In an interview with United Daily News on Feb. 18, National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) Director General Shih Chung-liang said that as the workforce shrinks and the population ages, Taiwan can no longer rely on premium payments as it has done in the past, noting that the Ministry of Health and Welfare will discuss raising supplemental premium rates and caps, as well as requiring supplemental premiums on other types of non-salary income.

NHIA Director General Shih said that the discussions will also focus on whether to levy supplemental premiums on other types of capital gains income. He added that as levying supplemental premiums on proceeds from real estate transactions requires legislation, they will be discussed when the amendment is in progress. On whether National Health Insurance (NHI) premium rates should be determined by household income, as the matter involves the tax code, careful consideration is required to ensure fairness.

NHIA Director General Shih also expressed hopes to first finalize the NHI global budget before deciding on changes to NHI supplemental premium rates. He emphasized that the global budget does not require the Legislative Yuan’s approval, and expressed hopes that politics will not interfere with discussions to better implement the user pays principle among payers, providers, academics and experts on the National Health Insurance Committee.

[2025-2-18/United Daily News]