The National Health Insurance (NHI) budget for this year would be raised by a record-high 5.5 percent to NT$928.62 billion (US$28.19 billion), the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday.
The ministry last year proposed an NHI overall budget growth rate ranging from 3.521 to 5.5 percent for this year, as required by the National Health Insurance Act (全民健康保險法), it said.
The higher growth rate of 5.5 percent has been adopted, and the premium rate would not be changed, as the NHI Committee last month said that the NHI reserve fund would be able to cover the expenditure, even at the higher rate, it said.
Photo: Taipei Times
That would increase the budget by NT$48.41 billion to NT$928.62 billion from NT$880.22 billion, the biggest increase on record, the ministry said.
The ministry’s Department of Social Insurance in a news release said that the budget was decided based on the government’s policies, as well as proposals by healthcare service providers and NHI payers to ensure sufficient medical service capacity and enhance holistic healthcare.
Specifically, the dental budget was increased by 4.679 percent to NT$54.80 billion, while the budget for traditional Chinese medicine was raised by 5.274 percent to NT$34.19 billion, it said.
The budget for hemodialysis services was increased by 3 percent to NT$47.38 billion, with NT$24.69 billion for hospitals and NT$22.69 billion for primary healthcare clinics.
The budgets for hospitals and primary healthcare clinics were raised by 5.5 percent to NT$643.71 billion and NT$175.04 billion respectively, with the budget for other expenses increased by NT$1.56 billion to NT$20.88 billion.
The department said five points were considered in the approval of the budgets for hospitals and clinics.
First, NT$8.10 billion was budgeted for new medical technology, modified reimbursements for medicines and special materials, and temporary payments to enhance people’s right to medicines and accelerate the listing of new drugs under the NHI system.
Second, the budget for rare disease or hemophilia medicines and special materials totaled NT$18.03 billion to ensure the rights of patients with those conditions.
Third, a budget of NT$3.92 billion would be allocated to National Health Insurance Administration’s programs that aim to improve medical services in underserved areas.
Fourth, the budget for the reimbursement for Long Acting Injectable Antipsychotic would be continued with an additional NT$3.11 billion to bolster mental health services.
Fifth, NT$9.38 billion would be budgeted for home healthcare, home-based acute care, midwife clinics, community mental rehabilitation services and the transition of patients to long-term care settings.
The NHI system is financially stable, as the estimated reserve fund would remain above the total NHI reimbursement amount for a month by the end of the year, the department said.
The budget of NT$11.1 billion for public health and preventive healthcare would be removed from the NHI program and subsidized instead by the ministry’s NT$33.56 billion budget, it added.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
RSS