The National Development Council (NDC) on June 29 approved a growth range between 2.097 percent and 4.5 percent for the 2021 National Health Insurance (NHI) global budget, in which the 4.5 percent upper growth rate is the lowest in the past seven years. Based on the growth range, the 2021 NHI global budget is expected to be between NT$774.5 billion and NT$786.5 billion, rising by between NT$21.9 billion and NT$33.9 billion. The 2021 NHI global budget still requires further deliberation by the National Health Insurance Committee (NHIC), and the outcome will likely affect possible NHI premium adjustments.
Department of Social Insurance Director General Shang Tung-fu said that the NHI’s income in 2020 is estimated at around NT$627.6 billion, which against expenditures of NT$695.2 billion, is expected to lead to a shortfall exceeding NT$60 billion. The costs of containing the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to require additional NHI expenditures in 2021, adding pressure to the system’s finances.
Sources indicate that NHI finances began recording annual shortfalls in 2017, with the balance being propped up by the system’s safety reserves. Regulations require that the NHI system maintain a safety reserve equivalent to one to three months’ expenditures. As of the end of May 2020, the NHI’s safety reserves were estimated at NT$153.1 billion, equivalent to around 2.75 months’ NHI expenditures, however, the figure has been dwindling consistently.
NDC Deputy Minister Kao Shien-quey attributed the low global budget growth rate to the NHI’s already-strained finances and the additional costs of containing the pandemic. The NT$12 billion difference between the upper and lower growth rates will be decided by the NHIC in consideration of the NHI’s fiscal condition, Taiwan’s economic growth rate, beneficiaries’ ability to bear NHI premiums and the need to introduce new drugs and medical devices as well as the need to promote government plans including treatment of rare diseases and to improve care provision for rural areas.
[2020-06-29 / Economic Daily News]
