The National Health Insurance (NHI) is to expand coverage to 46 types of surgical procedures performed by Da Vinci robotic-assisted surgery systems, by September at the earliest, the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) said yesterday.
Gastrectomies, gastric bypasses, cholecystectomies and myomectomies are among the procedures the NHIA approved for partial public funding at a meeting on Friday, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said.
The extended coverage would cost the NHI system about NT$285 million (US$8.75 million) and benefit about 8,400 people a year, with patients’ copayment limited to the material expenses, he said.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
Procedures would be funded according to their complexity, with NT$30,000 to NT$50,000 covered for hernia repairs, while close to NT$100,000 would be covered for a full gastrectomy inclusive of lymph node removal, Shih said.
The robot-assisted system is designed to perform minimally invasive procedures with small incisions to enable faster recovery, he said.
There are 70 of the systems being used in Taiwan, up from 20 systems a few years ago, he added.
Separately, the NHIA authorized the NHI to pay for telemedicine services in an additional 69 under-resourced townships with the aim of boosting the availability of healthcare across the nation, Shih said, adding that the change is expected to go into effect next month.
It would allow hospitals and clinics to apply for NHI funding to pay for otorhinolaryngology, ophthalmology and dermatology, and would mainly involve clinics in places such as Taitung’s Luye (鹿野), Changbin (長濱) and Donghe (東河) townships, and Chiayi’s Dapu (大埔), Fanlu (番路) and Dongshih (東石) townships, to name a few, Shih said.
Medical facilities in 54 correctional institutions would also be eligible receive NHI funding to provide telemedicine services to inmates whose access would otherwise be restricted, Shih said.
Prison wards would receive funding for the same types of care township clinics would, with the addition of psychiatric consultations for addiction therapy, he said.
Clinics and hospitals could choose between two NHI reimbursement options depending on which is most beneficial to them: Those serving a high number of people could choose to receive 500 NHI points per outpatient, while those serving a low number could choose to receive 5,000 credits per outpatient, he said.
The policy changes mean that more than 100 rural or otherwise underserved townships would benefit from telemedicine, Shih said.
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