HEALTH CARE :
Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling abroad for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance.

• By Chiu Chih-jou and Jake Chung / Journalist, with the editor

Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished from December 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang said yesterday (石崇良).

This decision follows the Constitutional Court’s 2022 ruling that the regulation was unconstitutional and would automatically invalidate the regulation unless the NHIA amended it to comply with the Constitution.

The agency would amend the regulations to remove articles and sections allowing the suspension of NHI services, and would also introduce interim clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said.

Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times

According to current regulations, individuals planning to leave the country for six months or more may request suspension of their NHI status and obligation to pay until their return and submit an application for reinstatement of their NHI status.

The vast majority of people who benefited from these measures were those who planned to stay abroad for more than six months, although there were rare cases of people being found in Taiwan after having their status suspended, Shih said .

People who do not return to Taiwan within two years will have their NHI records expunged, he said.

These regulations have long been criticized as unfair, as they allowed overseas Taiwanese to regain their NHI status and benefit from Taiwan’s medical services even if they lived abroad and did not pay for them. services.

With the NHIA’s decision not to change the regulations, the 210,000 Taiwanese currently abroad – mostly expats and students – are expected to start paying their NHI again, expected to raise NT$2.3 billion (US$70.59 million) as an increase in the NHI’s annual income, Shih said.

Those overseas will automatically have their NHI reinstated upon their return to Taiwan and will not need to undergo additional procedures or pay unnecessary fees, he said.