Lawmakers and civic groups yesterday voiced their opposition to a government plan to allow insurance companies to run nursing homes, saying that it may commercialize the long-term care sector.
“Care of elderly people is not a commodity and should not be commercialized,” Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator (TSU) Lin Shih-chia (林世嘉) told a press conference at the legislature in Taipei yesterday.
In a meeting of the Executive Yuan’s Promotion of Private Participation in Public Infrastructure Projects Commission last week, the proposed relaxing of regulations in the Senior Citizens Welfare Act (老人福利法) to allow for-profit enterprises to run long-term care (LTC) facilities received the support of the Executive Yuan.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
In addition to leading to unequal distribution of resources, privatizing services may result in exploitation of nursing staff since it is natural for private businesses to maximize profits, she said.
Lin was reacting to a proposal by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) to allow insurance firms access to the LTC industry.
“Although the Ministry of Finance and the Department of Health both support the proposal, I am concerned that if insurance firms are allowed to operate in this sector, they would unfairly compete with government and non-governmental organizations,” TSU Legislator Hsu Chung-hsin (許忠信) said.
Hsu said that if insurance firms are granted access to the sector, new kinds of LTC insurance products would be on offer that are not “cashed in,” but are paid in the form of home or community-services benefits.
“However, the current Insurance Act (保險法) clearly states that the insured amount must be specified in an insurance contract,” Hsu said. “Allowing non-cash benefits without proper supporting measures and government supervision would affect the rights of the insured.”
Awakening Foundation policy director Tan Yu-jung (覃玉蓉) highlighted the dangers of allowing large private companies — as well as foreign firms — into the market.
“If we don’t have a healthy government-backed long-term care system in place, who is going to take over if large corporations decide to withdraw?” Tan asked.
“The government also plans to bring in foreign capital for care of the elderly, which includes Chinese capital — are we going to look to China for such care?” she asked.
Foundation for the Welfare of the Elderly secretary-general Wu Yu-chin (吳玉琴) also voiced concern over the proposals.
“The FSC cited Japan as an example of allowing private companies into the care sector. However, before implementing such a move, the Japanese government built a strong government-backed public insurance system,” Wu said.
“Also, the role of businesses in the Japanese care industry is limited to at-home care,” Wu added.
Wu said the groups have vowed to block any revisions to the Senior Citizens Welfare Act, which requires LTC service providers to be non-profit organizations.
SELF-RELIANCE: Taiwan would struggle to receive aid in the event of an invasion, so it must prepare to ‘hold its own’ for the first 70 days of a war, a defense expert said Taiwan should strengthen infrastructure, stock up on reserves and step up efforts to encourage Taiwanese to fight against an enemy, legislators and experts said on Tuesday last week. The comments sought to summarize what the nation should learn from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has exceeded 300 days, since Feb. 24 last year. Institute of National Defense and Security Research fellow Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) said that the war in Ukraine highlighted the importance of being ready for war. Taiwan’s development of an “asymmetrical warfare” doctrine and extending mandatory conscription to one year is a good start to preparation of defense against a
The Central Epidemic Command Center yesterday said it would delay the lifting of the indoor mask mandate, citing public health considerations and ongoing discussions on how the policy should be implemented. Earlier this week, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, said officials from several ministries were working on the policy and an announcement would be made yesterday. However, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC, yesterday said that the policy was still under review. Wang said its implementation would be “delayed slightly” due to three main factors. First, the center
END OF SERIES: As the first generation of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines are set to expire, the CECC would no longer offer them to children younger than four years old The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported the nation’s first case of a person infected with the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2. The Taiwanese man in his 20s arrived from Canada on Jan. 22, said Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), who is deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division. He tested positive after reporting having a runny nose and muscle soreness while in airport quarantine, Lo said. The XBB.1.5 subvariant is the dominant strain in the US, but there is no evidence to suggest that it causes more severe illness than other Omicron subvariants, he said,
NORMALIZING TIES: The delegation led by the KMT’s Johnny Chiang is to meet with British lawmakers, think tanks and business groups to discuss developments A legislative delegation led by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) arrived in the UK yesterday to rally support for Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Chiang heads the Legislative Yuan’s Taiwan-UK Interparliamentary Amity Association. The delegation also includes KMT legislators Ma Wen-chun (馬文君), Wen Yu-hsia (溫玉霞), Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷), Sandy Yu (游毓蘭) and Wu I-ding (吳怡玎). The group is to meet with British lawmakers Alicia Kearns, who chairs the British House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee; Tobias Ellwood, who chairs the House Defence Select Committee; and Bob Stewart, who cochairs the
RSS