Major disagreements remain among lawmakers and between some legislators and the Executive Yuan on issues concerning the proposed second-generation national health insurance (NHI) premium system despite a pledge by Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) to push through the bill next week.
After a lengthy debate on Friday, legislators across party lines reached a preliminary consensus on the second-generation NHI, agreeing that consultations on the issue should be completed by tomorrow, paving the way for the line-by-line reading of the bill before it clears the legislative floor the following day.
The amendment to the National Health Insurance Act (全民健康保險法) mainly involves a new scheme for calculating premiums based on total household income, rather than the current system, which is based on an individual’s salary.
While the change to a household income-based premium system has been agreed to by lawmakers, the parties lack consensus on the definition of household income.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus suggested the inclusion of capital gains, overseas incomes and retirement pensions available for civil servants and teachers in household incomes, which was supported by some Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers, but opposed by the Department of Health (DOH) and the Executive Yuan.
Eva Teng (滕西華) Spokesman of the Consumers’ Foundation and the National Health Insurance Civil Surveillance Alliance spoke in favor of the DPP caucus’ version.
The new scheme would not be fair if total household income was defined as in the taxation system, which excluded the types of incomes suggested by the DPP, because it does not impose higher premiums on the wealthy, Teng said.
KMT Legislator Yang Li-huan (楊麗環) said she supported the DPP caucus’ version only with regards to the inclusion of pensions of civil servants and teachers.
The government cited difficulties in calculating overseas incomes and capital gains.
Without having a specific premium rate written into the bill, the DOH planned to cap the premium rate at 2.7 percent, saying the premium rate would be able to expand the premium base from the current NT$3.27 trillion (US$105.6 billion) to NT$5.2 trillion.
The DOH has suggested two options for calculating premiums — the first is to either multiply the basic premium by the number of household members or total household income by the premium rate, whichever is higher; the second is a sum of the two different premiums calculated in the first options, but at a lower premium rate in comparison with that in the first option.
DOH Minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良) suggested capping the premium rate at 2.3 percent, while DPP Legislator Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) said her caucus opposed leaving the decision of premium rates to the DOH’s discretion.
Lawmakers across party lines also agreed to repeal the drug co-payment policy in the second-generation NHI scheme. Medical institutions in the future would be prohibited from demanding those insured to pay out of their pockets for certain types of drugs, which in the past was criticized as an unfair scheme because poorer people would not opt for more expensive drugs.
Tropical depression TD22, which was over waters south of the Ryukyu Islands, is likely to develop into a tropical storm by this morning and pose a significant threat to Taiwan next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The depression is likely to strengthen into a tropical storm named Krathon as it moves south and then veers north toward waters off Taiwan’s eastern coast, CWA forecaster Hsu Chung-yi (徐仲毅) said. Given the favorable environmental conditions for its development, TD22’s intensity would reach at least typhoon levels, Hsu said. As of 2pm yesterday, the tropical depression was about 610km east-southeast of Taiwan proper’s
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
Typhoon Krathon, a military airshow and rehearsals for Double Ten National Day celebrations might disrupt flights at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in the first 10 days of next month, the airport’s operator said yesterday. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a statement that it has established a response center after the Central Weather Administration issued a sea warning for Krathon, and urged passengers to remain alert to the possibility of disruptions caused by the storm in the coming days. Flight schedules might also change while the air force conducts rehearsals and holds a final airshow for Double Ten National Day, it added. Although
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
RSS