National Health Insurance (NHI) expenditures would increase by more than NT$4 billion (US$121.82 million) annually due to fee adjustments to address emergency room overcrowding, including through increases to emergency room consultations, and nursing and bed fees, the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) said.
The NHIA met today to discuss strategies to alleviate emergency room overcrowding and nursing staff shortages.
Emergency room consultation and nursing fees would increase by 10 percent, while emergency bed observation nursing fees would increase by 60 percent, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said following the meeting.
Photo: CNA
For example, for category one triage cases, consultation fees would rise to NT$1,345 from NT$1,223, while nursing fees would rise to NT$635 from NT$577, Shih said.
This is expected to add NT$730 million annually to the NHI's coffers, he said.
For emergency room observation beds, the physician fee would be NT$468 per consultation, the same as in hospital wards, while nursing fees would increase by 60 percent, he said.
This is expected to add NT$430 million annually to the NHI's coffers, he said.
For intensive care units (ICU), fees for high-severity emergency response hospitals would be adjusted to match those of medical centers, while fees for moderate-severity emergency response hospitals would be similar to regional hospitals, Shih said.
This would help more hospitals share the burden of emergency care and is expected to add NT$590 million annually to its coffers, he said.
Nursing fees for general wards would also be adjusted, Shih said.
The initial plan is to invest NT$2.5 billion to improve the nursing workforce, prioritizing increased nursing fees for acute general beds, he said.
Hospitals must meet standards before receiving additional subsidies, including increasing nurses’ salaries, lowering emergency room retention rates and transferring more critical patients from emergency rooms to ICUs, Shih said.
The goal is to resolve the issue of emergency patients being unable to transfer to hospital wards, preventing prolonged stays in emergency rooms and reducing the strain on the healthcare system, he said.
The adjustments would be reviewed during a hospital budget meeting later this month and discussed further after that, he said.
The changes are expected to be implemented in May at the earliest, he added.
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