Taiwan passes bill making the state pay seniors' health premiums
The opposition-backed measure passed 60 to 39. The government warns it would cost about NT$40 billion a year.
Taiwan's Legislative Yuan, the island's parliament, voted 60 to 39 on Friday, Oct. 16, for a bill requiring the central government to pay the National Health Insurance (NHI) premiums of most people aged 65 and over. The change amends Article 22 of the Senior Citizens Welfare Act. It covers people whose income last year fell below the tax-filing threshold or who were taxed at a rate below 20%, according to Focus Taiwan.
The text merges proposals from the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), both in opposition. It went to a vote after talks between the parties failed that morning. Lawmakers from the governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) protested with placards. According to the Taipei Times, the TPP rejected a request for reconsideration, which kept the DPP from filing another. Chuang Jui-hsiung, the DPP caucus whip, called skipping the committee review "the worst possible approach."
On Sunday, Oct. 18, Health Minister Shih Chung-liang warned that the law would burden younger generations. His ministry estimates that up to 83% of seniors would qualify and that the yearly cost would run around NT$40 billion (about US$1.25 billion, at roughly 32 Taiwan dollars per U.S. dollar) at today's rates.
The ministry also notes that people over 65 use the system far more than they pay into it: by its count, more than nine times their contribution.
Each sector has a global budget. If the points claimed exceed it, each point is worth less than one Taiwan dollar and providers absorb the difference. Before the vote, the government had proposed injecting another NT$60 billion into the NHI next year.
Neither source says when the reform would take effect or how it would be financed, or whether the executive will ask for reconsideration. Local elections are on Nov. 28.
