The China Post
Date: May 25, 2017
By: The China Post

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Last year, the government vowed to carve out

(Business Today)

NT$6 billion to support hospitals’ debt-ridden critical care services. That promise has not yet materialized, and the funds have now been redistributed to all medical services — to be shared by many. The medical community has since caught wind of this, and a heated debate has ensued.

Within hospitals, critical care units are loved for the vital work they do but hated for their high cost. These indispensable parts of hospitals receive scant funding support from National Health Insurance, and as a result they tend to incur substantial losses. On top of that, the condition and prognosis of critical care patients are often poor, and physicians young and old are daunted by the likely prospect of lawsuits.

Last September, the National Health Insurance Administration, which is in charge of allocating the health insurance budget, announced that nearly NT$5 billion would be devoted to critical care services — a figure that was increased to NT$6 billion after the plan was sent to the Health Ministry.    [FULL  STORY]