Huang Guochang said that the elderly are exempt from health insurance premiums and there is no need to increase the premiums for young people. Shi Chongliang: The pressure of premium payment will be passed on to workers.
Quick Look
- The Legislative Yuan passed an amendment to the law that exempts seniors over the age of 65 whose income tax rate falls below 20% from paying health insurance premiums, which will be subsidized by the central government.
- Popular Party Chairman Huang Guochang said that this move will not increase the burden on young people, but Minister of Health and Welfare Shi Chongliang warned that central subsidies will crowd out other dispatchable resources, affect the sustainable development of health insurance, and may eventually lead to an increase in premiums, shifting the burden to workers aged 15 to 64.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The Legislative Yuan passed an amendment to the Elderly Welfare Law, allowing seniors over the age of 65 whose income tax bracket does not reach 20% to pay health insurance premiums, which will be subsidized by the central government. This policy has caused controversy, and the medical community is worried that it will impact health insurance security reserves and increase the burden on young people.
Blue and White teamed up to pass a law amendment in the Legislative Yuan. Elderly people over 65 years old will be conditionally exempted from paying health insurance premiums, raising questions about deepening intergenerational antagonism. People's Party Chairman Huang Guochang said that the health insurance revenue gap after the new law is implemented will be borne by the central government and will not cause an increase in premiums for young people. However, Minister of Health and Welfare Shi Chongliang emphasized that filling the premium gap for the elderly will crowd out other dispatchable resources of the central government. At that time, the government will be unable to further invest in health insurance and can only return to premium support and pass on the pressure of premium payment to workers.
Filling the premium gap for the elderly will crowd out central resources
The Legislative Yuan recently passed the draft amendment to the "Elderly Welfare Act" in the third reading, which allows seniors over the age of 65 and whose income tax rate falls below 20% to be exempted from paying health insurance premiums, which will be subsidized by the central agency. This has caused an uproar from all walks of life. In particular, the medical community has criticized that this move will impact the health insurance safety reserve and even cause young people to pay an extra NT$3,000 in premiums every year, which will increase the burden on the younger generation.
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However, Huang Guochang said that after the amendment of the "Elderly Welfare Law" was passed, the central government subsidized the elderly's health insurance premiums. In this way, it can ensure that the health insurance fund will not be less than a cent, so why do young people have to pay an extra 3,000 yuan a year? He criticized the Ministry of Health and Welfare for discrediting the amendment. It is not only a double standard, but also a cognitive battle using information gaps.
Shi Chongliang said that before the "Old Welfare Law" was revised, it was confirmed after negotiation that the total amount of health insurance would exceed 10% next year, but it would also cause a deficit in premium income. Therefore, the Executive Yuan used the official budget to replenish the health insurance fund so that health insurance could balance its expenditures and maintain safety reserve levels, so that health insurance could not adjust premiums.
However, after the passage of the amendment to the "Elderly Welfare Law", the central government will subsidize the elderly's premiums. Shi Chongliang is worried that in the past, the subsidy was provided by local governments. The change to the central government's injection will crowd out the resources that the central government can deploy and affect the continued growth of the total amount in the future. It will also affect other social welfare expenditures. If you want to maintain the operation of health insurance in the future, you will eventually have to return to the practice of paying premiums and pass on the pressure of premium payment to workers aged 15 to 64.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the elderly currently pay about 9,900 yuan in out-of-pocket premiums per year, but the average medical expenditure reaches 90,000 yuan, which is about nine times. Shi Chongliang recently stated that the revision of the law involves the ability to pay for health insurance, sustainable development and generational justice. The annual out-of-pocket premium for children aged 0 to 6 is about NT$8,500, and the average medical expenditure is about NT$27,000, about three times that of the elderly. Both medical expenditures exceed self-paid premiums and are supported by workers and salaried classes with relatively low medical utilization. Therefore, fairness should be considered when discussing subsidies for infants and the elderly.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
If central resources are squeezed out, health insurance premiums may need to be adjusted in the future to maintain fund balance.
Likely · Within months
The younger generation’s dissatisfaction with this policy may continue to simmer and become a social issue
Possible · Within weeks
Open Questions
- How will the central government raise financial resources to subsidize the elderly's health care premiums?
- Will this policy lead to cuts in other social welfare spending?
- Can the National Health Insurance Fund still maintain a safe reserve level under long-term operations?
