The National Health Insurance (NHI) budget is to rise 4.7 percent to NT$875.5 billion (US$28 billion) next year, with premiums remaining unchanged, the Executive Yuan told a news conference after the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday.
The NHI system budget has increased from NT$619.6 billion in 2016 to NT$836.4 billion this year, an average annual growth rate of 4.37 percent, National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said.
In July, the Executive Yuan approved a budget increase of 2.621 to 4.7 percent for next year, which translates to NT$859.14 billion to NT$875.53 billion, Shih said.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
“We then proposed to raise next year’s budget to the ceiling approved by the Executive Yuan,” he said, adding that the agency has done so for the first time in eight years.
The budget increase was proposed to counter the effects on the NHI system after it began covering medical expenses of people with COVID-19 from March 20, he said.
Meanwhile, people who were unable to access medical services during the COVID-19 pandemic are now seeking NHI coverage from after the pandemic, he said.
“However, during our negotiations for this year’s budget, we failed to take into account a potential increase in medical expenditure after the government lifted COVID-19 restrictions. As such, the point value by which clinics and hospitals receive their reimbursements decreased this year,” he said.
The National Health Insurance Act (全民健康保險法) stipulates that healthcare providers within the NHI system should declare points for the medical services they provide and drugs they dispense.
The government calculates the value of each point based on the budget allocated and reviews the points declared by healthcare providers before paying each contracted provider based on the reviewed points.
NHIA data showed a significant increase of COVID-19 and parainfluenza cases during the first and second quarters this year compared with the same quarters in 2019, he said.
“As such, we decided to use government funding to subsidize NHI-contracted medical institutions for the increase in points during the two quarters compared with 2019, with each additional point valued at NT$1. Regions with an average point value under NT$0.9 would receive NT$0.9 per point through the subsidy,” he said.
The NHIA estimated that about NT$5.133 billion would be needed to subsidize healthcare providers, including NT$470 million for traditional Chinese medicine clinics, NT$565 million for Western medicine clinics and NT$4.099 billion for hospitals.
To fund the subsidy, the agency would first use NT$800 million from the NHI budget that was purposely set aside for the expense required to mitigate the impact from “unexpected risks” and “changes unforeseen when the NHI policy was stipulated,” Shih said, adding that the Executive Yuan is to allocate NT$24 billion to replenish the National Health Insurance Fund this year.
Subsidies needed for the third and fourth quarters are not expected to be higher than those for the first two quarters, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said.
Separately, the Cabinet also approved an amendment to the Fire Service Act (消防法), which was proposed in the wake of a fire that broke out at Launch Technologies Co’s golf ball factory in Pingtung County in September, killing four firefighters and six civilians.
The amendment requires warehouses storing chemicals to be equipped with fire extinguishers, and to have personnel in charge of providing safety information during a fire, the Ministry of the Interior said. Those who fail to do so would be fined up to NT$10 million.
Management would also face a prison sentence of up to seven years if their negligence leads to death or injury, it said.
Following the amendment, the definition of a “whistle-blower” would be expanded to include all employees who work or used to work at places that produce and store dangerous goods, rather than just former employees.
The government may use a portion of the fines imposed on businesses to reward whistle-blowers.
Businesses that manage facilities with stored dangerous goods 30 times higher than the restricted amount would be fined NT$20,000 to NT$300,000 if they fail to follow fire prevention plans, report fires or guide people to safety.
An amendment to the Factory Management Act (工廠管理輔導法), which was also passed at the Cabinet meeting yesterday, would allow authorities to directly fine factory owners NT$50,000 to NT$5 million if they manufacture, process or use dangerous goods beyond the amount mandated by law and fail to report them to the government.
Deputy Minister of the Interior Wu Jung-hui (吳容輝) said that the ministry is tasking experts to draft a chapter in the Fire Service Act to legalize the formation of the firefighters’ association, which is expected to be completed in three months.
‘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
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS