The National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) yesterday said it has expanded its app functions so that people who have lost their National Health Insurance (NHI) card can apply directly for a new one and pick it up about one hour later.
The updated app allows people to enroll, re-enroll, or stop their NHI insurance plan online, while people who employ foreign domestic workers can inquire and pay insurance fees online, the administration said.
As the administration is often asked to reissue lost or damaged NHI cards, the app’s expanded functions allow people to apply and pay online and receive their new card by mail or pick it up at one of 29 designated locations, it said.
NHIA section chief Wu-hsin (吳昕) said people had to wait about seven days for a card to arrive by mail or about 30 minutes at designated counters, but now they can apply using the app, pay an issuing fee of NT$200 and collect the card about an hour later, if the application is made between 8:30am and 5:30pm on weekdays, avoiding waiting in agencies.
Wu cited a case of a woman, surnamed Chang (張), who had a cold, but had lost her NHI card and did not think she would have enough time to wait for the reissuing of a new one during her lunch break on weekdays.
However, the app’s function would allow Chang to apply online and pick up the card on the same day without waiting, officials said.
The app can be downloaded in the Apple’s App Store and Google Play by searching the Chinese name 全民健保行動快易通, the administration said.
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
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai