More than 1 million people have failed to pay the first installment of their National Pension Insurance premiums from October and November 2008, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, adding that the final deadline for payment is Thursday next week.
The social insurance mechanism was launched on Oct. 1, 2008 and Taiwanese aged 25 to 65 with household registration in Taiwan are eligible for insurance during the periods they are not covered by the Labor Insurance Fund, farmer’s health insurance, government employee’s insurance or military personnel insurance.
The program offers three types of annuity payments — an old-age pension, a disability pension and a survivors’ pension — as well as maternity and funeral benefits.
About 4.22 million people have been insured by the program since its launch, Department of Social Insurance Director Shang Tung-fu (商東福) said.
Bills for premium payments are sent every two months and the first bill was sent in December 2008, the deadline for which was Jan. 31, 2009, he said.
However, as of Jan. 9, more than 1.02 million people who were insured in the first two months had still not paid their premiums, he said.
The final deadline for paying overdue payments is 10 years after the original deadline, which means the final deadline is the end of this month, he added.
People who fail to pay their overdue premiums by the deadline would not be another chance to pay them and the months that they did not pay would not count toward their total insurance period, Shang said.
Furthermore, those who fail to pay will not be able to choose the “Method A” calculation standard for receiving old-age benefits and would not be eligible for a disability-guaranteed basic pension of NT$4,872 per month, he said.
For example, a person who was 55 when they entered the program in 2008, but has payments that are more than 10 years overdue would only be able to choose the “Method B” calculation standard for old-age benefits when they are 65, which would be NT$2,677 less than what they would have received under Method A and would add up to a difference of about NT$610,000 after 19 years, the department said.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
MEDICAL: The bills would also upgrade the status of the Ethical Guidelines Governing the Research of Human Embryos and Embryonic Stem Cell Research to law The Executive Yuan yesterday approved two bills to govern regenerative medicine that aim to boost development of the field. Taiwan would reach an important milestone in regenerative medicine development with passage of the regenerative medicine act and the regenerative medicine preparations ordinance, which would allow studies to proceed and treatments to be developed, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) told reporters at a news conference after a Cabinet meeting. Regenerative treatments have been used for several conditions, including cancer — by regenerating blood cells — and restoring joint function in soft tissue, Wang said. The draft legislation requires regenerative treatments
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese