The Consumers’ Foundation yesterday said there are still many issues surrounding the second-generation health plan that need to be discussed and urged lawmakers not to vote on the bill during the legislature’s provisional session.
The legislature will hold a meeting today to discuss which bills would be put to a vote during the provisional session starting tomorrow.
The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), the Statute of Rural Renewal (農村再生條例) and the amendments to the National Health Insurance Act (全民健康保險法) are expected to be among items on the agenda.
Foundation chairman Hsieh Tien-jen (謝天仁) yesterday voiced opposition to the legislature’s plan to vote on the second-generation health plan during the provisional session.
“There are too many controversial articles in [proposed amendments to] the National Health Insurance Act,” Hsieh said.
“Problems such as controlling the quality of medical care, limiting excess waste of medical resources and addressing gaps in drug and medical expense reimbursement systems have not yet been resolved,” he said.
Lawmakers should not attempt to squeeze so many contentious topics into one session and rush the passage of such an important health plan that will have an impact on the nation’s population for decades to come, the foundation said.
Hwang Yu-sheng (黃鈺生), foundation secretary-general, said lawmakers who rush through the passage of the bill are putting the public at risk of an unfair and unjust health plan.
“The second-generation health plan calculates health premiums based on household income [rather than individual income], but many forms of household income are hidden and therefore cannot be considered by authorities,” he said.
He added that the plan is unfair to people living by themselves or couples with a double income, but have no children.
Overseas Taiwanese who have worked overseas but return to Taiwan to receive medical care would also only pay minimal premium fees, which is unreasonable, he said.
The Department of Health in April raised the premium insurance rate from 4.55 percent to 5.17 percent as a stopgap measure to keep the cash-strapped Bureau of National Health Insurance solvent.
Under the second-generation plan, 78 percent of those covered by the insurance program would be unaffected by the rate hikes because of offsetting subsidies.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
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