With the revenues from the tobacco tax adjustment that will come into effect on June 1, 2009, and from the national lottery funds subsidy plan, the Bureau of National Health Insurance has secured budgets for two new measures to help economically disadvantaged individuals:
1.A portion of the revenue from the increase in the tobacco tax will be used to help members of low-income households pay their National Health Insurance premiums; around 470,000 people will benefit from this measure.
2.The Ministry of Finance has agreed to allow national lottery funds to be used to help pay off copayment charges for disadvantaged individuals whose hospital stay incurs a co-payment charge of more than NT$30,000, and to help members of disadvantaged groups who have accumulated unpaid National Health Insurance premium debts. It is anticipated that approximately 16,000 individuals will benefit from this measure.
In all, approximately 490,000 individuals will benefit from these new measures; the total amount of subsidies will come to NT$1,796 million. These steps represent a concrete example of the government’s commitment to caring for the individuals. The following categories of individuals will qualify to benefit from the new measures:
1.Helping individuals to pay National Health Insurance premiums (see Attachment):
(1)Members of the household whose income is less than 1.5 times the official minimum subsistence income will have half of their National Health Insurance premiums paid for them.
(2)Members of the household whose income is less than 2 times the official minimum subsistence income will have one-quarter of their National Health Insurance premiums paid for them.
It is estimated that around 470,000 individuals will benefit from this measure; the total amount of subsidy will be approximately NT$1,396 million.
2.Helping individuals to repay accumulated unpaid National Health Insurance premiums:
Individuals who accumulated unpaid National Health Insurance premium debt prior to being designated as members of low-income households will be helped to repay these unpaid premiums, to avoid the situation where individuals meet barriers in seeking medical treatment because of unpaid premiums. It is anticipated that around 8,000 individuals will benefit from this measure; the total amount of subsidy will be approximately NT$280 million.
3.Helping individuals with copayment charges:
(1)The annual upper limit on co-payment charges for individuals who remain in hospital will be reduced from NT$50,000 to NT$30,000, to reduce the financial pressure that these charges can cause for them.
(2)The following categories of persons will be eligible to benefit from this measure:
a.Persons meeting the criteria laid down in the Regulations Governing the Determination of Economically-disadvantaged or Special Economic Circumstances Status for National Health Insurance Purposes.
b.Members of low-income households aged 70 or over.
c.Severely handicapped and very severely handicapped persons (mental or physical handicap).
d.Members of indigenous communities under the age of 20 or over the age of 55 who are registered with their local township office for National Health Insurance purposes.
e.Members of indigenous communities living in Lanyu Rural Township who are registered with a trade union, farmers’ association or fishermen’s association, or with their local township office, for National Health Insurance purposes.
f.Members of low-income households who are under the age of 18.
g.Children who are members of disadvantaged groups.
It is anticipated that around 8,000 individuals will benefit from this measure; the total amount of subsidy will be around NT$120 million.
Persons who meet the criteria specified in Items 2 and 3 above will be notified by the Bureau of National Health Insurance in mid-2009. The Bureau would like to remind individuals who are unable to pay their National Health Insurance premiums because of financial difficulties that, if they need urgent medical assistance, they should contact their local Bureau of National Health Insurance branch office, which will try to provide them with appropriate assistance.
To find out more about these subsidy measures, please call the Bureau of National Health Insurance toll-free hotline: 0800-030-598.