Funding for long-term care services would remain sufficient through 2029, despite dramatic budget increases for the programs in the past few years, Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said yesterday, adding that the government would ensure the sustainability of the system by increasing revenue and controlling expenditures.
Chen made the remarks at the Legislative Yuan during a plenary session in response to questions from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) on whether the Long-term Care Services Development Fund would continue to be sufficient to cover all long-term care services, including new ones pledged by president-elect William Lai (賴清德).
The government has not conducted a comprehensive review of the use of the fund for seven years, Liu said.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
The budget for long-term care services could potentially exceed NT$100 billion (US$3.14 billion) next year if the government subsidizes residential institutions for long-term care services and around-the-clock in-home and community care services for severely disabled people, he said.
Meanwhile, actual expenditures for long-term care services in the past three years all surpassed initial estimates, he said, citing Ministry of Health and Welfare statistics.
For long-term care services, the ministry this fiscal year has budgeted NT$43.6 billion in revenue and NT$82.8 billion in expenditures, he said, adding that the Long-term Care Services Development Fund could run a deficit in less than five years if expenditures continue to increase at the current rate.
Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) said the expenditure budget was compiled based on expected revenue, which is calculated based on tax revenue received by the Ministry of Finance.
The amount of tax revenue changes annually and tends to be underestimated, he said.
“As such, the actual revenue is usually much higher than the amount estimated in the budget. After calculating the balance last year, the current accumulated fund balance is NT$150 billion,” he said.
However, the government should find a more reliable revenue source to fund long-term care services than tax revenues, Liu said.
Revenue from levying the House and Land Transactions Income Tax might gradually decrease if the government eases measures to curb speculation in the housing market, he said.
The government has calculated costs of new long-term care services pledged by Lai in his presidential campaign, and the funding would remain sufficient to 2029, Chen said.
“We will of course diligently find ways to increase revenue for the Long-term Care Services Development Fund and carefully control the expenditure,” he said.
Costs of building long-term care service facilities would gradually decrease, as almost all necessary infrastructure is in place, Hsueh said.
Liu also asked when the NT$10 billion Fund for New Cancer Drugs is to be established, as Lai had promised to do while campaigning to be president.
Hsueh said the fund would be supported by the government budget, which would be part of the total budget allocated to fund the National Health Insurance system.
The government this year appropriated a special budget of NT$20 billion to shore up the national health insurance system, of which NT$6 billion would be used to fund the use of new cancer drugs, Hsueh said.
“About NT$2.4 billion would be for temporary payments for drugs that have not completed phase III clinical trials, but are of clinical urgency. The remaining NT$3.6 billion be used to purchase new cancer drugs,” he said.
To ensure the sustainability of the fund, a new cancer drug must proceed from the phase of temporary payment by National Health Insurance to regular payment before being part of the medications covered by it, he said.
“Having the fund does not mean all new cancer drugs would be covered by the national health insurance. Otherwise, NT$10 billion would only last a short time,” he said.
REPORT: Taipei has expressed an interest in obtaining loitering munitions matching the AeroVironment Switchblade 300 or the Anduril Altius-600, ‘Foreign Policy’ said Taiwan is seeking US-made kamikaze drones in an apparent concession to pressure from Washington to focus on asymmetric capabilities to defeat or deter a Chinese attack, Foreign Policy said in a report on Wednesday. Taipei has expressed an interest in obtaining AeroVironment Switchblade loitering munitions or other devices with similar capabilities, it said, citing four sources familiar with the matter commenting on condition of anonymity. The Switchblade 300 is a tube-launched drone designed for attacking ground troops, while its larger sibling, the Switchblade 600, could be used to destroy tanks and entrenched troops. Ukraine has utilized both systems extensively in its fight against
Police officers yesterday morning apprehended the prime suspect of a triple homicide case, after raiding the suspect’s hideout in Taichung. They transported the suspect to New Taipei City for questioning and recorded his statement last night. The suspect, identified as a 24-year-old man surnamed Chang (張), is believed to have used his hands to strangle his wife, surnamed Chen (陳), 29, along with his three-year-old son from a previous marriage and his wife’s mother, 69. The three dead bodies were wrapped in blankets when they were discovered inside their apartment in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) on Saturday. Chang was holding a
Hungarian Member of Parliament Tompos Marton said he considers Taiwan to be a better alternative to China as a strategic partner. Marton, who is the vice president of the opposition Momentum Party, made the remarks in an interview with the Central News Agency on Sunday. He draped a Republic of China flag across his shoulders to protest Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) visit to the capital city, Budapest, on Thursday last week, and openly voiced support for Taiwan on social media. He said in the interview that he wanted to remind the world that there were alternatives to China, and that “Taiwan has
A female physician at New Taipei City’s Shuang Ho Hospital was bullied and made to work for 32 consecutive hours by a senior colleague while pregnant before later having a miscarriage, an internal investigation found, the hospital said on Monday. The perpetrator has been removed from his post, the hospital said. The attending physician in the hospital’s Medical Imaging Department, identified by the pseudonym Y, earlier on Monday told reporters that she had been bullied by a male senior colleague who arranged shifts in her department. In January, shortly after she became pregnant, Y asked the department director if she could avoid overnight