The Lunar New Year celebrations late last month witnessed the reunion of many a family, including visits to family members who are in long-term care. With the financial turmoil last year resulting in a drastic contraction in individual wealth, stability has become a key concern for laid-off workers and first-time job seekers. Pondering long-term care in Taiwan at this point in time requires some deep thought.
It is not as if Taiwan does not have a long-term care program; the problem is the system is flawed, so not everyone in need receives equal care. One also has to bear in mind that institutional care is only a small part of the long-term care system and should be seen as a last resort, rather than as hospital wards or even prisons in disguise. The nation’s long-term care system relies greatly on migrant workers. As the living standard in neighboring countries rises, this kind of long-term care system will be difficult to maintain.
It isn’t a problem of the government not paying any attention to long-term care, but rather the existing system is unable to keep up with public demand and the changing times. As long-term care is supervised by local governments, how can financially strapped counties map out an innovative, comprehensive and long-term plan?
There are two major misconceptions about about long-term care. First, many think it only concerns the elderly, whereas in truth any person of any age might require long-term care any time. Second, long-term care is not tantamount to medical treatment. If the government fails to improve the long-term care system, it will become increasingly common for emergency care beds to be occupied by chronically ill patients. Not only does this increase the burden on the National Health Insurance (NHI) program, it also leads to waste of limited resources.
A compulsory public insurance program is not necessarily the only solution to financing long-term care. If the government does decide to promote long-term care insurance, it may need to set up a separate program under the NHI. Why? There is a difference in product structure, market, target, service providers and financial management. The NHI is a short-term insurance program in which premiums paid this year do not cover next year. The entire financing system is pay-as-you-go. A long-term care insurance program, however, is an extended insurance in which premiums are calculated based on the population structure of future generations, so that it will not increase the burden on them.
Germany is often cited as an example in discussions on long-term care insurance programs. However, the Netherlands was actually the first country to implement such a program. Germany has drawn more attention given its economic status. Japan has also implemented a long-term care insurance program. In 1993, despite its financial troubles, then German chancellor Helmut Kohl resolutely pushed through his government’s plan and submitted a draft for a long-term care insurance program to the parliament. Within four months, the draft passed its third legislative reading.
When I was studying in Germany 20 years ago — the year when the Berlin Wall collapsed — I witnessed the efficiency of the German administrative system, which finished installing the system within a year.
A long-term care insurance program is not a new system and it is not as complex as the NHI. I hope the government will exercise its executive power to set up a comprehensive system for long-term care so that a benevolent system will soon be put in place to help those in need.
Chou Li-fang is dean of the Office of Research and Development at National Chengchi University.
TRANSLATED BY TED YANG
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
I have heard people equate the government’s stance on resisting forced unification with China or the conditional reinstatement of the military court system with the rise of the Nazis before World War II. The comparison is absurd. There is no meaningful parallel between the government and Nazi Germany, nor does such a mindset exist within the general public in Taiwan. It is important to remember that the German public bore some responsibility for the horrors of the Holocaust. Post-World War II Germany’s transitional justice efforts were rooted in a national reckoning and introspection. Many Jews were sent to concentration camps not
RSS