you’re going to be spending a ton of money just for visa runs… and private insurance. you’d really be better off getting a job that will provide you with an arc… 15 hours a week like posted above. if you’re coming here to freelance, then you probably have a pretty flexible schedule.
if you really don’t mind doing visa runs (maybe your employer will pay for them?) then you can look into travel insurance from your home country and see if it would provide coverage for a year - since technically you will be in and out of Taiwan on visa runs. i got travel insurance through ING here in taiwan before I went back to the states and canada since i no longer have health insurance in either countries. i think i paid 1,500NT for a month of coverage; stipulation being i would be covered if i didn’t get treatment for anything i had treatment for in the previous six months in taiwan. :s
just call your local private insurance company and ask.