The government is currently evaluating various possible means of coping with an additional NT$12.1 billion in spending that will result from a plan to subsidize "National Health Insurance" (NHI) premiums for lower income individuals when an imminent increase takes effect, the Executive Yuan's chief budgeter said Thursday.

Shih Su-mei, head of the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS), told legislators that the DGBAS will request all agencies under the Executive Yuan to try to adjust their budgets and will also ask the "Bureau of National Health Insurance" (BNHI) to explore the possibility of allocating some of the revenue from the health surcharge on cigarettes to the subsidy fund.

If these two measures fail to generate enough funds, the remainder can be covered in the fiscal 2011 budget, Shih said.

Another option is to draw on the Executive Yuan's second reserve fund, she added.

On Wednesday, the DOH announced that before a second-generation plan is made available, the government will raise the health insurance premium rate in April from the present 4.55 percent to 5.17 percent, as a stopgap measure to keep the insurance system solvent.

Under the plan, 78 percent of those covered by the insurance program will remain unaffected by the rate hikes because of offsetting subsidies.

The government will fully subsidize the hike in premiums for those whose income for insurance purposes falls below NT$41,000, and will cover 20 percent of the increase for those in the NT$42,000 to NT$53,000 bracket.

Those whose premiums are based on incomes of over NT$53,000 will not receive any subsidies to defray the increase.

The BNHI said that the 22 percent of individuals who will be affected by the hikes can apply for a relief loan or an installment plan in the event of contingencies that result in financial difficulty or inability to pay their insurance premiums.

These contingencies include injury or death of the family's main breadwinner, as well as expectant mothers in their second or third trimesters who encounter unexpected financial problems, BHNI officials said.

Meanwhile, a civic watchdog group urged the government Thursday to speed up its plan to introduce a second-generation NHI program, which is considered essential to saving the financially troubled program.

The second-generation NHI refers to a new scheme to calculate premiums based on total household incomes rather than the existing system, which considers only individuals' salaries and wages.

Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou said a day earlier that the plan should be implemented within two years.

Teng Hsi-hua, a spokeswoman for the group that is monitoring the NHI program, said the Executive Yuan and the Department of Health (DOH) should do their jobs more quickly because the overhaul is "not as difficult as imagined."

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 03/19/2010 page8)