About 1.09 million people from low-income households are to receive a NT$1,000 (US$33.77) subsidy to purchase government-issued Triple Stimulus Vouchers, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said.
After the first round for preordering the stimulus vouchers began on Wednesday, nearly 1 million eligible people on Thursday began receiving the subsidy to purchase vouchers in their postal savings account, the ministry’s Department of Social Assistance and Social Work said.
The NT$1,000 subsidy is for them to buy NT$3,000 worth of vouchers, so they would not be excluded from the program.
Under the rules for issuing the vouchers, eight groups are eligible.
They include people who receive the government’s Disability Living Allowance, Living Allowance for Low-Income Senior Citizens, Living Assistance for Underprivileged Children and Adolescents, or Emergency Assistance for Underprivileged Children and Adolescents. Also included are people who between last month and December receive a Living Subsidy for Children of Low-Income Families, Education Subsidy for Students of Low-Income Families, or the Living Allowance or Education Subsidy for Children of Families with Special Circumstances, as well as those listed as coming from low and middle-income households but who do not receive subsidies.
As of last month, 996,050 people receiving government subsidies on a regular basis were eligible to receive the subsidy directly in their savings account, the department said, adding that “for exchanging the Triple Stimulus Vouchers” would be printed in the description column for the transaction in their bankbook.
Starting on July 15, another 93,031 people who are also eligible, but are not receiving government subsidies on a regular basis, would be allowed to buy the vouchers at post offices with their National Health Insurance card, without paying the NT$1,000, it said.
The department said that if they prefer to use a digital payment system, they can preorder the vouchers and register their bank account with their local administrative office, and the ministry on Aug. 7 would transfer the subsidy to that account.
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