Lawmakers and Department of Health (DOH) officials yesterday engaged in a heated debate over issues surrounding the proposed second-generation health plan. The issues debated included how disadvantaged people should receive subsidies and when to charge for premiums based on income sources such as interest and stock dividends.
DOH minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良) yesterday fielded questions about the Executive Yuan’s proposed amendments to the National Health Insurance Act (全民健康保險法) from lawmakers, who argued among themselves over specific articles and the wording of the laws during the legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee meeting yesterday.
SUBSIDIES
Legislators could agree on one thing, however, which was to hold a public hearing on whether certain groups, such as veterans, Aborigines, middle and low income families, single parents and mentally and physically disabled people, should receive subsidies through their respective government agencies.
Lawmakers could not reach a consensus on what types of income, aside from salary, to include in calculating the premium a household would be charged. However, it was agreed that if the type of income reached a certain level, then the premium amount would be charged and payment deducted from the income source on the 10th of the succeeding month.
AGGREGATE
On the other hand, if the income does not reach the specified level, then it would be added to an aggregate amount of total income on which the premium would be charged in January the following year.
If a person, for example, received interest payments of more than NT$10,000 this month on their savings deposit at a bank, then their premium payment would be automatically deducted from their bank statement, said Chu Tong-kuang (曲同光), a deputy convener of a DOH task force on insurance premiums.
However, there was yet no consensus reached on whether NT$10,000 or any specific number would be the cut-off line for automatic deduction from the income source.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
TRUMP ERA: The change has sparked speculation on whether it was related to the new US president’s plan to dismiss more than 1,000 Joe Biden-era appointees The US government has declined to comment on a post that indicated the departure of Laura Rosenberger as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Neither the US Department of State nor the AIT has responded to the Central News Agency’s questions on the matter, after Rosenberger was listed as a former chair on the AIT’s official Web site, with her tenure marked as 2023 to this year. US officials have said previously that they usually do not comment on personnel changes within the government. Rosenberger was appointed head of the AIT in 2023, during the administration of former US president Joe
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry