Low health insurance point values have triggered a backlash from the medical community, according to Health Minister Chiu Tai-yuan's (邱泰源) National Health Insurance (NHI) report at the Legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee meeting on Monday. In response, the Health Ministry has vowed to promote health insurance reform, strive for a larger budget, and protect the point value.
Responding to KMT Legislator Sean Liao’s (廖偉翔) questions on the specific measures to expand financial resources and stabilize point values, Chiu said that the government expects an additional NT$10 billion (US$307 million) to be diverted towards health insurance over the next year, amounting to NT$30 billion (US$922 million) over the next three years.
Chiu said that the Health Ministry is already in communications with the Cabinet regarding next year’s budget and point values should reach 0.92 and 0.93 next year. He elaborated that a mid-term plan to tackle these issues includes amending the law to scale health insurance premiums so the “rich” pay a little more to cover the costs of the disadvantaged. Chiu pointed out that changes are gradually being implemented and that cases to be included in the yearly budget will be reviewed in the next two days.