Can't go to clinics while switching NHI Cards

I had to get a new NHI card after my ARC number was updated to the new format. The NHI office mentioned 5 business days before I could get my new card in the mail.

They gave me a sheet of paper and mentioned that I could use that in the meantime if I had to use NHI services.

I had a dental emergency today, and two clinics refused me because I didn’t have the physical NHI card. They refused to take the sheet of paper handed by NHI office, and said 不好意思,我們的系統只可以用實體的健保卡。They asked me to pay the full fees in cash.

Just want to vent here. I’ve been paying higher health insurance premiums than I was in the US for years because of my salary band, but the one time I need to use the service, this shit happens. Haha :laughing:

Edit: They took away my old NHI card when I went to apply for the new one.

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What happened to the old NHI card…?

If you call them, they will activate your old card.

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They took it away when I went to apply for the new one.

When I applied for my new card at the office near Taipei main station, they gave me the new card within 5 minutes.

If you pay the full fees in cash you can claim it back later when you have your new card.

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They told me I’d have to wait for a week… Cause they need to “transfer info” from the old ARC number to the new one

Weird. I’m still using my old card but have the new ARC.

Also once you get the new card you can claim the money back. You’re still covered you just don’t have a card.

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Weird. They let me keep mine. I still have mine. Old and new.

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Man, this is so whack. It’s been a while since they introduced the change in UI. No format, and even the folks at the main Taipei office don’t know what to do. It’s so damn annoying.

That is where I went.

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i had to go to the nhi office in person to get this fixed. they were able to do it on the spot. i even had them test it there that it worked before leaving. so, definitely the quickest way if you’re willing to make the trip. i live in khh but assume most larger citites have one.

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I went to the Main Taipei Office.

They initially told me that they would print the new card right away and told me to wait for 15 mins.

After waiting for 15 mins, they told me that it’s not possible to print the new card as “information needs to be transferred from the old card to the new one”, so they asked me to return my old card, and told me that they’d mail the new card within 5 business days. They handed me a sheet of paper and said that the paper would act as my NHI card in the meantime.

It’d be great to document the correct way to go about these changes, because it seems really hard to trust that anyone, even government officials know anything about the rules and processes related to foreigners.

They didn’t print mine on the spot. They mailed mine, but let me keep the old one.

So… all I can say is :idunno:

They printed mine on the spot and let me keep my old one. There, I win!

:stuck_out_tongue:

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All 4 combinations are possible when you go to the office :rofl:

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Tbh I’m kind of wondering if they just wanted to make a pretty penny off of you. I’m almost 10000000% sure they could have just typed in the number lol.

They should put a wheel of fortune at the entrance, so people know which option they get.

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Just got a new card in the mail. Did not asked for a new one. Will know if the new card will work when I visit my doctor Tuesday.

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in that case you may need to pay first and get reimbursed by nhi later. with to check with nhi officials to confirm. this is common if you go for care without your card.

another note, you can get nhi card from post office (I assume this is still true, double check). if you have your paper for new arc, that is enough to go to post and get replacement nhi card.

if the doctors deny this it would seem they are either not part of the nhi system or they are breaking the rules, or just being lazy assholes because it means more paperwork.

I treat health care like the food industry. if I piss them off by requiring them to dottheir job, I might get boogers n com in my food (south park referrence). for dentistry, if I sense they have a bad mood, I cut the visit short. I dont have money to pay for their shitty work.

I got mine like this too dont know if it works yet