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.
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