The National Health Insurance Committee (NHIC) is slated to hold an impromptu meeting on Nov. 27 to discuss adjustments to National Health Insurance (NHI) premium rates. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung said that as adjustments to the NHI premium rate is expected to have wide implications and with many NHIC members believing that there are still outstanding issues that must be resolved before consensus on the change can formed, it is hoped that these challenges may be resolved through further discussions and brainstorming with stakeholder groups.

Previously, the NHIC held a meeting on Nov. 20 to discuss adjustments to the NHI premium rate for 2021. However, the meeting was inconclusive due to differences in opinions on issues including the NHI safety reserve and whether the government have been fulfilling its legal obligation of shouldering at least 36 percent of NHI expenditures. These differences have prompted the need to hold an impromptu meeting on Nov. 27.

Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung said that the debate about whether to raise NHI premium rates is a fiscal problem and that the National Health Insurance Act stipulates the NHIC as the platform where relevant decisions on NHI premium rate are made. However, ultimately, the government is still responsible for the NHI system. Minister Chen said that prior to the final decision on the premium rate, unnecessary remarks on the matter could compromise upcoming discussions.

Minister Chen said that as NHI premium rate adjustments could affect the NHI’s balance sheet by billions of New Taiwan dollars, even a one-percent change could bring profound effects on many levels. Naturally, the pace of discussion will not be quick as each stakeholder group approaches the matter with great caution. The current atmosphere is that stakeholder groups seem to be willing to hold reasonable discussions, which improves the chances of compromise. This is a very good sign for the NHIC, a platform that is in the position to make great contributions to the NHI and Taiwan, Minister Chen said.

Minister Chen pointed out that the reason that the earlier NHIC meeting was inconclusive is that some NHIC members remain divided on several outstanding issues, which makes it difficult for the committee to form consensus on raising NHI premium. Some members feel that copayments should be raised to reduce wastage of resources, while others believe that the issues of drawing revenues from beneficiaries’ overseas income as well as addressing the practice of suspension and re-enrollment among beneficiaries residing overseas, should be addressed before discussions may begin on adjusting NHI premium. These factors show the difficulties of ongoing NHIC negotiations.

Fortunately, NHIC members are able to clearly define the issues but whether a consensus may be formed is another matter, Minister Chen said, while expressing hope that stakeholder groups will continue to brainstorm and resolve the issues.

[2020-11-20/Central News Agency]