Comparison with the 1st and the 2nd generation of the National Health Insurance in Taiwan
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My thesis topic principally addresses the subject matter of Taiwan’s National Health Insurance (NHI). Taiwan’s National Health Insurance (NHI) is originated from a combination of labor insurance, government employee insurance, and farmers’ insurance. In Taiwan, it is a mandatory, single-payer social system for every citizen. The main ideas of implementing NHI program are eliminating financial barriers to medical services, and alleviating social problems caused by poverty and illness. National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) collects premiums from the insured, and offers preventive health care, outpatient clinics, inpatient care (hospitalization), home nursing care, and community rehabilitation facilities. The National Health Insurance has been implemented for over 20 years and it has obtained various achievements. However, it has also suffered from financial issues, which will become worse over time. From the very beginning, the National Health Insurance has been dealing with great difficulties in financial adjustment and reformation. Until January 2011, the 2nd generation National Health Insurance reformed two significant ideas: the cancellation of all classifications among all enrollees, and the premium base from regular payroll to many other incomes. I will elaborate on the problems and restrictions of the National Health Insurance financial adjustment and reformation in order to find out the difference between the 1st and 2nd generation of NHI.