Premier asks DOH minister to reconsider resignation

Johnny Chiang, Cabinet spokesman and chief of the Government Information Office, said Premier Wu has been dissuading Yaung from quitting at a juncture when the National Health Insurance (NHI) remains in the critical stage of reforms.

Yaung earlier announced his surprise resignation, citing that his agency is unable to meet the premier's plan on how the NHI premium rates should be adjusted to bolster the cash-strapped program.

He said at a hastily called news conference that he could not go along with Wu's insistence that 75 percent of the people should be unaffected by the premium increase plan and that only the wealthiest 25 percent should be made to pay more.

According to various options drawn up by the DOH's Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI), Yaung said he could only assure Wu that 59 percent of local people would remain unaffected by the upward premium adjustment plan.

“We have tried to the best of our ability... but we still have been unable to meet the premier's target,” Yaung said. “Against this backdrop, I should no longer remain in my post.”

In his resignation statement, Yaung further said he has consistently felt that the government should introduce a second-generation health insurance program in its ultimate reform goal.

A second-generation health insurance program would calculate premiums based on total household incomes instead of the existing system that is based only on the insured people's earned income without taking into account other incomes as stock market profits. The new system would ensure that rich people would pay more in insurance premier fees.

Yaung also complained that the premium issue has been often abused during elections in Taiwan which prevent the government and the public from making a rational decision.

His resignation would leave the second-generation plan in limbo.

Yaung was only the second non-physician DOH minister in the department's 39-year history.

During his tenure of a little under eight months, Yaung experienced several major controversial events, including the lifting of a ban on bone-in U.S. beef and the H1N1 immunization program.

Yaung had vowed shortly after assuming office that he would oversee reforms in Taiwan's NHI program. At the time, he said Taiwan has a widely acclaimed health insurance program, but it is on shaky ground because of its long-term financial straits. As health minister, Yaung said, he was obligated to transform the program into a financially viable system.

BNHI officials said the bureau has tried all possible channels to create new revenues and cut down on possible wastes of medical resources.

However, the bureau's deficit had grown to NT$58.8 billion as of the end of last December with an accumulated interest burden of NT$7 billion on loans from banks.

The financial deficit is expected to almost double to NT$101.5 billion by the end of this year if the premium rates remain unchanged.

The bureau has decided to make public quarterly financial reports so that all people in the country will gain a complete understanding about the financial situation of the NHI system and conduct joint supervision of the program, the officials said.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email