Your Right to Health Care
When you fall ill, you should remember that the Universal Health Care is there for you. Taiwan’s government launched the Universal Health Care program on March 1,1995, hoping to safeguard the right to health care for all of the country’s residents.
What is Universal Health Care?
The Universal Health Care program is compulsory for all citizens from birth. It is built
on the concept of mutual assistance and depends on the insured paying their premiums
according to regulations. When people fall ill, the government uses the premiums it
receives to help patients pay part of their medical and medication costs to contracted
health care institutions. In this way when we are ill, we can obtain appropriate medical care
for a comparatively small amount of money, and make a faster recovery.
In other words, by paying your monthly Universal Health Care premiums on time,
participants are not only helping yourself but are also receiving the help from other
premium payers. And when others become ill, they also receive help from you.
Compulsory Enrollment
The Universal Health Care program is a compulsory social insurance program. By law,
every Taiwanese citizen with official residency or foreign national living in Taiwan with an
Alien Resident Certificate (ARC), regardless of age, gender, or employment status, must
enroll in the program. Also, this insurance is for an entire lifetime, no one may arbitrarily
withdraw, except for those who lose their insurance eligibility (prisoner disappearing, giving
up their Taiwan citizenship, moving abroad or having their Alien Resident Certificate expire).
Non-participants Subject to Fines
If you are eligible to participate in the program but are not enrolled, you will be fined
between NT$3,000 and NT$15,000 and be legally required to pay premiums dating back
to the time you became qualified to enroll in the program, up to the previous five years.
Before you finish paying your fine and the back premiums, the Universal Health Care
program will not cover your medical expenses. However, six months after you clear these
payments, you can claim those expenses to the Bureau of Universal Health Care for
reimbursement
The Health Insurance IC Card:
Your Health Passport
When individuals enrolled in the Universal Health Care program, they have to apply for
a “Health Insurance IC Card.” The card is proof that a patient has health insurance, and it
must be presented every time you visit a clinic or hospital. Please protect it carefully.
