I’m headed out of the country for the rest of the year for about 6 months. Can NHI be paused until I get back? I’m planning to buy insurance in the other country.
You can only pause it if you are planning on leaving for more than 6 months. If you are gone for more than 2 years then your household registration is gone, and you will have to wait 6 months to reestablish NHI.
Otherwise there is no pausing NHI.
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If it’s “about six months”, i.e., maybe a bit more or a bit less but you’re not sure yet, it seems like it would make sense to suspend your NHI coverage then void the suspension and pay the fees if it turns out to be less.
https://www.nhi.gov.tw/english/Content_List.aspx?n=1E7F01DB3BBD5079&topn=778856C209BCE527
I think that NHI also gives some (limited) coverage abroad, so might be worth keeping that in mind.
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Rather than starting a new thread, reviving this one.
I can’t find the answer to my question in the NHI handbook which is surprisingly comprehensive and well-written.
Information:
My husband is a Taiwanese citizen with household registration. His household registration is not moved out. He is the ‘head’ of the insurance.
I am a citizen without household registration. I am covered under him in NHI, we just get 1 bill.
We left Taiwan most recently last August and suspended NHI coverage and that was all fine. We still got bills emailed monthly but for $0. At that time I was a foreigner with an ARC and during our time overseas my ARC expired and I got a letter sent saying my NHI coverage has been cancelled, no problem as we don’t live in Taiwan now.
We’ve come back for a visit this week and my husband went to NHI to make sure they don’t start billing us every month.
Question:
They told him that re-enrolment is compulsory for him for a minimum of 3 months but they have suspended it from when that 3 months is up. Is this correct?
Although my ARC expired, my TARC has been issued, will I be re-enrolled or remain un-insured?
This is what i read somewhere.
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Annoying being forced to pay for insurance you will never use.
You’re paying for people who need to use it, and when you need it, they will pay for you. It’s how universal healthcare works.
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They are right in that when you have NHI suspended, even returning for a day to visit forces you to go re-enrol and you then owe for 3 months minimum. They will help you fill out paperwork to cancel it again while you are gone again
If you don’t re-enrol they will simply keep racking up a large bill for you on your return
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I don’t like paying for other people.
Only if I’m paying myself.
I don’t mind paying for something I can use.
I know. I’m Australian, we have had universal health care since before I was born. Which I pay for, I don’t fancy paying twice.
The world is not the USA, you really need to learn that before making comments like this.
Annoying and a bit unfair but if we have to we have to.
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Maybe the US would be better for you then, since Americans only like paying for their own stuff. Otherwise only way you’re getting out of paying universal healthcare is giving up either Taiwan or Australian citizenship or residency.
I’m sure Americans don’t like paying for the exact same thing twice.
Or can I send you my NHI bill if you don’t mind paying twice?
You clearly know nothing about universal healthcare. In Australia, it never goes away, it is a benefit of citizenship. You don’t have to pay if you live overseas and you still benefit as soon as you return
They are both basically insurance. I don’t mind paying for insurance that will pay me benefits. in this instance I’m paying for insurance I cannot benefit from.
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Just out of curiosity about the bureaucracy, is it really the re-enrollment that’s necessary, or rather the de-enrollment? Your second paragraph suggests that entering the country automatically re-enrolls the person.
Or does entering just re-enroll them for the purpose of being charged, but not for the purpose of having access to NHI? 
I had to eead this a few times but I think I know what you mean.
Re-enrollment is supposedly compulsory but if you do nothing they re-enroll you anyway so no harm done.
It’s the de-enrolment/suspension that you need to do and isn’t automatic. - this makes sense for Americans (and people from other countries) who do not have universal healthcare who would likely prefer to maintain coverage.
Actually the first time my husband left Taiwan (before we met) he didn’t suspend his coverage/didn’t know how his own country worked. When we came to Taiwan together we discovered a massive bill waiting for him and are keen not to make that mistake again
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Presumably when you’re living outside Taiwan you and your husband only need to pay the unemployed rate of NT$826 per month, since you don’t have local income? (I don’t know whether it’s cheaper for couples, or whether one or both of you still have some income here.)
I can see why it’s annoying, but could be worse I suppose…
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Only he needs to pay but it’s the same price per person/family but they just send you 1 bill instead of 1 per person.
Mine I think is suspended indefinitely because my ARC expired so I would need to be in Taiwan 6 months to be eligible re-enrolment which suits me.
It’s just annoying, not the end of the world. I just wanted to check what he was told is correct as I don’t trust government employees in Taiwan.
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Yeah, that’s what I meant. From what @Niurou wrote, it seems like if you don’t go there and re-enroll, they automatically re-enroll you in some kind of way anyway. I was just curious about what seemed to be an extra kind-of-unnecessary bureaucratic step (for someone who wanted to be re-enrolled, I mean).
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Wasnt there another post a few weeks back about this?
It ended up being that taiwanese are automatically enrolled and have instant access. Assuming they havent lost hhr.
Foreigners are automatically charged but have to do an extra step to actually have access.
That is how i understood it.
I’d be interested to know. I hope they don’t just re-enroll me.
I would assume TARC holders are treated the same as ‘foreigners’ too.
I meant foreigners who still have valid APRCs and ARCs.