A subsidy scheme by the Taipei City Government deprives elderly people with disabilities of their right to collect full welfare benefits, two lawmakers said yesterday as they called on the city to rectify the problem.
Taipei has since 2002 offered separate subsidies for elderly people with disabilities, independent Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) and Taipei City Councilor Sabrina Lim (林亮君) told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
This means that people entering a nursing home can only apply for aid specifically for elderly live-in care, even if they have a record of disability, they said.
Photo: CNA
This is unfair to those with disabilities and their family members, the two added.
According to Ministry of Health and Welfare regulations, a person with disabilities has the right to apply for aid with the responsible local authority after admission into a care facility, regardless of whether it is a long-term care home or any other kind of senior care center, Freddy Lim said.
Other local governments — including New Taipei City and Taoyuan — allow elderly people with disabilities to apply for whatever aid is applicable to their situation, he said.
Taipei’s unfair distinction has caused many residents to move elsewhere to receive the welfare that is rightfully theirs, he added.
Sabrina Lim said that she at the end of last year sent a written request to the Taipei Department of Social Welfare for an explanation.
The department said the budget for disability aid would skyrocket if it changed the policy, making adjustment impossible, she said.
Sabrina Lim said she then turned to the ministry for assistance, which last month instructed the city government to bring its policy in line with central government regulations.
As of December last year, 1,977 people in Taipei had received senior live-in care assistance, Sabrina Lim said.
Among them, 1,295 were also classified as disabled, meaning that the city’s policy has barred them from receiving disability assistance, she added.
Elderly people with disabilities are the “disadvantaged among the disadvantaged,” said Shih Ting-hung (施定宏), head of the Taipei Community Elderly Long-term Care Development Association.
Long-term care places immense financial pressure on seniors and their families, Shih said, adding that a policy change would be a great help to Taipei’s elderly residents.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
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
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
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