BNHI to issue paper insurance cards until controversy resolves

A top BNHI official said that the bureau has decided not to renew its contract with IC cards supplier Teco Electrical & Machinery Co., Ltd. after the contract expires on August. 6, because the firm's chairman Liu Chao-kai is Premier Liu's younger brother.

"Based on the Public Officers Conflict of Interest Avoidance Act, the BNHI cannot renew the contract with Teco," said Chu Tzer-ming, president and CEO of the BNHI.

Teco won an NT$3.8 billion contract in 2001 to issue 1.6 million IC cards per year, but the company won't be able to issue any such IC cards after the contract expires on August 6, based on the BNHI's latest decision.

It will take some six months to choose a new vendor through an open bidding process. During the bidding period, the bureau estimates 800,000 people in Taiwan, including newborn babies, foreign spouses and workers as well as those who lose their cards, will need new cards.

At the moment, the BNHI issues around 130,000 health insurance IC cards at a capacity of around 5,000 cards per working day.

People given temporary paper cards will be required to also present their identity cards when they seek health care services.

Although Premier Liu was sworn-in on May 20, the BNHI said it did not know that Teco's chairman was the premier's brother until early June. At that time, it asked the Ministry of Justice for an interpretation of the conflict of interest law.

The ministry replied to the BNHI last Friday that contracting with Teco might violate the law, forcing the bureau to seek a new IC card supplier, according to Chu.

In Taiwan, almost every citizen holds a health insurance IC card, which is nearly as common as an identity card. Since the holder's medical history is recorded on the chip, the IC card raised privacy concerns when it was first issued in 2002.

On another front, Teco said that the company has yet to receive any official notification from the BNHI about whether to renew the contract, and that the firm may follow relevant rules and regulations if the Ministry of Justice interprets that the renewal of the contract does violate the Public Officers Conflict of Interest Avoidance Act.

A company spokesman said that Teco won't rule out asking for explanations from the Grand Justices on the controversial issue.

Meanwhile, Chen Jen-hung, chairman of the Consumers' Foundation and a new member of the Control Yuan, took the initiative to apply for investigating the case yesterday morning.

Chen will focus his investigation on whether there has been any delay by the BNHI in finding a new partner after Premier Liu took office, and how the BNHI will reduce inconveniences patients may encounter with the use of paper health insurance cards.

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