Online Program

324638
Last Piece of the Puzzle – the Amendment of National Health Insurance Act to Enroll the Inmates in Taiwan


Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Yi-Chi Hung, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taipei City, Taiwan
Hui-Hsin Liu, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taipei City, Taiwan
The healthcare for the inmates is supported by the national expense in most countries. Taiwan has adopted the same approach since National Health Insurance (NHI) was introduced in 1995, considering some issues such as the inmates’ accessibility to insurance medical services and the controversy about the burden of premiums.

However, the shortage of medical staff in prisons-which has been an ongoing issue- has brought the inmates’ rights to health to our concern. During the NHI Act amendment process in 2010, the legislators demanded that the inmates must be enrolled in Taiwan NHI program, and the bill was passed then. For the inmates, this bill regulates that the government shall subsidize their premium in full, but it allows setting restriction on their treatment schedule and venue.

As a result, the enrollment rate of NHI approaches 100% , and it symbolizes the advance in human rights. Nevertheless, NHI system must conquer many challenges such as service delivery. For now, National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) has been asking medical teams to provide medical services in all prisons in Taiwan, and after one year of implementation, the satisfaction rate of inmates has exceeded 90%.

Learning Areas:

Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the pros and cons of the Taiwan's National Health Insurance Act amended to allow inmates to be insured.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: 1. I am a member of the task force which in charge of drafting Taiwan's National Health Insurance Act amendment. 2. I've worked at MOHW over 20years, among these years, I involved every major reform of National Health Insurance in Taiwan.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4280.0: Health Law Poster Session #1