Following the Executive Yuan’s proposal of a second-generation health plan, the Consumers’ Foundation yesterday called for measures to prevent dishonest reporting of pharmaceutical prices to improve health finances.
As of Apr. 1, the premium rate for national health insurance has risen to 5.17 percent.
However, the Executive Yuan’s plans to launch a second-generation health plan to address the funding problems and make premium charges fairer has prompted healthcare reform groups and consumer groups to call on the government to deal with the issue of dishonest or inaccurate reporting of drug prices.
The consumer rights watchdog estimated that a NT$7.2 billion (US$225 million) gap exists between the actual price of drugs prescribed and the reimbursement received by medical institutions each year.
This is caused by medical institutions using simplified forms to report expenses of lower-priced drugs, which reports drugs at a set price and may cause figures to become inflated because of inaccurate methods of reporting.
Foundation chairman Hsieh Tien-jen (謝天仁) yesterday urged authorities to forgo the system of using simplified expense reporting and instead cap drug reimbursement amounts at current market prices.
He added that large hospitals can negotiate better prices with pharmaceutical companies as they buy drugs in bulk, while small clinics have less negotiating power.
The system “sucks the blood out of small clinics and fattens up large hospitals,” he said.
If medical institutions were required to report the exact price they paid for drugs, the problem of over-reimbursement would be minimized, Hsieh said.
“Why do national health insurance funds stay in the red despite premium hikes? Because the government turns a blind eye to the black hole [of the drug expenditure gap],” he said.
“If [the proposed second-generation health plan] is only concerned with reaching into people’s pockets, rather than dealing with wasteful expenditure, the deficit problem will always exist despite premium rate hikes,” Hsieh said.
At a separate setting yesterday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) urged the Department of Health (DOH) to consider individuals’ profits from property or stock investment as part of their income when calculating National Health Insurance fees in the second-generation insurance scheme in a bid to make big earners pay higher insurance fees.
Lo said the DOH should also present more statistics to support the department’s argument that those who are single should pay higher insurance fees instead of simply asking them to think of themselves as making charitable contributions by paying higher fees.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,900) for advertisements that exceeded its approved business scope and ordered the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license would be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter supervision of Chinese e-commerce platforms and more stringent measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan as US President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on origin laundering. The legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday met to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report on the matter. Democratic Progressive Party
RSS