Illegal long-term care facility operators face fines of up to NT$1 million (US$35,790) if they are found to have caused the death of a tenant through negligence after the Legislative Yuan on Tuesday passed an amendment to the Long-Term Care Services Act (長期照顧服務法).
The amendment authorizes the Ministry of Health and Welfare to inspect the facilities of illegal operators, which are not allowed to avoid, obstruct or refuse such requests and must offer all information requested.
Unauthorized operators who avoid ministry inspections and refuse to follow orders to transfer tenants to legal facilities would be fined from NT$60,000 to NT$300,000, and fines would continue until they comply with government orders.
If an unlawful long-term care institution abandons, mistreats, discriminates, harms or restrains tenants, operators would face fines from NT$100,000 to NT$500,000.
If an illegal operator’s negligence leads to the death of a tenant, they would be fined from NT$200,000 to NT$1 million, the amendment states.
In addition to disclosing the names of institutions and operators operating illegally, the ministry could also fine them until the problems are addressed.
The amendment also requires long-term care facility operators to clearly stipulate service payments based on a tenant’s level of disability and charge them accordingly.
The service should be co-paid by tenants and the government, and the amount to be paid by the government should be stipulated by the ministry.
The amendment also bans long-term facility operators from giving discounts or reducing payments to avoid price competition.
The amendment also states that the act does not apply to facilities built by schools offering long-term care service programs, which should be used for teaching, apprenticeship and research.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs encourages businesses to develop auxiliary devices to be used in long-term care service, the amendment says.
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
STAY VIGILANT: People should reduce the risk of chronic liver inflammation by avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and eating pickled foods, the physician said A doctor last week urged people to look for five key warning signs of acute liver failure after popular producer-turned-entertainer Shen Yu-lin (沈玉琳) was reportedly admitted to an intensive care unit for fulminant hepatitis. Fulminant hepatitis is the rapid and massive death of liver cells, impairing the organ’s detoxification, metabolic, protein synthesis and bile production functions, which if left untreated has a mortality rate as high as 80 percent, according to the Web site of Advancing Clinical Treatment of Liver Disease, an international organization focused on liver disease prevention and treatment. People with hepatitis B or C are at higher risk of