NHI exemptions may harm system: minister - Taipei Times

An amendment exempting most older people from paying National Health Insurance (NHI) premiums would likely harm the system's sustainability and raise premiums, Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday.

The premier is expected to refuse to countersign the bill today.

The Legislative Yuan on Oct. 16 passed the third reading of amendments to the Senior Citizens Welfare Act (老人福利法), which fully subsidizes NHI premiums for people aged 65 and older whose income tax rate is less than 20 percent — an estimated 83 percent of the older population.

Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times

The amendment was proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People's Party caucuses, but the Executive Yuan, Democratic Progressive Party legislators and more than 10 medical associations have repeatedly raised concerns about it.

As the bill was officially received by the Executive Yuan on Oct. 28, it is required to countersign it or propose a veto in 10 days, which is today.

Several major medical associations on Tuesday and Wednesday issued statements opposing the bill, and urged the legislature and the Cabinet to consult with stakeholders, the medical community and academics, and hold public hearings before enacting it.

However, a local Chinese-language newspaper on Wednesday afternoon reported that Shih, who was in the US at the time, had allegedly sent a text message to medical and social welfare groups, asking them to speak out against the bill.

The report cited an anonymous source as saying that the minister had sent them a message on Tuesday.

The group does not want to become a "election hatchet man," it cited another source as saying.

Asked about the report, Shih said the NHI is one of the people's greatest assets, and that it is his responsibility to maintain its sustainability.

The amendment would inevitably crowd out other spending, putting significant pressure on the ministry to raise NHI premiums, he said.

Over the past three years, the Executive Yuan has injected NT$80 billion (US$2.43 billion) into the NHI fund, keeping premium rates steady even as medical demand has grown and total spending expanded by 5.5 percent annually, Shih said.

"I am deeply concerned, and I hope we can all join forces to support the integrity of the NHI system," he said.

Several members of the medical associations said they did not receive a text message, adding that the medical community can express their opinions on the issue independently.

Taiwan Medical Association president Chen Hsiang-kuo (陳相國) said he did not receive such a message nor see the text mentioned in the report, and that the association's remarks had nothing to do with Shih.

Additional reporting by Lin Chih-yi