Cabinet unveils free NHI plan for seniors, KMT’s Hou cries foul

Cabinet unveils free NHI plan for seniors, KMT’s Hou cries foul

2023-09-07

The Executive Yuan plans to provide free NHI to unemployed adults 65 and older, starting in 2025 at the earliest. It made the announcement on Wednesday, after the KMT’s Hou Yu-ih proposed NHI subsidies for all adults 65 and older. Hou blasted the government for partially copying his policy.

Hou Yu-ih
KMT presidential candidate
The DPP has done nothing for seven years. Now they’ve decided to follow my lead. If they want to copy me, they should copy the whole thing, not just half of it.

Ko Wen-je
TPP presidential candidate
They’re just trying to keep up with the Joneses by rushing out this crude policy. It’s not very responsible of the government.

Lin Tzu-luen
Executive Yuan spokesperson
Universal NHI subsidies for adults 65 and older could squeeze the budgets of other welfare programs. The Executive Yuan believes that it’s not advisable to rush this policy. Based on the budget scale and scope of care, it must conduct calculations and assessments and carefully weigh considerations of fairness and financial burdens, before submitting the proposal for Cabinet review.

Cheng Wen-tsan
Vice premier
We will assess all aspects of the proposal. Older adults without earning power and elders who need care will be given priority.

The NHI director says that universal subsidies could make the health program system unsustainable. Therefore, the plan will first target adults 65 and older who are unemployed and are not the dependents of their children. Some 700,000 people are expected to benefit.

政院研擬 "第六類"65歲以上無業長者有條件補助保費

2023-09-07

國民黨與民眾黨總統參選人陸續拋出，65歲以上健保費全免的政見，行政院則將研擬"第六類"65歲以上無業長者健保"有條件補助，最快2025年上路，遭質疑跟進在野黨候選人政見，侯友宜痛批，應該大家都免費，柯文哲則說這態度不對。對此行政院表示，要通盤考慮才不會有排擠效應。

[[國民黨總統參選人侯友宜]]
“民進黨7年都不做，馬上跟進，那你要跟進也要跟進全部，不要跟進半套。”

[[民眾黨總統參選人柯文哲]]
“輸人不輸陣，趕快推出一個(政見)，可是你那個都不是精算，不是很負責任的政府。”

[[行政院發言人林子倫]]
“(65歲以上健保全免)相關提議恐將排擠其他社福預算，行政院表示不宜貿然躁進，也須就達預算規模，跟照顧範圍，進行試算跟充分評估，並在審慎衡酌公平性跟財政負擔後，再報行政院進行核定。”

[[行政院副院長鄭文燦]]
“我們會通案的全盤考慮，主要是針對比較沒有能力的，比較需要照顧的長者，那個部分要優先。”

健保署長石崇良認為，若全額補助恐造成健保入不敷出，但因為各地方政府補助標準不一，因此先針對"沒有工作"的弱勢族群、也"沒依附"子女的投保者補助，估計大約有70萬人。

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We shall remain committed to advocate for the active and meaningful participation of Taiwan in the activities of the World Health Organization. As it stands, it does not make sense. Taiwan has one of the best health systems I have seen.

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This family is totally unfazed by the bees filling the air. Three generations of Wus are all beekeepers.

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Wu Hsuan-chiao
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Wu Hsuan-chiao
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I’ve been keeping bees since I was a child. We all have a mission to keep bees. And I feel so happy to be able to turn them into different products and share them with everyone.

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