A government plan to hike the "National Health Insurance" (NHI) premium rate to 5.17 percent drew mixed reactions from legislators.

Wednesday, the government approved a plan to raise the premium rate from 4.55 percent to 5.17 percent beginning April 1.

The adjustment marks the second rate hike since the system was initiated in 1995, according to a Department of Health (DOH) official.

The health insurance premium rate was raised from 4.25 percent to 4.55 percent in September 2002 to reflect an increase in medical expenditures, the official said.

The "Bureau of National Health Insurance" predicted at the time that the first rate hike would inject NT$18 billion annually into the health insurance system. If the rate had not been raised in 2002, there would have been a deficit of NT$5.2 billion in 2005 and a deficit of NT$20 billion in 2006, the official said.

The hike announced Wednesday is expected to ease the system's financial burden slightly, according to the official.

Lin Hung-chih, a whip of the ruling Kuomintang legislative caucus, said that the caucus supports the government-proposed plan because it will leave 78 percent of those covered by the compulsory health insurance program unaffected by the rate hike, will not require amendments to any laws and could stabilize the system's operations.

Opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus whip Lee Chun-yi expressed concern that the plan would add to the financial burden on taxpayers, who would have to cover government subsidization of premium hikes for lower income individuals.

DPP legislator Chen Ting-fei said the bureau should first address the waste and abuse of medical resources and recover premiums that Taipei and Kaohsiung owe before hiking health insurance premiums.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 03/18/2010 page4)