Huang Guochang lists Green Camp’s political views on elderly health insurance subsidy. Lawyer refutes these arguments

On October 16, the Legislative Yuan passed the third reading of the amendment to Article 22 of the Elderly Welfare Law, which exempts about 80% of adults from health insurance premiums and increases annual expenditures by 40 billion.

People's Party Chairman Huang Guochang recently compiled a number of DPP county mayor candidates who have put forward the political idea of ​​"subsidizing health insurance premiums for those over 65 years old" and questioned "the DPP can do it, why can't the People's Party". Lawyer Lin Zhiqun refuted this in a Facebook post today, pointing out that the two are completely different in nature, and that the version passed by Blue and White in the Legislative Yuan violated the iron law of the Constitution that "the Legislative Yuan shall not increase the budget."

Lin Zhiqun pointed out that local government subsidies are proposed by the county mayor and other administrative powers and submitted to the parliament for review and approval. They are not proposed and passed by the parliament themselves. The information compiled by Huang Guochang itself states that it is the "political opinions of the county mayor candidate." After being elected, the procedure of budget preparation by the executive power is completely legal. On the other hand, the Legislative Yuan is not an administrative power, but it proposes a budget bill on its own, and its authority has been confused.

In addition, the content of the two subsidies is also very different. Most local governments provide subsidies for "low-income seniors", with an upper limit of about 800 yuan. They are not completely free. The only exception is Taipei City. Only high-income seniors with an income tax rate of more than 20% need to pay themselves, and the city government pays the rest. More importantly, local governments have proposed financial resource plans, but the Blue and White Legislative Yuan version does not explain where the money will come from, which violates budget laws.

Lin Zhiqun also emphasized the difference in fiscal flexibility. If local governments have insufficient financial resources, they can stop it. However, once the Legislative Yuan passes the legislative amendment, it will fixed expenditures of 30 to 40 billion yuan every year. Unless the law is revised again, it cannot be stopped, which will cause a long-term burden on the national finance. He criticized Huang Guochang for not even clarifying the separation of administrative and legislative powers.