To optimize child care, the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) plans to prioritize children's medical materials when allocating funds. Starting from July, 2023, NHI benefits will include the second cochlear implant for children under the age of 18 years and provide full coverage for Edi catheters applicable for infants under the age of one year with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and difficult extubation; both measures are coverd to ensure children's growth and development.

On July 1, 2017, NHIA included one cochlear implant in the NHI benefits for children under the age of 18 with severe hearing loss. With the implant, children with hearing loss are able to hear and attend regular schools. The inclusion benefited an estimated 277 child patientseach year with an average cost of NT$165.4 million. Recognizing that enhancing children's hearing development is time sensitive, the NHIA conducted numerous discussions with the Taiwan Society of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery and commissioned the Center for Drug Evaluation to conduct a health technology reassessment (HTR) on cochlear implants. Empirical data from Taiwan and abroad have shown that in countries such as the UK and South Korea, children under the age of 18 years with severe hearing loss due to illnesses are advised to undergo cochlear implants on both sides and relevant measures of insurance coverage are implemented. Studies have shown that cochlear implants on both sides are more helpful in improving the hearing, listening comprehension, and speaking abilities for patients and although the time span between the first and second implants may affect the patient's improvement timeline, it does not compromise the results. Therefore, in the 64th Pharmaceutical Benefit and Reimbursement Scheme Joint Committee Meeting (hereinafter referred to as the PBRS Meeting) held on May 18, 2023, the NHIA, along with medical experts, healthcare organizations, and members of the public, proposed and discussed to amend the benefits for cochlear implants to include, the second implant for children under the age of 18 to enhance the hearing development for children with severe hearing loss. The proposal was discussed and approved in the meeting.

The Director General Shih, Chung-Liang specified that according to the HTR report, the number of children that require cochlear implants for the first time and are willing to have both implants is about 99 each year. As for the number of prevalence cases, the NHI declaration data were used to make an estimation; according to the experts' opinion, we estimated 60% of the total number of children under the age of 18 who has declared to NHI for cochlear implants on one side as of July 1, 2023 will be willing to receive a second implant. If the payment for these prevalence cases is distributed over a period of five years, there will be about 168 children benefited each year with a total of 840 children in the span of five years; the average cost will be NT$98,950,000 a year.

Additionally, the PBRS Meeting held a discussion on "Maquet" Edi Catheter, which is specifically made for premature and newborn infants. The Edi catheter is used to detect diaphragm electrical activity and utilize such signals to control the Neurally-adjusted ventilation assist (NAVA) and non-invasive ventilation (NIV) NAVA; the catheter can also monitor the respiratory drive in the brain and allow the provision of nutrients, liquids, and medicines via the nasojejunal tube. Considering that this material has clinical efficacy and demands for premature and newborn infants, all attendees at the meeting voted unanimously on providing full coverage for Edi catheters used for infants under the age of one year with BPD and difficult extubation to ensure proper growth and development for the children. It is estimated to benefit around 200 infants a year with a cost of NT$2,990,000.

NHIA indicated that the rapid development of biomedicine and medical technologies has resulted in the emergence of numerous innovative or improved medical materials. To improve the health of all Taiwanese people, the NHIA shall continue to include new medical materials that are empirically proved with clinical efficacy and are necessary for clinical treatments to NHI benefit packages. Moreover, the NHIA shall ensure an appropriate use of medical resources to improve healthcare quality and safeguard the health and welfare for all the insured.