Health insurance premiums are free for those over 65 years old! Lawyer laments: Young people have to help people with assets and pensions pay the bills

The Legislative Yuan held a meeting on the 16th to deal with the bill and passed the "Draft Amendment to Article 22 of the Elderly Welfare Law" on the third reading. (File photo)

Yesterday, the Legislative Yuan passed the amendment to the "Elderly Welfare Act" in the third reading, which subsidizes the central government's health insurance premiums for those over 65 years old whose comprehensive income tax rate does not reach 20%, triggering a backlash from seven major medical groups. Lawyer Lin Zhiqun issued an article questioning that the threshold for 20% income tax is annual income of 1.33 million yuan. If you are over 65 and retired, how can you file income tax? He also cited data to question that in 2025, people over 65 years old will account for 19.6% of the total population, but will spend 43.59% of the medical expenses of the health insurance, which is equivalent to one person using twice the health insurance resources, but young people will have to pay for these people with assets and pensions.

Lin Zhiqun pointed out in a Facebook post that the threshold for 20% income tax is an annual income of 1.33 million yuan. If you are over 65 and retired, how can you file income tax? Then a group of elderly people who own 2 or 3 houses in Taipei City (with a combined value of more than 50 million yuan) can be exempted from paying health insurance premiums.

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Lin Zhiqun listed 5 key points for this:

1. If an elderly person receives a monthly refund of 50,000 yuan a month and earns 600,000 yuan a year, he will not reach the 20% income tax threshold at all.

2. If the elderly receive a monthly pension, they can deduct 859,000 yuan from their annual income (fixed tax exemption for retirement income), and the balance must be reported as income tax. If the income tax exceeds the 20% income tax threshold, the elderly’s annual income must exceed 2,189,000 yuan, which means that their monthly income exceeds 182,000 yuan before they need to pay health insurance premiums.

3. A bunch of people who own 2 or 3 houses in Taipei City, have assets of more than 50 million yuan, climb mountains every day after retirement, take seven days off per week, and have a monthly income of less than 180,000 yuan, can be exempted from paying health insurance premiums.

4. Who will help pay the health insurance premiums for these elderly people? They are office workers who earn 30,000 or 40,000 yuan a month and have to pay rent.

5. Young people have to pay an average of 3,000 yuan more in health insurance premiums every year to subsidize these elderly people with assets of tens of millions of yuan and annual income of less than 2.18 million yuan.

Lin Zhiqun also posted a picture to question the data. In 2025, people over 65 years old will account for 19.6% of the total population, but they will spend 43.59% of the medical expenses of the National Health Insurance. Compared with those under 65 years old, a person uses twice as much health insurance resources. Then they are free, and we young people help pay for them, those with assets and pensions?

The Legislative Yuan voted yesterday to approve amendments to the "Partial Articles of the Elderly Welfare Law" jointly recommended by the Kuomintang group and the People's Party group. The People's Party caucus held up the banner for a group photo after the vote was passed. (File photo)