process or provided affidavits ahead of the June 30 deadline, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. Of the 12,146 people required to submit the proof, 5,534 had done so as of Wednesday, MAC deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. Another 2,572 people who met conditions for exemption or deferral from submitting proof of deregistration — such as those with serious illnesses or injuries — have submitted affidavits instead, he said. “As long as individuals are willing to cooperate with the legal
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do
The Ministry of Environment yesterday held a seminar in Taipei for experts from Taiwan and Japan to exchange their experiences on the designs and development of public toilets. Japan Toilet Association chairman Kohei Yamamoto said that he was impressed with the eco-toilet set up at Daan Forest Park, adding that Japan still faces issues regarding public restrooms despite the progress it made over the past decades. For example, an all-gender toilet was set up in Kabukicho in Tokyo’s Shinjuku District several years ago, but it caused a public backlash and was rebuilt into traditional men’s and women’s toilets, he said. Japan Toilet Association
RSS