A “green channel” has been established to give priority access when applying to hire migrant caregivers, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said today, after amendments passed last year raised concerns about whether adequate care would still be accessible to families most in need.
Long-term care would still be made available during the application process, while the scope of eligibility for the priority channel would be announced shortly by the Ministry of Labor, it said.
The Legislative Yuan last year passed amendments to Article 46 of the Employment Service Act (就業服務法), allowing people aged 80 and older to bypass Barthel Index-based health evaluations, rendering them eligible to hire migrant caregivers.
Photo: Taipei Times
The Barthel Index is a widely used tool in Taiwan to assess a person’s ability to perform daily activities.
The amendments would give an additional 100,000 people access caregivers, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lue Jen-der (呂建德) said today.
The health and labor ministries have held multiple interministerial meetings to discuss ways to ensure adequate care for families in serious need, he said.
Measures are expected to be implemented later this month or early next month, he added.
The ministries are to divide responsibilities, with the labor ministry handling families with members older than 80 who are not seriously ill, while the health ministry would focus on cases involving more serious conditions, Department of Long-Term Care head Chu Chien-fang (祝健芳) said.
Long-term Care Management Centers would handle applications and direct cases to the relevant ministry for review, he said.
Moreover, the health ministry would soon launch programs to train personnel how to review migrant caregiver applications and ensure that all “green channel” applications are handled within a one-day turnaround, he said.
The ministry would then refer cases to the Cross-Border Workforce Management Division to match suitable caregivers, he added.
There are currently 65 people within local governments tasked with reviewing migrant caregiver applications, which the health ministry aims to increase to 101 this year, Chu said.
The health ministry has already applied to increase the workforce and the labor ministry agreed to provide additional funding in stages, after which local governments would distribute personnel based on case volume, he added.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
RSS