The Legislative Yuan postponed today’s plan to deliberate a proposed amendment that would eliminate health insurance premiums for lower-income people over 65, opting for further discussions.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus has proposed an amendment to the Senior Citizens Welfare Act (老人福利法) that would exempt those older than 65 and whose income tax bracket is under the 20 percent threshold from paying National Health Insurance (NHI) premiums.
Last week, five medical organizations published a joint statement saying that the amendments would exacerbate generational inequality and increase financial strain on the NHI system.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
The KMT caucus proposed a revision to lower the threshold income tax rate from 20 to 5 percent, but the Ministry of Health and Welfare warned that regardless of the adjustment, the NHI system risks going bankrupt by 2026 and would have to raise premiums across the board.
There is still a need for further discussion on the amendment, KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Szu-ming (林思銘) said today, adding that the caucus has asked Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) to continue negotiations.
Across the nation, the thresholds are not consistent for determining who is exempt from paying into the NHI, with 15 cities and counties implementing various limits, Lin said.
The KMT believes that this inconsistency should be further discussed before passing the bill, he added.
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading
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