Hospitals would be subsidized for increased costs when electricity rates are hiked on Oct. 16, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said on Wednesday.
Electricity costs are set to rise by an average of 12.5 percent for industrial users and the medical community has been asking about subsidies to help it cope with the increase, the ministry said.
Prices increased 11 percent on average in April and were set to increase again by 14 percent this month following a resolution by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
However, after taking into account domestic demand and a decline in industrial output, increases for some users were halved or frozen, resulting in an average increase of 12.5 percent, the economic ministry said.
In a news release issued in response to concerns by hospitals and clinics, Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) said that the increase would not apply to clinics that use only as much power as a small business.
Regional hospitals would face an increase, but would be subsidized by the government as per normal practice, Taipower said.
Hospitals and large medical centers would assist with energy-saving measures to reduce the burden of electricity costs, it said.
“The Executive Yuan will fully subsidize regional hospitals for the price hike, which is expected to total about NT$300 million” (US$9.39 million), MOHW Department of Medical Affairs Deputy Director-General Liu Yu-ching (劉玉菁) said.
“That will come from the NT$100 billion budgeted annually for Taipower,” she added.
As the money would come from funds allocated by the Executive Yuan to subsidize Taipower, the health ministry would still need to discuss the reallocation with the Executive Yuan, Liu said, adding that National Health Insurance expenditure would factor into the discussion.
Regardless of what hospitals have asked for, the subsidies are guaranteed in the Electricity Act (電業法), she said.
For example, the Social and Family Affairs Administration could prepare a budget in accordance with the law to cover the additional expenses caused by any increase in electricity prices, Liu said.
“However, the act does not stipulate medical institutions. Unless the law is revised to include them, implementing such a special budget might be difficult in practice,” she said.
The US-Japan joint statement released on Friday not mentioning the “one China” policy might be a sign that US President Donald Trump intends to decouple US-China relations from Taiwan, a Taiwanese academic said. Following Trump’s meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday, the US and Japan issued a joint statement where they reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Trump has not personally brought up the “one China” policy in more than a year, National Taiwan University Department of Political Science Associate Professor Chen Shih-min (陳世民)
‘NEVER!’ Taiwan FactCheck Center said it had only received donations from the Open Society Foundations, which supports nonprofits that promote democratic values Taiwan FactCheck Center (TFC) has never received any donation from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), a cofounder of the organization wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday. The Taipei-based organization was established in 2018 by Taiwan Media Watch Foundation and the Association of Quality Journalism to monitor and verify news and information accuracy. It was officially registered as a foundation in 2021. National Chung Cheng University communications professor Lo Shih-hung (羅世宏), a cofounder and chairman of TFC, was responding to online rumors that the TFC receives funding from the US government’s humanitarian assistance agency via the Open Society Foundations (OSF),
ANNUAL LIGHT SHOW: The lanterns are exhibited near Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the airport MRT line More than 400 lanterns are to be on display at the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, which officially starts in Taoyuan today. The city is hosting the festival for the second time — the first time was in 2016. The Tourism Administration held a rehearsal of the festival last night. Chunghwa Telecom donated the main lantern of the festival to the Taoyuan City Government. The lanterns are exhibited in two main areas: near the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Taoyuan, which is at the A18 station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT, and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the MRT
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would