A new program to encourage people to encourage people to “proactively undergo health checks and cancer screenings”, especially targets Taiwanese nationals aged 18 and above:
In response to a CNA inquiry, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said Friday that the program will initially be open only to Taiwanese nationals aged 18 and above.
The agency said the restriction reflects the fact that the program is being introduced for the first time and will initially focus on Taiwanese adults.
It added that eligibility could later be expanded, as has been the case with government-funded cancer screening programs, which have gradually been extended to foreign nationals covered by the National Health Insurance (NHI) system.
While the benefit is rather small…
The tokens will be redeemable for “health-oriented” food products at participating convenience stores and hypermarkets, although Shen did not specify what types of products would qualify.
…this program again fits into a common pattern that foreign residents need to pay full premiums and full taxes while not receiving full benefits
Huh? Government says a key problem is just not getting around to health tests due to no time, inconvenient…but those types of people are going to do all this testing to accumulate tokens to go to store to exchange for health products? If so, then the key point is the token exchange amount for health products and which types of products. I take alot of vitamins and have all sorts of health related equipment (e.g. blood pressure). But I am also lazy to mess with paperwork.
Well, technically, the program isn’t provided and/or financed by NHI, but by the Health Promotion Administration (HPA), so it’s not actually NHI discriminating between its members.
Taiwan’s “health token” incentive program set to begin in October will be open to anybody aged 18 and over enrolled in Taiwan’s national health insurance program, including foreign nationals, Health Minister Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said Tuesday.
The Health Promotion Administration had previously told CNA in late August that the program would initially be open only to Taiwanese nationals.
Maybe they read this thread and changed their mind. Who knows
The hospitals will be even more bunged out with oldies with nothing to do now, all looking for tests in order to get their credits…given the NHI system is already broke(n), what on earth is this promotion aimed at?!
