The Control Yuan yesterday called on the government to improve the National Health Insurance (NHI) System prescription reimbursement scheme to reduce the waste of medical resources.
A quarter of medication reimbursed by the NHI system is not taken, which amounts to a waste of about NT$30 billion (US$1.03 billion) every year — based on the assumption that drugs coverage accounts for a quarter of the NHI’s total expenditure, or about NT$500 billion — Control Yuan member Shen Mei-chen (沈美真) said.
Shen said the prescription reimbursement scheme wasted huge amounts of medical resources, not only leading to chronic financial constraints on the NHI system, but also to insufficient coverage for costly medical treatments.
The NHI’s prescription reimbursement system leaves many hospitals in financial trouble and encourages doctors to over--prescribe, Control Yuan member Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄) said.
Huang suggested that the Bureau of National Health Insurance, which manages the NHI system, review its reimbursement policies to ensure fair and rational rewards for hospital and doctors, which he said are important components in sustaining the NHI system.
The country has seen a shortage of medical personnel specializing in internal medicine, surgery, gynecology and pediatrics because of the NHI’s problematic reimbursement scheme, which leads to an overworked and underpaid medical work force, Huang said.
The Control Yuan suggested that the government set up an institution, modeled on The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence — an independent organization in the UK responsible for providing national guidance on promoting good health and preventing and treating poor health — to bring together medical experts and professional groups whom it can consult with regularly to improve the NHI.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS