At a press conference yesterday, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) caucus whip Chen Chien-ming (
"Although Taiwan's insurance is nominally referred to as National Health Insurance, due to financial difficulties, prison inmates are excluded from coverage. In addition to being deprived of the ability to freely seek medical treatment, inmates are faced with the burden of heavy medical bills," Chen said.
Chen said that illegal Chinese immigrants either convicted of crimes or awaiting deportation in accommodation centers are given free medical attention for human rights reasons.
According to Chen, each year the government spends an average of NT$1,700 (US$52) per Taiwanese inmate on medical treatment. Meanwhile, an illegal Chinese immigrant incurs an average of NT$4,333 in expenses per year.
According to Article 11 of the National Health Insurance Law (
Chen said that due to the prisoners' lack of health insurance and the unlikelihood of doctors' receiving compensation for treating them, most doctors decline to treat convicts. Currently, only two full-time prison doctors treat the roughly 50,000 inmates serving time in the nation's 48 prisons and detention centers.
While prison inmates can apply to receive medical attention outside prison facilities, they must pay the medical bills on their own. Department of Health (DOH) officials said yesterday that legal changes to bring inmates into the national health insurance system are unlikely.
"Most nations do not include prisoners in national health insurance ... Including inmates in the health insurance program does not necessarily mean that inmate healthcare will improve. It does not matter whether the money for inmates' medical needs comes from insurance or from government allocations," Wang Yi-ren (
"We are focusing on the improvement of prison hospitals instead ... Pei Teh Hospital (培德醫院) was recently established to service the Taichung Prison and a cooperation agreement has been signed with the China Medical College Hospital. In addition, we hope to reinforce cooperation between prisons and DOH hospitals throughout Taiwan," Wang said.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
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