The NHI global budget was concluded on the 27th without great controversy.  The representatives of healthcare providers and fee payers agreed on the 2015 global budget of NT$590 billion.  Among them, NT$400 billion go to hospitals, NT$39.1 billion go to dentistry and NT$22.1 billion go to Chinese medicine. 

In order to control the growth of health expenditure, the NHIA fixes the global budget annually.  The decision about setting and allocating the global budget is determined by the NHI Board through negotiation.   The Board made a decision on next year’s budget at NT$590 billion, up by 3%.  Part of the increase will be spent on the improvement of the healthcare services in remote areas and the treatments for rare diseases and certain conditions, such as rabies.  

Since the implementation of the global budget in 2002, the negotiation of the budget has been a battling ground between healthcare providers and fee payers.  However, this year’s discussion went quite smoothly.  

Tsai Ming-Chung, Secretary General of the Taiwan Medical Association and a representative of healthcare providers, expressed that the negotiation result is not 100% satisfaction, but compromise has been made on grounds of the NHI’s financial difficulties.  Lien Rei-Mong, the President of the Taiwan Alliance for Healthcare Excellence, expressed that this has been the most peaceful negotiation process so far. 

【2014-09-28 United Daily News】