Five major medical and nursing associations issued a joint statement today saying that funding issues with the National Health Insurance (NHI) system remain unresolved.
Although the NHI budget is slated to increase to NT$928.6 billion (USD$28.19 billion), a 5.5-percent increase compared to last year, this might still be short as the premium rate is not set to change and point values have yet to be adjusted, the statement said.
The five groups are the Taiwan Hospital Association, Taiwan Medical Association, Taiwan Union of Nurses Association, the Nongovernmental Hospitals and Clinics Association and Taiwan College of Healthcare Executive.
Photo: Lin Chih-yi, Taipei Times
The increased budget fails to account for unspent points, the statement said, which potentially fails to underestimate growth rates.
Compared to other advanced countries, Taiwan spends the least on healthcare as a percentage of GDP, the statement said, adding that this underinvestment has left the healthcare system unable to meet basic needs.
Other rare disease treatments have also relied on hospital budgets, leading to stagnant salaries for workers and reducing institutions’ capacity to care for the sick, the statement read.
For example, since 2003, NT$622 million has been budgeted for hepatitis B and C treatment programs but actual spending by hospitals is at NT$2.8 billion over that period, the statement said.
Some medical institutions have even had to close, the statement added.
Point values have been diluted, leading to increased burden on medical institutions, the statement said.
Point value reform should seek to make up for prior shortcomings, rather than just increasing this year’s budget, the statement said.
The groups called on the government to address point value deficits, adjust the payment formula to reflect rising costs of advancing medical treatments, allocate dedicated budgets for specific public health projects to avoid impacting general health services, and improve salaries for workers, the statement said.
The groups also thanked the government and Ministry of Health and Welfare for supporting the budget increase, adding that this year’s budget reflects the importance of the medical system, the statement said.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
RSS