Legislators yesterday agreed to amend the National Health Insurance Act (全民健康保險法) to close a loophole and reduce abuse of the system, stipulating that overseas Taiwanese returning to the country must reside in Taiwan for at least six months before they can take advantage of the healthcare system.
Department of Health (DOH) officials and lawmakers yesterday continued their preliminary review of proposed amendments to the act during the legislature's Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee meeting.
As the law stands, overseas Taiwanese who have suspended their national health insurance coverage and do not pay premiums while abroad can immediately restore coverage and be eligible for medical care upon re-entering the country.
Because of this loophole, many overseas Taiwanese return for medical treatment that would be more expensive overseas. The loophole has attracted much criticism from activists and lawmakers, who say that this type of abuse of the system has contributed to the insurance fund's worsening financial situation.
Lawmakers reached a consensus on passing a preliminary review of the restriction that would require Taiwanese who have lived abroad for more than four years to wait six months after returning to the country before they can restore their health insurance coverage and re-establish their right to healthcare.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) discussed the possibility of excluding Taiwanese students studying overseas from this restriction in order to allow them to have access to medical care immediately upon returning to Taiwan.
However, Chu Tong-kuang (曲同光), deputy convener of a DOH task force on insurance premiums, said the reason the loophole existed in the first place was to allow overseas Taiwanese students to have coverage immediately upon their return. Therefore, he said, excluding students from the new rule would reopen the loophole.
The Taipei MRT is open all night tonight following New Year’s Eve festivities, and is offering free rides from nearby Green Line stations. Taipei’s 2025 New Year’s Eve celebrations kick off at Taipei City Hall Square tonight, with performances from the boy band Energy, the South Korean girl group Apink, and singers Gigi Leung (梁詠琪) and Faith Yang (楊乃文). Taipei 101’s annual New Year’s firework display follows at midnight, themed around Taiwan’s Premier12 baseball championship. Estimates say there will be about 200,000 people in attendance, which is more than usual as this year’s celebrations overlap with A-mei’s (張惠妹) concert at Taipei Dome. There are
LOOKING FOR WHEELS: The military is seeking 8x8 single-chassis vehicles to test the new missile and potentially replace the nation’s existing launch vehicles, the source said Taiwan is developing a hypersonic missile based on the Ching Tien (擎天) supersonic cruise missile, and a Czech-made truck has been tentatively selected as its launch vehicle, a source said yesterday. The Ching Tien, formerly known as Yun Feng (雲峰, “Cloud Peak”), is a domestically developed missile with a range of 1,200km to 2,000km being deployed in casemate-type positions as of last month, an official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The hypersonic missile to be derived from the Ching Tien would feature improved range and a mobile launch platform, while the latter would most likely be a 12x12 single chassis
UP AND DOWN: The route would include a 16.4km underground section from Zuoying to Fongshan and a 9.5km elevated part from Fongshan to Pingtung Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday confirmed a project to extend the high-speed rail (HSR) to Pingtung County through Kaohsiung. Cho made the announcement at a ceremony commemorating the completion of a dome at Kaohsiung Main Station. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications approved the HSR expansion in 2019 using a route that branches off a line from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung’s Zuoying District (左營). The project was ultimately delayed due to a lack of support for the route. The Zuoying route would have trains stop at the Zuoying Station and return to a junction before traveling southward to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝).
Parts of the nation, including in the south, could experience temperatures as low as 7°C early tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. A strong continental cold air mass coupled with the effect of radiative cooling would bring cold weather to several northern cities and counties, and could even affect areas as far south as Tainan early tomorrow, the CWA said. Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties would experience temperatures below 10°C until this evening, according to cold surge advisories issued by the weather agency. The weather across the nation is forecast to remain
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