The MOHW recently announced the members of the 5th term of the NHI Committee (NHIC), introducing some new blood to replace long-time members who have been under severe criticism. Among the 39 members, 18 are new faces. The new NHIC is going to have the first meeting at the end of April to discuss the scope of the 2022 global budget and other issues.
Zhou Shu-Wan, the Executive Secretary of the NHIC, expressed that in principle, the committee members are supposed to be re-elected once; however, this is not the code. The public voiced their concerns over the situation of long-time members; and the MOHW is now addressing this issue by replacing old members with fresh faces. About 46.2% of the members of the 5th term NHIC are new members.
According to the MOHW’s announcement, the members representing the premium payers are selected from the Chinese Federation of Occupation Labour, the Taiwan Alliance of Patients’ Organizations, the Healthcare Reform Foundation, the Chinese National Federation of Industries, etc.; the members representing the healthcare providers are selected from the Taiwan Hospital Association, the Taiwan Medical Association, the Federation of Taiwan Pharmacists Associations, etc.; and the impartial representatives are selected from universities and the Consumers’ Foundation, etc.
The MOHW had requested each organization to nominate twice the number of members they are entitle to. The MOHW Minister then made the final decision and appointed the members from the nominees. The new NHIC will have their first meeting on April 30 to discuss the planning of the accreditation in July and the scope of the 2022 global budget, as well as other regular tasks.
【2021-04-09 / China Times】
