In the News

Cabinet endorses 2G-health insurance

• Publication Date：04/09/2010
• Source： United Daily News

The Cabinet approved the proposed second-generation national health insurance April 8, bringing potentially higher premiums to close to 50 percent of the population.

Minister of Health Yaung Chih-liang said with premiums no longer based on salaries, but on total household income, 50 percent to 60 percent of the populace will see their premiums drop or remain the same, while others will have to pay more, especially high-income single people.

Premier Wu Den-yih said 2G-health insurance will rectify shortcomings and financial gaps in the current system, resulting in more equitable, efficient and high-quality insurance and health care. He instructed the Department of Health to work closely with legislative party caucuses and related organizations to get the revised National Health Insurance Act passed in the current legislative session so it can take effect in 2012.

Future premiums will not only be lower than the 5.17 percent that went into effect April 1, but also under the former 4.55 percent, at approximately 3 percent to 3.5 percent. Yaung said the 2G-rate adjustments are reckoned based on a five-year-average premium, with effective rate calculations still under consideration.

Yaung pointed out that when premiums are based on total household income, a family with many dependents will benefit in comparison to single-person households and those with much income outside of salaries.

As an example, Yaung said the premium for a person in the NT$50,000 (US$1,585) insurance bracket is now over NT$700 per month, which for a family of four comes out to more than NT$3,000. After NHI is revised, any household with total monthly income of NT$50,000 will pay roughly NT$1,600, whether the family has many dependents or is a single-person household.

In the past, overseas compatriots and long-term expatriates who had previously been covered by NHI could receive immediate coverage and medical treatment with NHI benefits upon return to Taiwan.

Under the new scheme, people who have left the country and cancelled coverage can only receive immediate coverage upon return if they have been registered for NHI in the last two years. Otherwise, they will have to wait four months before they can reapply.

To enlist the support of all citizens in overseeing the use of NHI resources, the amended bill provides a reward of up to 10 percent of fines levied against medical centers that violate the health insurance law to those who report their offenses. It also stipulates that the central government will cover all NHI subsidies, removing a controversial burden from local governments. (THN)