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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 NHIA seeks to get overseas citizens to pay premiums
National Health Insurance Administration official Chiang Shu-ching, left, talks to reporters at the agency’s office in Taipei on Monday. Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
CLOSING A LOOPHOLE: The agency has proposed amending the National Health Insurance Act to end the suspension and re-enrollment mechanism
By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter
Republic of China （ROC） citizens living abroad who have stopped paying their monthly insurance premium will not be able to use their National Health Insurance （NHI） card for medical treatment when they return, if a National Health Insurance Administration （NHIA） proposal is passed.
If passed, the requirement could take effect in June.
The National Health Insurance Act （全民健康保險法） stipulates that citizens can apply for a suspension of their NHI benefits and stop paying the monthly premiums after they have lived abroad for more than six consecutive months.
They are allowed to re-enroll in the program and receive NHI-funded treatment after they return to Taiwan, but if their stay is less than three months, they have to pay three months’ premiums before suspending their benefits again, the act states.
However, after the Ministry of Health and Welfare last year announced plans to abolish a card lock mechanism that freezes the NHI cards of people with unpaid premiums, about 50,000 people — nearly 30,000 of whom reside overseas — took advantage of the policy by not paying their premiums while continuing to use NHI-funded resources.
About 160,000 people per year suspend or re-enroll in the NHI program, about 60,000 of whom resuspend their enrollment and about 70 percent of whom seek medical attention during a short stay in Taiwan, NHIA statistics showed.
NHIA official Chiang Shu-ching （江姝靚） on Monday said the NHI last year spent about NT$340 million （US$11.5 million） on people who re-enrolled in the program for a short time.
That figure has been criticized by many as being unfair to those who pay their premiums every month.
The agency plans to restore the card-lock mechanism to ensure that overseas citizens with unpaid premiums bring their accounts up to date before they can use their card to receive treatment, Chiang said.
The agency has also proposed amending the act to abolish the suspension and re-enrollment mechanism so that all overseas citizens — except for diplomatic personnel, offshore fishermen and missing persons — would have to continue paying the monthly premium if they want to receive NHI-funded treatment, she said.
A draft amendment is likely to be reviewed by the Legislative Yuan in its next session, which, if it passes, could take effect next year at the earliest, she said.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
