A proposal by medical groups to allocate NT$24.7 billion (US$775.6 million) to fund the National Health Insurance (NHI) system and boost the NHI point value is not feasible, as it exceeds the amount available for negotiations, estimated at NT$17.4 billion, National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday.
Negotiations on apportioning the NHI global budget of more than NT$900 billion for next year were held on Wednesday, attended by premium payer representatives, medical groups and NHIA personnel.
The NHI global budget next year could range between NT$928.6 billion — an increase of NT$53 billion from this year — assuming a growth rate of 5.5 percent, and NT$911.2 billion, based on a growth rate of 3.521 percent, Shih told reporters.
Photo: Taipei Times
The NT$17.4 billion difference between the high and low end of the forecast range is the negotiable amount from next year’s budget for hospitals, primary Western medicine, traditional Chinese medicine and dentistry, he said.
Negotiations with premium payer representatives would break down if the figure proposed by medical representatives exceeds the negotiable amount, Shih added.
Taiwan Hospital Association chairperson Lee Fei-peng (李飛鵬) said in statement that the proposed NT$24.7 billion could increase the point value and fund NHI payments for basic diagnosis and treatment, including nursing and dispensing fees.
The figure was proposed to balance the books and provide reasonable wages for medical practitioners, as the point value stipulated by current NHI payment standards lacks cost analysis and does not reflect the sharp rise in commodity prices, he said.
Meanwhile, medical representatives said the budget for treatment and medications for rare diseases, HIV infection and hepatitis C infection should be excluded from the NHI global budget and funded instead by the central government budget in accordance with the Rare Disease and Orphan Drug Act (罕見疾病防治及藥物法) and other regulations.
The Taiwan Foundation for Rare Disorders criticized the medical sector’s proposal, saying that Article 33 of the act specifies that the central government’s budget would only subsidize diagnosis, treatment and medications for rare diseases that are “not covered by the National Health Insurance Act (全民健康保險法).”
Nearly 17,000 patients with rare diseases would be affected if they are excluded from the NHI payment system, it said in a statement.
The NHI global budget for this year includes more than NT$10 billion for rare diseases. and it would continue to increase next year with an addition of NT$2 billion funded by the Executive Yuan’s budget, Shih said, promising that rare diseases would not be removed from the NHI global budget.
Premium payer representatives questioned the inclusion of cancer screening fees of nearly NT$3.5 billion into next year’s global budget, which it said should be covered by the Health Promotion Administration.
Shih replied that new cancer cases would increase next year as free cancer screening has been expanded to include more people, so the budget for treatment and medications must be increased for the new cases.
While this could result in a short-term surge, expenditure from treating severe cases would significantly decline over the longer term, he said.
Shih added that NHI premiums would not rise next year, despite increases in dispensing and other fees as the global budget would be enough to cover the extra amount.
‘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 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
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
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