Responding to accusations by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) and civic organizations that the second-generation health plan discriminates against certain groups, the Department of Health yesterday said that no plan could be “100 percent fair.”
Following a premium rate increase on April 1 to help alleviate the National Health Insurance Fund’s deficit, the health department proposed a revised health plan to promote a “more fair” insurance system, which will be put to a third reading in the legislature tomorrow.
The bill involves a new scheme for calculating premiums based on total household income rather than an individual’s salary, as is the case under the current -system. The change is considered essential to saving the cash-strapped program.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
However, the proposed amendments to the National Health Insurance Act (全民健康保險法) plan are not without their critics.
Huang and civic groups, such as the National Health Insurance Civic Surveillance Alliance, claim the plan is being rushed through the legislature despite containing many controversial articles that have not been fully discussed.
“People like stay-at-home mothers and unemployed workers, who do not have personal income, will have their insurance premiums calculated based on the minimum wage, which is very unfair,” Huang said.
A person who is unemployed and looking for work must pay more money because his or her premium is calculated based on the minimum monthly wage of NT$17,280, while someone who is retired and living on a monthly pension payouts does not have to pay anything, she said.
Huang and the alliance also said that to encourage families to have more children, the fees for children under the legal age limit should be deducted.
In addition, the plan should also set a maximum amount for the percentage of the health insurance premium that individuals pay, as opposed to their employers or the government, Huang said.
The alliance said no viable solutions had been proposed to address a number of issues raised in countless hearings at the Department of Health. These issues included gaps in compensation, the price of medications and medical treatment, ways to eliminate medical resource waste and whether to include capital gains, overseas income and retirement pensions in the calculation of household income.
Department of Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良) said no plan is “100 percent fair” and can please everyone.
Regarding concern that the government was “robbing” the taxpayers of money to address the system’s financial troubles, Yaung said a majority of people whose only source of income was their monthly paycheck and have one or more dependents would not see a rise in their insurance premium fees.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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