The Consumers’ Foundation yesterday said a decision by the Department of Health to initiate the second-generation National Health Insurance (NHI) program at the current premium rate of 5.17 percent rather than at 4.91 percent, as announced in May, was a breach of faith and would steal from the poor to benefit the rich.
The second-generation NHI program is scheduled to be implemented in January, with a supplementary premium of 2 percent, the foundation said, adding that Department of Health Minister Chiu Wen-ta (邱文達) had said in April that the current premium rate should be adjusted to 4.91 percent.
The department is breaking its promise and is disguising the fact that the premuim will be increased, the foundation said.
“According to statistics, NHI expenditure on households with the lowest 20 percent of income grew by only 4 percent between 2000 and 2009, but expenditure on households with the highest 20 percent of income grew by 40 percent in the same period,” Consumers’ Foundation board member Hsieh Tien-jen (謝天仁) said.
“Rich people are using more medical resources than poor people, but paying the same premium rate,” he said. “This is against the spirit of the second-generation NHI program and the department should be held responsible.”
In addition, while GDP this year is expected to be below 2 percent, the growth rate of the NHI program this year is 4.3 percent and the growth rate of the total expenditure cap is set at 6 percent, he said, adding that he wondered how the medical industry can be booming while other industries suffer.
Moreover, the department has allocated a NT$4.5 billion (US$152 million) budget to improve the quality of nursing in medical facilities, but cases of nurses being overworked remain in the news, Hsieh said, adding that the foundation urges the department to re-evaluate the funding for the NHI program and to examine whether the money is being put to proper use.
The foundation said it feared an increased NHI program would result in wasteful spending on medical resources, while consumers would have to pay a higher premium than at present, which is a heavy burden for the poorer people in society.
He urged the department to keep its promise and lower the premium to 4.91 percent, as well as re-evaluate expenditure to ensure it is being used effectively.
In related developments, a proposed policy to levy a 2 percent supplementary premium on interest-derived income above a threshold of NT$2,000 on a single account has seen people searching for a legal loophole by splitting their savings accounts.
In addition to interest-derived income, the new system would also tax supplementary premiums — which will be calculated on a single-transaction basis on the principle of “withholding the premium at source” — on income earned from other sources, such as bonuses, stock dividends and rental income.
The maximum amount for each transaction is set at NT$10 million.
The 2 percent premium will be applied to both cash dividends and stock dividends, which are calculated at NT$10 per share, should the combined value of a person’s annual dividends exceed the statutory threshold.
However, if the amount of cash dividends obtained by a stockholder falls short of covering the said person’s payable premium, the Bureau of National Health Insurance would issue a payment demand to that person or take the amount from their next monthly premium.
At present, the average interest rate on a savings account is 1.38 percent, which means that an account holder would pay a NT$40 supplementary premium if the savings in that account amount to NT$145,000.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency as well as long-term residency in Taiwan has decreased, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that the reduction of Chinese spouses staying or living in Taiwan is only one facet reflecting the general decrease in the number of people willing to get married in Taiwan. The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency last year was 7,123, down by 2,931, or 29.15 percent, from the previous year. The same census showed that the number of Chinese spouses applying for long-term residency and receiving approval last year stood at 2,973, down 1,520,
RSS