No NHI for Newborns of Foreign Mothers?

Taiwan Parenting
41

We’re all registered on the Hukou (well I can only be registered as the wife and mother but not an actual member of the family)

All born in Taiwan all within the last six years,youngest is 1 1/2. We were registered in Xi Zhi when they were born but recently moved our Hukou to NeiHu, Taipei City so maybe it wasn’t offered in taipei County?

Definetly worth a phone call though.

Thanks

( Very sorry this is so off topic as the original post is much more important) :blush:

I have many foreign couples as clients and this is obviously a big concern of theirs. Some have purchased additional insurance from their home countries to cover themselves during pregnancy and the baby’s first year of life. I had one couple pay out of pocket for their preemie but luckily he was home in a week.

42

Regarding the payments for children, different areas do have different systems. For example, Hsinchu has a one-off “baby-bonus” payment of about 40,000 for your third and consecutive children, and I think they have monthly payments, too. When I had my children, Taipei city didn’t have anything like this, but it’s important to try and keep up with changes.

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[quote=“Mawvellous”][quote=“horo36”]Unfortunately that’s true. I am expecting a baby soon and both of us (me and my husband) are foreigners. We just learned that we can’t insure our baby in any insurance company in Taiwan till it is 14 years old!!!
We are considering leaving Taiwan…it really changes a lot…
And NHI doesnt kick in for the child of both foreigners![/quote]

Do you think it would be possible to buy insurance in your home country that covered medical expenses overseas? One idea…[/quote]

yes, it would be possible before pregnancy. if i would like to buy insurance for a baby after delivery, they would have to see the baby, which is not possible, if we stay here.
we discussed this many times and we will stay and take a risk. let’s keep the fingers crossed that the baby wont need any special care during the first 4 months. i am already contacting a lawyer about this. it is simply: discrimination.
I will try to get anything in writing what NHI for a baby of two foreigners covers, coz it doesnt cover any vaccinations…

44

[quote=“horo36”]yes, it would be possible before pregnancy. if I would like to buy insurance for a baby after delivery, they would have to see the baby, which is not possible, if we stay here.
we discussed this many times and we will stay and take a risk. let’s keep the fingers crossed that the baby wont need any special care during the first 4 months. I am already contacting a lawyer about this. it is simply: discrimination.
I will try to get anything in writing what NHI for a baby of two foreigners covers, because it doesnt cover any vaccinations…[/quote]

It applies to ALL children not just the furriner ones… even returning ROC citizens from abroaqd need to wait 4 months for NHI if they stopped paying before.

So it’s not discrimination it’s a policy applied equally to all. But the NHI says all children are covered if the parents also have NHI

45

That’s the thing, ST: you mention the Taiwanese that come back will lose the privilege of having their children covered IF they have stopped making their payments. Otherwise, they can come back anytime and have their children treated efficiently and effectively, even if they live abroad, have other nationalities, etc. They can just parachute in, have a tooth pulled, and be back over the weekend… *

However, we furriners, even when both parents have paid their NHI and have ARCs and all, are deprived of reasonably priced coverage. I know it is so as not to have blue collar workers enjoy this benefit, as usual, but it is a gross human right and children’s rights violation. It sucks big time.

*and I bet you that if they update their payments, they can get a refund for the excess already paid. That is their right.

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[quote=“Icon”]That’s the thing, ST: you mention the Taiwanese that come back will lose the privilege of having their children covered IF they have stopped making their payments. Otherwise, they can come back anytime and have their children treated efficiently and effectively, even if they live abroad, have other nationalities, etc. They can just parachute in, have a tooth pulled, and be back over the weekend… *

However, we furriners, even when both parents have paid their NHI and have ARCs and all, are deprived of reasonably priced coverage. I know it is so as not to have blue collar workers enjoy this benefit, as usual, but it is a gross human right and children’s rights violation. It sucks big time.

*and I bet you that if they update their payments, they can get a refund for the excess already paid. That is their right.[/quote]

I do belive that if you stopped paying, your NHI is cut off. You cannot back date payments and get a refund for services rendered. Not legally anyways afaik.

47

Thats US and Canadian law has nothing to do with Taiwan. Non residents who have children born in Australia also do not get citizenship for their children born in Australia. Many countries do not give out citizenship to non citizens born in those countries. In the USA those kids born there also do not get any government sponsered health insurance, like the rest of America. The same in Canada for non residents.

Yes I am one of those forumosas with a mixed child born here with no Taiwan citizenship. When my son went to live in Australia the NHI said he was not eligible to pay for NHI as he was not resident in Taiwan. In anycase his ARC expired and you cannot renew that overseas. So when he resturned he had to wait 4 months for NHI after he obtained a new ARC. Taiwanese also have their NHI and Household registration here cancelled if they live abroad. They also have to wait 4 months when they return.

But I, as most responsible parents do, have private medical insurance on top of the NHI. When my son was born over 18 years ago there was no NHI in Taiwan and I paid for a private clinic as the doctor had graduated from John Hopkins Medical college and was the only person willing to let me attend the birth of my son. All other hospitals refused to allow fathers to attend births that at the time.

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So knowing they were goin got have a child did thye not buy some of the cheap private medical insurance policy.

49

[quote=“horo36”]Unfortunately that’s true. I am expecting a baby soon and both of us (me and my husband) are foreigners. We just learned that we can’t insure our baby in any insurance company in Taiwan till it is 14 years old!!!
We are considering leaving Taiwan…it really changes a lot…And NHI doesnt kick in for the child of both foreigners![/quote]

MY son has private health insurance as a furriner since shortly after he was born. He was registered to my ARC for years until I became a citizen and his ARC is now registered as a dependent under my name. Always has been though.

50

S TV:
We both have NHI and we both have private insurance. We wanted to buy private insurance for a baby, but the reply was: not until it is 14 years old.
We still have a few months before the baby comes, so we are still looking for different solutions.
And it is discrimination, because a Taiwanese child or half Taiwanese child has vaccinations partially covered by NHI, whereas a baby foreigner (alias: Alien) doesn’t have any vaccinations covered. About 4-month period of waiting I knew it and it was the reason why I wanted to buy a private insurance.
If a baby is Taiwanese or half-Taiwanese you can buy a private insurance within a week after delivery, and this is also not fair that you can’t do it the same thing for an Alien child.

51

How do you get half a Taiwanese child? My son has no Taiwan nationality and is just as every bit a foreigner as your kids are, even though he was born here and his mother is local.

He lives here on a ARC just the same as you do. And yes he is covered with private insurance since a child. There was no NHI when my son was born so I paid everything that had to be paid in terms of vaccinations, visits to our physician and the clinics costs. Private clinics are not cheap.

That’s part of parenting being prepared which you are trying to do. Now if you have medical insurance from abroad doesn’t that cover the cost of medical bills in Taiwan as well? I travel a lot overseas and always buy extra insurance to cover emergency medical and travel expenses if required.

52

Yes well Tommy others have made the mistake of thinking or trusting advice by those not qualified to give it and neded up with large medical bills.

Yes the medical care will be provided, but the parents are liable to pay for it if they do not have medical insurance that pays for it.

No different from the USA Tommy.

53

How do you get half a Taiwanese child? My son has no Taiwan nationality and is just as every bit a foreigner as your kids are, even though he was born here and his mother is local.

He lives here on a ARC just the same as you do. And yes he is covered with private insurance since a child. There was no NHI when my son was born so I paid everything that had to be paid in terms of vaccinations, visits to our physician and the clinics costs. Private clinics are not cheap.

That’s part of parenting being prepared which you are trying to do. Now if you have medical insurance from abroad doesn’t that cover the cost of medical bills in Taiwan as well? I travel a lot overseas and always buy extra insurance to cover emergency medical and travel expenses if required.[/quote]

by “half Taiwanese child” I mean that one of the parents is Taiwanese. Apparently this changes a lot. My private insurance is bought here in Taiwan, not abroad. I haven’t been back home for a while. My insurance covers all costs, but I can’t buy it for a baby.

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Thinking this through, I think ST has a point. Normally, for all NHI holders, not all services are covered by NHI. Meaning everyone, furriner or local, should have extra insurance coverage for those Ifs and Buts you have to pay for. Example: extra payment for double room, experimental drugs, etc. This is not something anyone just arrived would know -like knowing that the expiration date of your ARC is also “subjective” meaning it is relevant as long as your reason to be here is. Both are important things everyone should know but are not especifically stated.

I also believe that there is a lot of confusion on this topic, as in most cases children are born of local or mixed parents, and hence, are covered by NHI. hence “everyone knows” babies are covered, even officials, as they rarely encounter the alternative: ARC holding parents with NHI.

I come from a country where the State has the obligation to cover all medical expenses, even if people do not pay or pahve not paid in all their lives. It is considered a right. This causes problems when some fellow countrymen go abroad, to the US, for example, and assume it is the same. They are shocked to find it isn’t.

That said, I understand the reasons they use here to justify this unreasonable policy aimed against babies. If the parents are paying, why wait 4 months? It’s a baby! Babies deserve special protection. Same with vaccinations. It is not as if they were free, under NHI they are subsidized. We would still have to pay extra insurance for those eventualities -emergency surgeries, treatments for hereditary conditions, etc.- and I am sure people have to pay hospital stay and all. Aren’t they trying to promote “medical tourism”? They could afford to brus up their people skills with some furriners.

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Makes no difference. My son is no different to your child. He is on an ARC and holds no Taiwan Nationality.

So he is not half Taiwanese… he is 100% foreigner.

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[quote=“Icon”]Thinking this through, I think ST has a point. Normally, for all NHI holders, not all services are covered by NHI. Meaning everyone, furriner or local, should have extra insurance coverage for those Ifs and Buts you have to pay for. Example: extra payment for double room, experimental drugs, etc. This is not something anyone just arrived would know -like knowing that the expiration date of your ARC is also “subjective” meaning it is relevant as long as your reason to be here is. Both are important things everyone should know but are not especifically stated.

I also believe that there is a lot of confusion on this topic, as in most cases children are born of local or mixed parents, and hence, are covered by NHI. hence “everyone knows” babies are covered, even officials, as they rarely encounter the alternative: ARC holding parents with NHI.

I come from a country where the State has the obligation to cover all medical expenses, even if people do not pay or pahve not paid in all their lives. It is considered a right. This causes problems when some fellow countrymen go abroad, to the US, for example, and assume it is the same. They are shocked to find it isn’t.

That said, I understand the reasons they use here to justify this unreasonable policy aimed against babies. If the parents are paying, why wait 4 months? It’s a baby! Babies deserve special protection. Same with vaccinations. It is not as if they were free, under NHI they are subsidized. We would still have to pay extra insurance for those eventualities -emergency surgeries, treatments for hereditary conditions, etc.- and I am sure people have to pay hospital stay and all. Aren’t they trying to promote “medical tourism”? They could afford to brus up their people skills with some furriners.[/quote]

ACtually there are many ARC holders where both parents are furriners having children here, it’s not as rare as you think. But medical personell are just that… medical people, they are not health insurance experts.

NHI doesnt cover open heart surgery or hospitilization for serious defects when a child is born, even for Taiwanese.
I believe the post was about an American family… They would be up for a lot more money if they were in the USA where there is not health coverage.

We can all understand their current plight and it’s easy enough to say that they should have bought some private insurance before the child was born. I would also have expected they knew before the child was born that there were complications. My sisters daughter had to have open heart surgery for a hole in the heart which the doctors picked up early on during pregnancy. My sister also had private insurance on top of the free medical treatment Australia provides.

Well not really free we pay 1.5% of our taxable income for that in Australia.

Last year I had to have surgery. It wasn’t covered only by NHI but also by my medical and work insurance. Glad I had that… I was able to get the surgery done and get a nice room.

Kidney stones pulled out from your penile tube 10mm in diameter and 15mm long… rather nasty when you need to take first few pees after surgery… :aiyo: :aiyo: Don’t worry they don’t keep you awake for that… or for the second op a week or so later to remove other items.

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Yes well Tommy others have made the mistake of thinking or trusting advice by those not qualified to give it and neded up with large medical bills.

Yes the medical care will be provided, but the parents are liable to pay for it if they do not have medical insurance that pays for it.

No different from the USA Tommy.[/quote]

Uh not to be pedantic, but quoting part of a quote does distort the meaning at times. My post was not saying that it IS covered but that it SHOULD be (as in the right thing to do) . Babies should be treated as nicely as possible as a human rights thing. Because many parents are not able to afford proper care.

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Makes no difference. My son is no different to your child. He is on an ARC and holds no Taiwan Nationality.

So he is not half Taiwanese… he is 100% foreigner.[/quote]

I know many mixed families (Taiwanese + foreigner) and their children have both passports. I never encounter any mixed child born here with one nationality.
Anyway, my point is my child can’t have any insurance until it is 4 months old. NHI doesn’t cover/subsidize ANY vaccinations for the child of both foreigners (maybe it did at your times, but now it doesn’t), whereas a child with one parent Taiwanese has a subsidy for vaccinations. I resolved to the fact I will have to pay from my pocket for all vaccines, but why I can’t buy ANY private insurance after my child is born? Maybe soon I will have some more news about the insurance for the newborns, then I will share it with you.

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In general terms, buying local insurance is, for foreigners, an endeveaour of the same scope and difficulty as getting a credit card. Most banks and insurers will say no at first, even when they have links or are associated with foreign insurance companies. Even if you’ve lived here 30 years, own a house, etc. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.

As to why they make things harder for babies, beats me.

60

They do it to discourage overseas Taiwanese living in America from coming here to drop their sprogs and take advantage of Taiwan’s cheap healthcare.