A poll released yesterday showed more than half of the respondents were willing to accept a moderate National Health Insurance (NHI) premium raise in order to alleviate the health system’s financial problems.
The telephone-based survey, conducted by Common Health Magazine among Taiwanese aged 20 or older, found that 52.3 percent of respondents supported an increase in their monthly NHI premium if the insurance system faced dire financial straits due to growing demand for medical care.
However, 41.9 percent of those polled were against the idea.
Of the respondents opposed to the idea, 41.1 percent said current premiums were already too high, 32.8 percent said the problem of rampant waste of medical resources should be addressed first, and 7.2 percent said they had a lack of confidence in the government, the survey indicated.
Asked what aspects of the nation’s medical system concerned them the most, the majority — 27.6 percent — of the respondents named the rampant waste of medical resources, followed by the NHI scheme’s financial predicament at 13.5 percent, and the problem of overwork among medical personnel at 11.6 percent.
To avoid wasting medical resources, 87.9 percent of respondents agreed with the implementation of a patient referral system requiring individuals to turn to local clinics first upon feeling ill and that only those with severe symptoms should be transferred to large hospitals.
Nevertheless, some respondents expressed opposition to such a system, mainly because they had little faith in the medical skills of clinic-based physicians, the poll indicated.
Taiwan Medical Alliance for Labor Justice and Patient Safety director-general Chang Chih-hua (張志華) said it was the first time a majority of respondents to a survey has agreed to premium hikes since the implementation of the NHI system 20 years ago.
“The Ministry of Health and Welfare should attach importance to this survey result and draw up policies accordingly to avoid unnecessary use of medical resources,” Chang said.
Taipei City Hospital Superintendent Huang Sheng-jean (黃勝堅) said the poll results were more optimistic than he had expected and that they underlined the public’s hope for a cure for the nation’s crippled medical system.
“To achieve this would require a patient referral system, which would help people form a habit of consulting with the doctors in their neighborhoods about a symptom rather than going straight to large medical institutions,” Huang said.
The poll collected 1,239 valid samples between May 27 and June 2. It has a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 2.78 percentage points.
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