1. Reasons for Revision
According to the Charges and Fees Act (CAFA), government agencies shall collect fees when providing personal information to individuals, and a routine review of the charges and fee standards is required at least once every three years. The pre-revised fees had been in use for almost three years since October 1, 2007. In order to respond to the NHI Supervisory Commission’s request to readjust fees to reflect actual costs, the Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI) performed a comprehensive review of its fees accordingly. The BHNI’s revised fees came into effect on August 1, 2010 after a standard public announcement and gaining approval from the Ministry of Finance.
2. Revised Fees for Medical Records Requests
According to the revised fees, individuals requesting simple-format personal information containing only the names of hospitals and dates shall pay NT$300 for each personal request. Fees for detailed medical records—including the names of departments, ICD codes, etc.—will be determined by the amount of staff and equipment time used. Staff fees are NT$4000 per full person-day and NT$2000 if less than a full person-day. Equipment fees include the use of operation hosts and warehouse hosts. The use of operation hosts costs NT$1300 per hour, and NT$ 2100 per hour for warehouse hosts.
Example 1: Individuals authorizing insurance companies to request personal information from the BNHI for private insurance purposes will have to pay a fee of NT$300.
Example 2: If a detail medical record request takes six hours of staff time and one hour of operation host time, a NT$2000 staff fee and a NT$1300 fee for operation host will be required. The total fee will be NT$3300.
3. Free Access to Personal Medical Records Provided by the BNHI
With a national health insurance card, individuals can also easily access information about their last six medical visits free of charge by using public information service or a card reader at places such as BNHI regional divisions, liaison offices, outpatient centers, and local (city/district/town) administration offices. Individuals with a Citizen Digital Certificate can also obtain medical visits of the most recent three months via the BNHI website (homepage> multi-certificate network platform > NHI personal medical records). Individuals are encouraged to use these free services.
4. All required forms needed to take out an insurance policy, such as personal status of enrollment or premium payment are provided free of charge.