Taipei Times
Date: Jul 04, 2017
By: Lin Hui-chin, Wu Liang-yi and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporters, with staff writer
The Long-term Care Services Act (長期照顧服務法) might have funding and staffing shortages over the
Kaohsiung Social Affairs Bureau Director Chang Nei-chien, under flower arch left, and Federation for the Welfare of the Elderly secretary-general Wu Shu-hui, under flower arch right, present gifts at a marriage registration event in Kaohsiung on May 20. Photo: Chen Wen-chan, Taipei Times
next decade, Ministry of Health and Welfare documents showed.
The Long-term Care Services Program 2.0 expands state subsidized care for elderly and disabled people, but it also places greater demands on funding and the workforce, a ministry white paper said.
The ministry estimates that the government’s annual long-term care costs could reach NT$73.6 billion (US$2.42 billion) in 2026, more than quadrupling the NT$16 billion spent last year.
Aside from government budget allocations, the long-term care plan relies on supplementary revenue sources, such as tobacco and inheritance taxes, interest income and charity, which may not be stable.
Assuming those revenue flows meet expectations, the fund would have NT$40 billion available annually for the first four years of the 10-year program, the ministry said. [FULL STORY]
