Hospitals would be subsidized for increased costs when electricity rates are hiked on Oct. 16, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said on Wednesday.
Electricity costs are set to rise by an average of 12.5 percent for industrial users and the medical community has been asking about subsidies to help it cope with the increase, the ministry said.
Prices increased 11 percent on average in April and were set to increase again by 14 percent this month following a resolution by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
However, after taking into account domestic demand and a decline in industrial output, increases for some users were halved or frozen, resulting in an average increase of 12.5 percent, the economic ministry said.
In a news release issued in response to concerns by hospitals and clinics, Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) said that the increase would not apply to clinics that use only as much power as a small business.
Regional hospitals would face an increase, but would be subsidized by the government as per normal practice, Taipower said.
Hospitals and large medical centers would assist with energy-saving measures to reduce the burden of electricity costs, it said.
“The Executive Yuan will fully subsidize regional hospitals for the price hike, which is expected to total about NT$300 million” (US$9.39 million), MOHW Department of Medical Affairs Deputy Director-General Liu Yu-ching (劉玉菁) said.
“That will come from the NT$100 billion budgeted annually for Taipower,” she added.
As the money would come from funds allocated by the Executive Yuan to subsidize Taipower, the health ministry would still need to discuss the reallocation with the Executive Yuan, Liu said, adding that National Health Insurance expenditure would factor into the discussion.
Regardless of what hospitals have asked for, the subsidies are guaranteed in the Electricity Act (電業法), she said.
For example, the Social and Family Affairs Administration could prepare a budget in accordance with the law to cover the additional expenses caused by any increase in electricity prices, Liu said.
“However, the act does not stipulate medical institutions. Unless the law is revised to include them, implementing such a special budget might be difficult in practice,” she said.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS