We left Taiwan about a year and a half ago. When we left, we cancelled our health insurance. My wife went back to Taiwan for a visit last month and when she got back home, she received a bill for health insurance.
It turns out that as soon as you re-enter Taiwan (I assume it’s just for citizens but it could be for APRC and ARC holders as well), the government automatically enrols you in the health insurance program. You have to cancel it yourself, but you have to keep it for at least three months. That means, if you pop in for a week and then leave, you still have to pay for three months’ worth of health insurance. So, I guess buying travel/medical insurance before she left was a waste of money.
I think if you are gone for more than two years then this doesn’t happen.
It took a lot of time on the computer for my wife to try and cancel the insurance.
May seem shitty. but to be fair there are quite a lot of people living abroad that come back for next to free health care then puss off and dont contribute to the system.
it isnt perfect, but I can see their justification.
They could make it easier to do things, government wise. But let’s be honest…what is easy online in Taiwan when.it comes to government? or through phone etc for that matter.
I was still paying for the NHI all the years while I was in the US. I have no complaints. That’s how health insurances work - younger/healthy people pay for older/less healthy people. I just hope it’s still there when I am old and need it.
The change that was being discussed (but not yet approved, I think) was more radical and was meant to only apply to citizens: either opt out forever or stay in forever.
In this case, I confirm what @Gilgamesh wrote because it happened to me as well.
Coverage starts from the moment you enter Taiwan. NHI is immediately notified.
3 months is the minimum coverage that you need to pay for each time that you visit, even if your stay in Taiwan is shorter than that.
You have to remember to cancel your coverage once again before leaving or you will keep being charged (after the 3-month “minimum”).
If you visit Taiwan within less than 6 months from your previous stay, you will be charged for the whole period in-between.
NHI premiums depend on your income. NT$826 was the minimum last year, but it can go up to several thousand a month. Also, I wouldn’t replace a travel insurance with NHI, which is too basic when it comes to emergencies and hospitalisation. Most Taiwanese buy a private insurance on top of their mandatory NHI contributions.
Yes, there are time limits. but this is easily avoided with what are essentially the same as visa runs.
Not saying it is always perfect, but it is to avoid abuse of a public service I would assume.
emphasis on assume, I dont know.
Other places wont give you your regular health care as a citizen if you are not a resident for xx amount of time. Eg. need to be back as a resident for 3 months. Taiwan seems more preferable in the sense no need to wait for health care. ahem. canada…Here just need to deal with a probably frustrating website, not deal with out of pocket medical expenses.
Taiwan REALLY does need to tackle the rampant inefficient bureaucracy plague that exists. Just sayin, to be fair, not really a health care issue per se.
Isn’t it slightly lower than that? IIRC, it’s NT$826 per month for unemployed people or people without local employers, and a quick look at some of the tables suggests it’s NT$392 (30% employee contribution) or NT$1836 (total = 30% employee, 60% employer, 10% government) for an employee with no dependents, depending on how you want to count it.
It looks like nothing will change since the court basically told NHI to make it a legislative change vs an administrative change so they will probably just legislate it now.
And they have 2 years to comply so that gives them time to fix the loophole.
It will be interesting if they need to pay back people that paid into this in the past.
Most major insurance companies here do. I have a plan through Taishin.
NHI pays for the most basic medical option, having private insurance gives you the option of having newer/better medicine/procedures with a possibly shorter recovery
Like @justintaiwan wrote, Taiwan has plenty of insurance companies because almost every Taiwanese buys an additional plan on top of NHI. The problem, at least for me since I hate intermediaries, is that you need to buy it from an agent. There is no way to purchase it directly from the company. @justintaiwan suggested Taishin, I tried Cathay and Nanshan. Different companies offer more or less the same packages. Finding a good agent is the real challenge. The ones I have dealt with so far were mostly brainless.
I would add that when it comes to hospitalisation and surgery, NHI doesn’t cover the whole cost. An additional insurance might be a good choice to have the remaining amount covered as well. Some insurance companies even have partnerships with hospitals (I know about Nanshan for sure) for a direct charge so that you don’t need to pay first and claim later. Taiwanese don’t like it though, because they don’t get rebates on their credit cards
So far I’ve never bothered with additional insurance and every medical need I personally had was covered, with copays of course. I don’t mind taking the risk personally.
No, not really. That’s the whole point of preventive medicine and cancer screening programs etc., which I understand the NHI itself isn’t particularly great for (hence many employers organizing these packages for their staff at additional cost).
The whole point of NHI is wider and cheaper access to healthcare for everyone, both for things that can potentially be addressed ahead of time and for those that can’t (i.e., emergencies and other acute, unpredictable conditions).
I 100% agree with this. My agent is pretty good but not perfect. A lot of don’t want to deal with foreigners too.
I actually felt like I didn’t have much choice but Taishin because the agent I use likes dealing with foreigners.
Just to add I think she mostly likes the commission cheque from dealing with foreigners. We’re an easy sale for her because the other agents treat is like less than human.
I don’t have a family but I wanted cover against the out of pocket expenses as well. Also most public systems end up with wait time problems, by buying a policy now I can protect myself against wait times and future premium increases. It’s also paid up in 30 years and covers me until I’m dead
This has, unfortunately, been mostly me/family/friends/work experiences as well
For me personally I just have nhi now. wife and kid have private. NHI has all the stuff one needs, I find it the doctors being the hard part. hispitals have all the equipment, just not always half decent employees.
