CLA officials said that some 70,000 families around the island will be eligible for the subsidy, which is estimated at around NT$200 million per year.

The new measure, the officials said, will help ease the financial burden on unemployed, but insured workers.

Accordingly to Article 10 of the existing employment insurance law, the workers can have their national health insurance premium payment subsidized by the CLA, but many of them cannot afford to pay the insurance premiums for their family members, putting their family members’ health at risk.

To address this problem, the CLA has revised the employment insurance law, installing an additional article to allow family members of insured workers who become jobless to enjoy subsidized premium payments.

In order to simplify the application procedures, insured jobless workers are not required to file applications for the subsidy, and instead, the CLA and the Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI) will use the computer system to work out the name list of those who are qualified.

If family members of jobless workers have their national health insurance cards suspended by the BNHI for failing to pay the insurance premium, the cards will be valid again after the subsidy measure takes place on Jan. 31.

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