《TAIPEI TIMES》NHIA may expand subsidies for people 65 or older

By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

The government is planning to fully subsidize National Health Insurance （NHI） fees for people aged 65 or older who do not have any dependents, the National Health Insurance Administration （NHIA） said yesterday.

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The agency proposed the plan after Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） presidential candidate Hou You-yi （侯友宜） and Taiwan People’s Party candidate Ko Wen-je （柯文哲） pledged to fully subsidize NHI fees for the group if elected.

NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang （石崇良） told a news briefing after a Cabinet meeting that more than 50 percent of people aged 65 or older already receive some form of NHI subsidy offered by the central or local governments.

Government officials at the meeting mainly addressed problems related to coverage of elderly people in the sixth category of insured persons, which includes veterans and their spouses, as well as jobless people without dependents.

“The Veterans Affairs Council has allocated a budget to subsidize NHI fees for veterans and their spouses. However, there are still about 700,000 people who might not be covered, because they are unemployed and do not have dependents,” Shih said.

“We will look into this particular group of people and see how many of them have never received any government subsidy and are below the income level stipulated in the regulations before proposing any plan,” Shih said, adding that the agency would begin by looking at how much income tax they pay.

Executive Yuan spokesperson Lin Tze-luen （林子倫） said that one must first consider the serious consequences should the government fully subsidize NHI fees for elderly people.

“Not only would it affect the National Health Insurance Fund and possibly compromise medical service quality, but it could crowd out funding for other welfare projects,” Lin said.

“However, there are some people who do not receive any form of subsidy under the current welfare system and whose income fall below the criteria. As such, we have asked the Ministry of Health and Welfare to conduct a more detailed assessment on the exact number of people who have never received subsidies for NHI and the amount of funding required to cover them, and whether the subsidies would create additional financial burden on the country and compromise the principle of fairness,” Lin said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES