Exceptional Emergency Services to save the rescue time and provide necessary medical treatment without delay.

During major disasters or accidents, hospitals would provide medical services regardless of their insurance status to ensure people's right to medical treatment.

Disaster-affected individuals who do not have their National Health Insurance (NHI) cards can seek medical treatment at any NHIA-contracted medical institutions by completing an "Exceptional Medical Treatment Registry." This allows them to receive medical care under the NHI program.

Expenses of Emergency Medical Visits May be Reimbursed by NHI

If the insured receive medical treatments in a medical facility for an emergency injury due to unexpected accidents, they may request for reimbursements for such expenses. To submit the request, the insured must fill out the application form and gather all supporting documents (as specified in Table 1). Then, the insured should submit said documents to the regional division office (the address and phone number of each office are presented in Table 2) of the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) where they are enrolled in within six months from the day of the emergency treatment, the outpatient treatment, or a discharge from the hospital. The documents may be delivered personally or by post. Upon receiving the applications, the NHIA will review the documents to determine and approve the reimbursement amount.

On principle, the NHIA reviews and approves prepaid medical expenses reimbursement applications according to the receipts presented. However, the upper limit of the actual reimbursement amount is set at the average payment of the NHI-contracted hospitals and clinics from the previous season. According to the average payment of the most recent season (January to March, 2024), the current reimbursement limit is NT$1,024 for each outpatient treatment, NT$3,298 for each emergency treatment, and NT$6,227 for each day of hospitalization. If treatments in a medical facility for an emergency injury are required due to unexpected accidents, the insured may request for a reimbursement. However, the criteria and amount of the reimbursement are subject to relevant regulations.

Table 1 Necessary supporting documents for the reimbursement application in Taiwan

Table 2 All regional divisions of the NHIA