Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung earlier proposed several measures to reform the National Health Insurance system, including higher copayments for drug prescriptions, medical tests and emergency care. Among them, a proposal to require a NT$40 “base” copayment for drug prescriptions was met with concerns among clinics and other frontline health care providers. In response, National Health Insurance Administration Director General Lee Po-chang on March 11 said that he has consulted with Minister Chen on the matter and has not ruled out the option of not implementing the NT$40 base copayment.

According to early versions of the proposal on raising copayments that have been unveiled, drug prescriptions will be charged a copayment between NT$40 and NT$200, while medical tests will be charged a copayment between NT$50 and NT$200, with emergency care to see an across-the-board increase. However, frontline health care providers said that the change would penalize patients who have lower costing drug prescriptions, as the cap on copayments is set at NT$200.

Director General Lee said communications on the matter have been smooth with Minister Chen, and that the minister values the opinions of frontline health care providers. Director General Lee said that the opinions of stakeholders have been heard and that he will work towards balancing the need for health care providers to do their jobs well with Minister Chen’s aim to meet the goals of the referral system.

However, Director General Lee said that the decisions on setting different base copayments according to the scale of health care providers, scuttling the base copayment entirely, or even the amount to charge for the base copayment have not been made. There are still many details being discussed and the government will announce its decision in due time, Director General Lee said.

[2021-3-11/CNEWS]