With President-elect Lai Ching-te advocating for a "Healthy Taiwan," healthcare policies have garnered significant attention, and the helm of the Ministry of Health and Welfare has been passed to Chiu Tai-yuan, a distinguished professor from the School of Medicine at National Taiwan University and former legislator. As food safety issues have been continuously escalating recently and the National Health Insurance system, now approaching its thirtieth year, faces financial woes due to the soaring costs of new drugs, as well as the predicament of surrogacy brought up by opposition party legislators, Chiu Tai-yuan will face significant challenges in the current turbulent political environment.
On the 19th, Chiu Tai-yuan stated that Taiwan has an excellent national health insurance system with very high public satisfaction rates. He emphasized the need to cherish this system, which caters to the needs of the vulnerable. With an aging society on the horizon, there will be increasing demands on healthcare, putting immense pressure on the system. The current administration is diversifying its efforts to bolster the system, and the new team will spare no effort in seeking multiple injections to ensure the sustainability of health insurance, aligning with the goal of creating a healthy Taiwan.
On the same day, outgoing Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung expressed confidence in Chiu Tai-yuan, believing him to be a capable minister. Chen hoped that the new minister would continue efforts to address child abuse incidents. He stressed the importance of every task within the ministry and expressed confidence in Chiu Tai-yuan's ability to handle them effectively.
Chairman of the Taiwan Medical Association, Chou Ching-ming, stated that Chiu Tai-yuan will face the greatest challenge of "health insurance reform" after assuming office. However, he noted that Chiu Tai-yuan is flexible and believes that his strong communication skills will help drive legislation and address various issues, including health insurance.
"The new minister must first consider how to expand health insurance funding while ensuring social equity," suggested Hong Tzu-jen, Chairman of the Taiwan Society of Health Administration. He proposed that the total health insurance expenditure be supported by public budgets, and laws be amended to adjust the single premium cap for personal supplementary insurance to NT$50 million. Additionally, he recommended lifting the ceiling on the health insurance premium rate to 6%, with the ultimate goal of reforming the total expenditure system. Adjusting rates to increase the health insurance total expenditure and improve financial difficulties will undoubtedly require amendments to health insurance laws. Chiu Tai-yuan must use his wisdom to strike a balance between health insurance finances and public opinion after taking office.
Furthermore, with domestically produced pork found to contain ractopamine and Sudan red chili powder incidents widespread, culminating in the food poisoning incident at the Baolin Tea House that resulted in two deaths, coupled with reports of suspected food poisoning incidents involving well-known establishments, public trust in food safety has plummeted. On the 10th of this month, Chen Shih-chung apologized to the public in the Legislative Yuan, admitting that the Sudan red incident was a central failure. Strengthening the five aspects of food safety to prevent a recurrence of food safety crises will test Chiu Tai-yuan's ability to handle crises.
Recently, Lai Ching-te's core team has been holding a series of "Healthy Taiwan" seminars nationwide, inviting medical professionals to participate, but patient groups and representatives were notably absent. Wu Hong-lai, chairman of the Taiwan Patient Alliance, stated that patient groups' opinions were not included in the communication process of the incoming administration's healthcare policy. Patients are important stakeholders in the health insurance system but are often overlooked. Wu hopes that after Chiu Tai-yuan assumes office, the opinions of patient groups will be taken into account at all levels of decision-making.
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