Premium payments for the second-generation National Health Insurance plan could be based on individual rather than household income, Kuomintang Legislator Yang Li-huan said Dec. 9.
Yang made the remarks after attending a meeting convened by Premier Wu Den-yih. Department of Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang, Finance Minister Lee Sush-der and other KMT legislators were also in attendance.
The meeting was called because a few days earlier the Legislative Yuan had rejected in overwhelming numbers the second-generation NHI proposal submitted by the DOH. One reason for the strong opposition was that it proposed basing premium payments on total household income.
The general guiding principle of the new NHI bill will be that those who earn more should also be required to pay more, according to Yang.
Besides an individual’s regular salary, the new premium calculation scheme will take into consideration year-end bonuses and income from professional practice. Other factors to be considered include overseas income and capital gains, such as money made from stocks and real estate transactions.
The revised premium rate could be slightly lower than the current 5.17 percent of an individual’s monthly salary, Yang said.
The DOH is scheduled to submit a revised version of the second-generation NHI bill Dec. 13. Sources said the Legislative Yuan could begin deliberating the new proposal as early as Dec. 14.
The first generation of NHI, which has been in place for more than 10 years, is beset by a number of problems, including inefficiency, lack of fairness in assessing premiums and financial difficulties.
Write to Kwangyin Liu at kwangyin.liu@mail.gio.gov.tw