The National Health Insurance Bureau (中央健保局) said yesterday that it would begin replacing health insurance identification cards made of paper with integrated circuit (IC) cards next year.
The bureau says the new cards will be more convenient and save the government money.
Health officials briefed President Chen Shui-bian (
According to the bureau, the trial replacement of the cards would
begin next July in Taipei, Penghu, Taichung and Kaohsiung. The scheme is expected to be fully implemented nationwide in May of 2003.
The new cards will digitally integrate medical certificates that authorize patients with disabilities or serious illness for a higher level of coverage. They will also permit easier access to medical records, but how this will be done and the privacy issues involved have yet to be hashed out.
Moreover, users will no longer have to replace their cards after making six visits to the hospital or clinic. Currently, those people enrolled in the National Health Insurance Plan have to replace their cards because the cards run out of stamp space after six visits.
The bureau estimated that by adopting IC cards and eliminating the frequent replacement of paper cards, it could save the bureau NT$40 billion over five years.
Chen gave a brief speech at the association meeting urging medical professionals to help the government ensure the continuous operation of the National Health Insurance Plan by efficiently managing medical resources and educating their patients about the proper reasons for seeking medical attention.
The Department of Health began to reform the health insurance plan last year and set up a special taskforce for that purpose in July, said Minister of Health Lee Ming-liang (
"The first thing the team is responsible for is exploring the public consensus on whether the National Health Insurance Plan is to make available social insurance or to create a social security mechanism," said Lee.
Lee was highlighting the public's belief that the National Health Insurance Plan is unlimited.
"If the consensus advocates that the plan is simply for insurance, the public must then be educated to realize that the benefit of insurance coverage is limited. Otherwise they will have to pay higher taxes to make the plan part of Taiwan's social security network," the minister said.
"Many people incorrectly regard the National Health Insurance Plan as a social security mechanism, wanting the insurance to cover every medical service but rejecting the upward adjustment of premiums," Lee said.
The health insurance premium has stood at 4.25 percent of monthly salarie since the government began to collect it in 1995.
"But the insurance is actually designed to provide essential health care rather than health care for everything and everyone."
The insurance plan has suffered a monthly deficit of NT$2 billion, on average.
People visited outpatient clinics an average of 14.6 times in 1999, which was higher than many other developed countries.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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