In support of the basic wage adjustment on January 1, 2017, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has recently announced the changes made to the National Health Insurance (NHI) Payroll Brackets on which premiums are calculated. The Bracket 1 monthly insured amount was adjusted to NT$21,009. All employees of public and private sectors throughout Taiwan, approximately 2.92 million people in total (including spouses), are estimated to sustain an increase of NT$1 to NT$14 in insurance premium costs per month. In addition, the monthly insured amount applicable to the head of urban/rural villages and highly skilled individuals who do not hire paid employees to help with their work (excluding accountants, lawyers, architects, doctors, dentists, and Chinese medicine practitioners) will also be subjected to these changes.

According to the National Health Insurance Act, the minimum insured payroll-related amount in the Payroll Brackets on which premiums are calculated shall be equal to the base salary promulgated by the central competent authority in charge of labor affairs. The National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) indicated that because the Council of Labor Affairs has announced that the base salary will be adjusted from NT$20,008 to NT$21,009 as of January 1, 2017, the MOHW subsequently submitted a revision plan for the National Health Insurance (NHI) Premium Grading Table to the Executive Yuan for approval. The revision will be implemented on January 1, 2017 as announced by the MOHW.

As indicated by the NHIA, changes made to the Payroll Brackets on which premiums are calculated as follows: (1) Bracket 1 monthly insured amount was adjusted to NT$21,009; (2) Bracket 2 amount of NT$20,100 and Bracket 3 amount of NT$21,000 in previous version were eliminated; and (3) the remaining amounts were unchanged, and the payroll brackets were adjusted accordingly. The revised Payroll Brackets on which premiums are calculated comprises a total of 50 brackets (please see an attached file).