President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) proposal to cancel government subsidies on monthly National Health Insurance (NHI) system premiums paid by foreign students discriminates against the students, who would have to pay unreasonably high premiums compared with Taiwanese residents, the Taiwan International Students Movement (TISM) said yesterday.
The group advocating international students’ rights criticized the policy, which seeks to expand NHI coverage to include Chinese students while canceling government subsidies for all international students, which means they would be required to pay a premium of NT$1,249 per month.
International students are currently required to pay NT$749 in premiums under the NHI.
Group member Oung Kang Wei (黃康偉), a Malaysian, said the government allows international students to work 20 hours per week in part-time jobs, while prohibiting Chinese students from working.
“However, international students should by no means be considered well-paid,” Huang said, adding that instead of raising the premiums, the government should charge foreign students according to the national minimum wage of NT$21,900, which would put premiums for international students at NT$308 per month.
Charging higher premiums from international students would put them in a difficult financial situation, considering they are already being charged high tuition fees at universities, he said.
Group member Tan Seow Nee (陳曉妮) said she is in favor of extending NHI coverage to Chinese students, but is against raising NHI premiums.
If the premiums are raised, the government would be charging every foreign student as much as a Taiwanese who earns NT$87,600 per month, which is unfair, she said.
The government is charging international students as much as a Taiwanese earning NT$53,000 per month, she added.
Tsai’s proposal is not final, Ministry of Education official Liu Su-miao (劉素妙) said, adding that relevant statutes are still being drafted.
The Democratic Progressive Party legislative caucus is to propose a draft amendment on the issue on Monday, she said.
If the proposal is passed, the new premium rate will not affect students who are already enrolled in universities, she said.
The NHI system, with its expansive coverage, is a leading health insurance system in the world, Liu said, adding that premiums that international students are charged would still be relatively low after the increase compared with those of other nations.
She said that international students pay higher tuition fees than local students because the government subsidizes tuition fees for Taiwanese using the taxes they pay.
The tuition fees that international students pay at Taiwanese universities are only a fraction of what Japanese, South Korean and US institutions charge their foreign students, she said.
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