Disabled elderly citizens and handicapped persons will get government help to pay for in-home care from June 1 this year, government sources said yesterday.
"The new welfare service for disabled senior citizens and the handicapped was decided during a meeting of the Cabinet's social welfare promotion committee held Monday," said Vice Minister of the Interior Lin Chung-sen (林中森).
Under the new measure, the government will pay for the first eight hours of in-home care per month for those who are mildly disabled or handicapped -- and pay for half of hours nine through 20 of additional in-home care for those who wall in this category.
For those who are moderately or seriously disabled or handicapped, the government will pay for the first 16 hours of in-home care per month and pay for half of hours 17 through 36 per month.
The caretaking fee has been tentatively set at NT$180 per hour. Lin said the Cabinet will appropriate an estimated NT$5.1 billion (US$145.71 million) in funds over the next six years for the new welfare project, which is expected to benefit Taiwan's 100,000-plus disabled and handicapped people -- in addition to creating 24,800 jobs.
It was also decided during Monday's meeting that the development of the care industry will be included in the six-year national development plan -- in order to offer new job opportunities to Taiwanese citizens and to reduce the employment of foreign home-care workers, Lin said.
Currently, there are about 110,000 foreign home-care workers legally employed in Taiwan.
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) shopping area welcomed the most international visitors, followed by Taipei 101, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園), a list of the city’s most popular tourist attractions published by the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism showed. As of August, 69.22 million people had visited Taipei’s main tourism spots, a 76 percent increase from 39.33 million in the same period last year, department data showed. Ximending had 20.21 million visitors, followed by Taipei 101 at 8.09 million, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park at 6.28 million, Yangmingshan at 4.51 million and the Red House Theater (西門紅樓) in
Renovations on the B3 concourse of Taipei Main Station are to begin on Nov. 1, with travelers advised to use entrances near the Taiwan Railway or high-speed rail platforms or information counter to access the MRT’s Red Line. Construction is to be completed before the end of next year, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said last week. To reduce the impact on travelers, the NT$95 million (US$2.95 million) project is to be completed in four stages, it said. In the first stage, the hall leading to the Blue Line near the art exhibition area is to be closed from Nov. 1 to the end
WARNING: Domestic coffee producers mainly grow arabica beans, as they self-pollinate, but they are more likely to have consistency issues, an expert said Taiwan ranks third in coffee consumption per capita in Asia, the latest Ministry of Agriculture data showed. Taiwanese consume 1.77kg, or 177 cups of coffee, per person each year, less only than Japan and South Korea, at 600 cups and 400 cups respectively, the ministry’s Tea and Beverage Research Station said. Although the nation mainly relies on imported coffee, there has been an increase in home-grown coffee bean production, the ministry said. Cuttings and other techniques are commonly used to ensure domestic beans have stronger floral and fruity flavors, it said. It is a fast-expanding market with Taiwan’s coffee consumption