The Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday said that in October it plans to begin making public the names of committee members in charge of reviewing National Health Insurance (NHI) payments, starting with seven medical departments.
The review and scaling back of National Health Insurance payments to doctors and hospitals has riled some physicians who see it as an opaque process that holds doctors back from prescribing effective treatments for their patients, as they fear a review might withhold NHI coverage.
Wang Li-wei (汪立偉) of Yilan’s Ho Hsin Clinic (和信診所) had threatened to go on hunger strike in front of the National Health Insurance Administration’s (NHIA) northern division building yesterday over a review that cut the 720,000 NHI payment points he declared in March to 420,000 points.
He called on the agency’s NHI payment review process to be “open and transparent” by making public the reviewers’ names.
Wang gave up his plans after NHI officials met with him to discuss the issue.
Later in the afternoon, Minister of Health and Welfare Lin Tzou-yien (林奏延) said: “A trial run of making the names of reviewing doctors public is estimated to begin in October... starting with the departments of obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, otolaryngology, neurology, psychiatry and rehabilitation.”
NHIA Director-General Lee Po-chang (李伯璋) said the agency consulted with 25 medical associations last month, and 55 percent supported publicly naming reviewers, while 89 percent said if the policy is enacted they would advise their professional peers to become reviewers.
Lin said supporting measures would be implemented along with the policy, including requiring detailed explanations for reducing payments, having a second reviewer confirm the decision and revealing both reviewers’ names, as well as establishing a professional communication platform for doctors whose payments have been cut to raise objections.
If the trial run is effective, the policy might be extended to include other medical departments, Lin said, adding that he expects reviewers to discuss matters rationally and professionally to improve the nation’s healthcare quality.
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