From today, patients visiting hospitals who are not transferred from community clinics will be charged higher fees, the Bureau of National Health Insurance said.
The new regulation has been designed by the bureau to lower the number of outpatients. In the past, patients visiting clinics and local hospitals paid only NT$50 for medical treatment, while those visiting regional hospitals and medical centers paid NT$140 and NT$210.
Many people therefore visited regional hospitals and higher-profile medical centers to receive what they considered would be better quality medical treatment.
"To prevent a waste of medical resources, the new regulation encourages residents to visit clinics in communities first," Department of Health Deputy Minister Chen Shih-jhong (陳時中) said.
Under the new rule, fees at community clinics will remain the same. At local hospitals, however, the fee will increase from NT$50 to NT$80. At regional hospitals, the fee will increase from NT$140 to NT$240. At medical centers, the fee will rise from NT$210 to NT$360.
Bureau officials said patients should not worry about the quality of medical treatment because professional physicians and nurses staff community clinics.
The new regulation will not apply to patients on dialysis machines or those suffering from cancer, hemophilia, mental illness, chronic diseases and rare diseases. People from registered low-income families, those living in remote or mountainous areas, and children under the age of three are also exempt from the changes.
Chen said that a hotline (0800-212-369) is available for those wanting more information or if they experience any problems in the process of transferring from local clinics to hospitals.
"Patients can [use this hotline to] file complaints relating to hospitals refusing to accept transferrals from clinics," he said.
The Philippines is working behind the scenes to enhance its defensive cooperation with Taiwan, the Washington Post said in a report published on Monday. “It would be hiding from the obvious to say that Taiwan’s security will not affect us,” Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr told the paper in an interview on Thursday last week. Although there has been no formal change to the Philippines’ diplomatic stance on recognizing Taiwan, Manila is increasingly concerned about Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea, the report said. The number of Chinese vessels in the seas around the Philippines, as well as Chinese
‘A SERIOUS THREAT’: Japan has expressed grave concern over the Strait’s security over the years, which demonstrated Tokyo’s firm support for peace in the area, an official said China’s military drills around Taiwan are “incompatible” with peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Takeshi Iwaya said during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi (王毅) on Thursday. “Peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is important for the international community, including Japan,” Iwaya told Wang during a meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers’ Meetings in Kuala Lumpur. “China’s large-scale military drills around Taiwan are incompatible with this,” a statement released by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday cited Iwaya as saying. The Foreign Ministers’ Meetings are a series of diplomatic
URBAN COMBAT: FIM-92 Stinger shoulder-fired missiles from the US made a rare public appearance during early-morning drills simulating an invasion of the Taipei MRT The ongoing Han Kuang military exercises entered their sixth day yesterday, simulating repelling enemy landings in Penghu County, setting up fortifications in Tainan, laying mines in waters in Kaohsiung and conducting urban combat drills in Taipei. At 5am in Penghu — part of the exercise’s first combat zone — participating units responded to a simulated rapid enemy landing on beaches, combining infantry as well as armored personnel. First Combat Zone Commander Chen Chun-yuan (陳俊源) led the combined armed troops utilizing a variety of weapons systems. Wang Keng-sheng (王鏗勝), the commander in charge of the Penghu Defense Command’s mechanized battalion, said he would give
‘REALISTIC’ APPROACH: The ministry said all the exercises were scenario-based and unscripted to better prepare personnel for real threats and unexpected developments The army’s 21st Artillery Command conducted a short-range air defense drill in Taoyuan yesterday as part of the Han Kuang exercises, using the indigenous Sky Sword II (陸射劍二) missile system for the first time in the exercises. The armed forces have been conducting a series of live-fire and defense drills across multiple regions, simulating responses to a full-scale assault by Chinese forces, the Ministry of National Defense said. The Sky Sword II missile system was rapidly deployed and combat-ready within 15 minutes to defend Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in a simulated attack, the ministry said. A three-person crew completed setup and
RSS