Lawmakers on Thursday sent draft legal revisions seeking to waive a Barthel Index evaluation for people aged 80 and older as a prerequisite for hiring migrant domestic caregivers to a full session of the legislature for further deliberation.
The bills, sponsored by lawmakers from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), were discussed during cross-caucus negotiations held by the Legislative Yuan’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee, but lawmakers could not reach a consensus.
The proposal to cancel the requirement to pass a Barthel Index evaluation for people aged 80 and older was first put forward by New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) last year when he was campaigning as the KMT’s presidential candidate.
President William Lai (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate, and Taiwan People’s Party presidential candidate and Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) later made pledges to relax the rules on the Barthel Index evaluation and to allow more leniency in the assessment.
DPP Legislator Wang Cheng-hsu (王正旭) said that waiving the evaluation would crowd out severely ill people who are most in need of migrant domestic caregivers.
Wang, a physician, said severely ill people are difficult to care for and their families often struggle to keep domestic caregivers.
The proposed measure could incentivize some families that can take care of elderly people without the help of caregivers to encroach on the needs of those in desperate need of assistance, he said.
DPP Legislator Lin Yueh-chin (林月琴) said the proposed policy could negatively impact the long-term care system, undermining the government’s policy direction.
Referring to an expanded eligibility scheme for hiring migrant domestic caregivers that came into force in October last year, she said the policy eliminates the need to relax the rules.
The expanded eligibility scheme allowed families with members having dementia, breathing or swallowing difficulties, or those who have used long-term care for at least six months to hire live-in migrant caregivers.
It also broadened accessibility to the service for people with rare diseases, and mental or physical disabilities.
However, KMT Legislator Alicia Wang (王育敏), who cochairs the committee, said that recruiting domestic caregivers is a “supplemental” policy to the long-term care system, and the proposed measure would not have that great an impact on long-term care facilities.
KMT Legislator Su Ching-chuan (蘇清泉) said that the considerable cost of hiring a live-in caregiver means that only those with a genuine need would be prepared to pay for it.
Given the absence of a middle ground among lawmakers, Alicia Wang announced that the bills would be set aside for further deliberation at a full session of the legislature.
If passed, about 530,000 people would be eligible under the policy proposal, the Ministry of Health and Welfare data showed.
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