Foreign spouses and Chinese spouses who are not yet covered by National Health Insurance will be able to start applying for governmental reimbursement for pregnancy checkups within a few weeks, said the Department of Health.
Pregnancy
According to the Bureau of Health Promotion at the Department of Health, foreign spouses who have lived in Taiwan for less than four months may not participate in the National Health Insurance program, so the department will subsidize the costs incurred by pregnancy checkups during that initial period -- NT$600 per medical appointment, and up to five visits per pregnancy.
In July, the Cabinet set aside a budget of NT$3 billion over the next 10 years to create a fund dedicated to the care of foreign and Chinese spouses in various areas, such as health, education, personal safety, adjustment and employment.
On March 8 this year, the Ministry of the Interior promulgated the Foreign Spouse Care Fund Management Fund (外籍配偶照顧輔導基金補助作業要點), which specifies the areas for which foreign spouses are able to seek reimbursement from the government.
Costs incurred by pregnancy checkups will be covered by this special government fund.
The application procedure for pregnancy checkup reimbursement will be available in the near future.
"Once all the details have been mapped out, which is likely to be within the next few weeks, the Department of Health will widely publicize them so that foreign spouses will receive all the necessary information," said Liu Chiong-ying (劉瓊瑛) yesterday, an administrative officer in the women and children's unit of the bureau.
Lottery-funded
In places such as Chunghwa and Hualien, the city and county governments have already begun this particular reimbursement program, which is funded by lottery revenue.
According to the ministry's Department of Household Registration, reimbursement for pregnancy checkups is under the administration of city and county governments.
According to Department of Health statistics, on average there are about 300,000 pregnancies per year where nine percent of the pregnant women are not covered by National Health Insurance.
Contraception
In addition to pregnancy checkups, foreign spouses may also seek reimbursement for medical costs incurred by contraception procedures.
Under the new act, a female foreign spouse who gets a hysterectomy is entitled to receive NT$10,000 in reimbursement, a male foreign spouse for a vasectomy NT$2,500 and reimbursement for the use of an intrauterine device will be NT$1,000.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS