The Legislative Yuan postponed today’s plan to deliberate a proposed amendment that would eliminate health insurance premiums for lower-income people over 65, opting for further discussions.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus has proposed an amendment to the Senior Citizens Welfare Act (老人福利法) that would exempt those older than 65 and whose income tax bracket is under the 20 percent threshold from paying National Health Insurance (NHI) premiums.
Last week, five medical organizations published a joint statement saying that the amendments would exacerbate generational inequality and increase financial strain on the NHI system.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
The KMT caucus proposed a revision to lower the threshold income tax rate from 20 to 5 percent, but the Ministry of Health and Welfare warned that regardless of the adjustment, the NHI system risks going bankrupt by 2026 and would have to raise premiums across the board.
There is still a need for further discussion on the amendment, KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Szu-ming (林思銘) said today, adding that the caucus has asked Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) to continue negotiations.
Across the nation, the thresholds are not consistent for determining who is exempt from paying into the NHI, with 15 cities and counties implementing various limits, Lin said.
The KMT believes that this inconsistency should be further discussed before passing the bill, he added.
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
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