Taiwan Today

The Ministry of Health and Welfare has proposed three major additions to the nation’s planned long-term health care system as part of an effort to increase the amount and quality of care available to Taiwan’s elderly and disabled population. Deputy Health Minister Lu Pau-ching, speaking at a press conference in Taipei July 18, said the additions will take effect in 2017 and are in line with President Tsai Ing-wen’s Long-term Care Plan 2.0 initiative, one of the administration’s major policies. According to Lu, the three new measures are the establishment of thousands of localized long-term care stations around the country, an increase to the number of services offered under the program from the current eight to 17, and the addition of four new categories of people who can benefit from the system. The deputy minister said that, starting next year, the government will begin establishing neighborhood long-term care stations around Taiwan, with the eventual goal of setting up 2,529 such facilities within four years. Their objective will be to ensure the well-being of elderly and disabled residents through services such as providing meals, placing calls and paying visits to residents’ homes, and assisting in physical activities. Under the scheme, the number of services available at the nation’s health care stations will increase, with new additions such as dementia care, physical therapy and preventative care. The MOHW estimates the program will require initial funding of nearly NT$20.80 billion (US$640 million) in 2017, more than four times this year’s budget of NT$5.126 billion. Currently, most disabled and elderly residents benefit from the National Health Insurance program, but do not have access to the additional services offered under the long-term care program. In order to better provide coverage to those in need, the government has designated four new categories of recipients, namely disabled persons under the age of 49, people with mild dementia over 50, disabled indigenous residents over 55 who live in low-lying areas, and infirm seniors over 65. The new categories increase the total number of potential beneficiaries from about 511,000 to 738,000. The Long-term Care Plan 2.0 is a revised edition of the original plan, dubbed version 1.0 and approved by the Executive Yuan in 2007. The new iteration was designed to have a more local-level focus, and is a step toward the government’s ultimate goal of establishing a complete chain of care, from preventative health care to community-based support services and finally late-life hospice care. (WF-E) Write to Taiwan Today at ttonline@mofa.gov.tw