Until last week I was working for a school where I never signed a contract and got paid cash, and I now have 7 months of gaps in my NHI coverage.
From the beginning of October last year until April, the school I worked for paid no NHI. I only noticed when I went to a doctor and my card was blocked. The school boss said it was a mistake and true to her word, my NHI was paid. Soon after they cut my hours from 20 per week to 4.5 because business magically slowed down - even though they had the same number of classes and students - and they let me go.
I went to the NHI office and they showed me the gaps. I explained my situation and was told that maybe the school didn’t have time to register me . Apparently my only option is to cover the gaps using my wife’s insurance. The problem is that my wife and I are separated. We still live together but lead separate lives and are not on speaking terms. It can be vitriolic and I think we’re waiting to see who moves out first. The last thing I want to do is ask her for anything.
I checked if I could just pay by myself, but was told the law states I must be put on my wife’s insurance. The clerk gave me the official enrollment eligibility list. It seems I am out of luck getting backdated NHI by my previous employer due to being paid cash under the table. I’m not a part of any union so I’m screwed for that. Next on the list is my wife.
Here comes the pipe dream…
Is there any way around this? I was also teaching private 1-1. Can I register as self employed or working privately and declare that as a source of income?
I can assure you this isn’t true. I know people who have their spouse on the “public” insurance while they’re on their employer-(half) paid insurance because they make too much (and it would be cheaper for them if their spouse paid 100% out of pocket rather than the employer paying half or however that works)
I’m confused by the timeline here. It seems to say that the school you were working for the 7 months between October and April already paid your NHI for that period…so why would there be a gap?
I assume you have some kind of open work permit so you weren’t doing anything illegal in that respect (although it looks like you and the school didn’t want to declare the money for taxes).
I don’t think the school has the option of paying or not paying your NHI, do they? And you also wrote at the beginning that they’d paid…at least some? Anyway, maybe you could contact the employer and try to get them to fix their “oversight” and declare your income properly. I imagine it could be at least as much as a problem for them as it is for you if they’ve underdeclared/misdeclared/not declared your income and get found out, so it might be in their interest to correct it as well, even if they’re not happy about forking more money out after you’ve left.
I would jsut venture a guessthis depends on ones visa type. If a person is on a jfrv type visa based on marriage. Or based in employment. Is this not the key point?
As far as I remember, nothing bad happened. I was given different answers at the insurance office. I ended up speaking with my wife - who I’m happy to say I went to marriage counseling with and patched things up - and she was going to put me on her insurance. I went back to the NHI office and was told two things at two different visits: I would receive a bill for the gaps and it would be deducted from my salary when I started a new job.
I never received a bill so I’m guessing it was deducted from my salary but I honestly don’t know.
The only thing I can suggest is to deal with it ahead of time.
I never paid attention to this, but in the TFETP program, our contracts would end in mid July and the next year’s contract would start in mid Aug. Unless my school was picking up the extra cost, I’m pretty sure I just had gaps in my coverage for a month every summer.
No, I was usually out of the country. But I did go to the doctor once in mid September and they hadn’t reactivated/renewed my NHI at that point. I made the accountant solve that problem for me, since the accountant’s ineptitude caused the problem in the first place…
So you’re stuck in a tough spot with your NHI coverage. That’s really unfair, especially since your old employer didn’t do their part.
Have you thought about registering as self-employed because of your private teaching gigs? That might be a way to get coverage without having to rely on your wife’s insurance. Worth looking into, at least.
Tbh, i did not. It seemed to be the same deductions as previous years and it never occurred to me to check the amount I was paying. This is probably the first case of me not doing the best due diligence in a long time, but that was already years ago, so I’m not sure there’s much I can do about it now if something was off
I’m not sure this would even constitute a gap. I’d have to read the NHI rules again (and I can’t be ersed*), but if I’m remembering correctly partial months essentially count as full months, at least in certain situations.
The definition is a bit more complicated than that, but — again, if I’m remembering correctly — it’s something along the lines of the full fee for the month being due if the person is enrolled in NHI during that month (or before a certain date of it).
In other words, I don’t think the fee is pro-rated for the number of days you were employed in July and August — I think you/your employer probably paid the full fee for July and the full fee for August.
I assume that’s done for simplicity, because I imagine a lot of people have at least a couple of days between jobs and I doubt the NHIA wants to be sending out bills every single time.
[* Fiiine. There’s some info here, although it’s a different page from the more detailed rules I read previously:
Premiums are calculated on a monthly basis. The premium is payable for the month that you enrol in the program and your enrollment continues until the last day of the month, regardless of which day of the month you commence your enrollment. The National Health Insurance Administration will collect a full month’s premium from you.
If you transfer your insurance status on the last day of the month, you are required to pay your insurance premium for the month through your original insurance registration organization (employer). The effective day of transferring one’s insurance status is the first day of the following month.
For example, if you transfer to a new employer on November 30, your enrollment will only take effect on December 1. You will pay your premium for the month of November through your original employer.
If you transfer your insurance status on any day during the month, you will pay your insurance premium for the month through your new insurance registration organization (employer) that you are continuously enrolled on the last day of the month.
If you transfer your insurance status a few times in the month, you will pay your insurance premium for the month through your new insurance registration organization (employer) that you are enrolled on the last day of the month.]
. Apparently my only option is to cover the gaps using my wife’s insurance. The problem is that my wife and I are separated. We still live together but lead separate lives and are not on speaking terms. It can be vitriolic and I think we’re waiting to see who moves out first. The last thing I want to do is ask her for anything.