Minister Without Portfolio James Hsueh (薛承泰) yesterday warned that the second-generation National Health Insurance (NHI) program could disintegrate by 2025 because of the doubling of the elderly demographic and called for policies to address the problems of an aging society.
The population of individuals aged 65 years and over in Taiwan tripled from 2000 to 2010, and the medical costs of the age group under the NHI program have increased 88 percent to NT$169 billion (US$5.3 billion) during that period, Hsueh said in a report on the nation’s population outlook in 2025 to the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Central Standing Committee.
By 2025, the cost will be more than double that of 2010, bringing more financial difficulties for the NHI program, he said.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
“The NHI program is an example of a government policy that was designed without taking demographics into consideration ... Without proper solutions, the program could drag the government down by 2025,” he said.
The Department of Health proposed revisions to the NHI program last month under which the insured would have to pay a 2 percent premium on income of more than NT$2,000 earned from six sources: bonuses more than four times the individual’s monthly salary, professional practice, share dividends, interest, rent and moonlighting. The threshold was later revised to income of more than NT$5,000.
In response, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) insisted that the program would not incur any debts in the next five years and promised to find solutions.
“It’s impossible for the second-generation NHI program to stay unchanged forever ... There are some difficulties in implementing the program, but we will find solutions and make the program better,” he said.
Hsueh yesterday also questioned the government’s policies on pensions and the increasing numbers of high schools and colleges under an aging population.
He said that more colleges would be shut down due to low attendance rates 10 years from now because of the lower birthrate, while the government will suffer from the lack of a long-term care system for the elderly.
Ma said people aged 65 and over would account for 20 percent of the total population in 2025, adding that the government had taken action to address the issue, including passing legislation on long-term care for the elderly and attracting foreign students to attend local universities.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS