Coffee Brown, University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News
Taiwan, a free-market, capitalist democracy like the U.S. and Britain, developed a national health plan 14 years ago that now covers 99 percent of the people in the country, citizens or not, and enjoys 70-80 percent approval ratings, according to Michael S. Chen, Ph.D., Vice President and CFO of the Bureau of National Health Insurance, here to share that experience with America.
As journalist T.R. Reid reported on Frontline in “Sick Around the World,” Taiwan was the last industrialized nation to adopt universal health care. Except us. As latecomers, they had plenty of precedent to consider. For several years, the Taiwanese government sent representatives to examine most of the world’s existing systems, then worked to consolidate best practices into a form appropriate to their own culture and economy. Dr. Chen was here to report on their system and results as the Obama administration tackles the myriad problems involved in reforming American healthcare.
“Cost is about 100 U.S. dollars, or about two percent of their income for an average family of four," Chen said. The service is mostly paid for by mandated premiums, with about 10 percent paid for by the individual, 60 percent by the employer, and the remaining 30 percent by the government. They achieve near 100 percent enrollment by sending agents out to enroll people who do not comply. Subsidies are available to ensure affordability. Union workers do not get an employer contribution, but pay 60 percent, with the remaining forty percent again from the government, according to Chen.
Any medically justifiable expense is covered, and patients may go to any doctor they choose, though doctors in high demand may have waiting lists. The system itself does not have any backup at all, he said. When individuals are flagged as having an unusually high rate of utilization, their care is examined, and their eligibility may become limited to “just two or three clinics,” Chen said.
Total spending on the National Health Service is about six percent of GDP, which is less than the budgeted seven-to-eight percent.
Publicly, doctors have complained about compensation. “Privately they like it," Chen says, "because they are guaranteed four to five percent rate increases per year. What other occupation can say that?”
As was the case for Taiwan, America would not have to re-invent the wheel, “There are so many wheels already,” Chen said, referring to the many existing systems and long experience in other industrialized democracies.
When the 20 to 30 percent of Taiwanese who disapprove do so, he said, “It’s usually because they think $100 a month is too much money. I tell them to visit America.”
Can The Eagle Learn From The Little Dragon?
Taiwan, a free-market, capitalist democracy like the U.S. and Britain, developed a national health plan 14 years ago that now covers 99 percent of the people in the country, citizens or not, and enjoys 70-80 percent approval ratings, according to Michael S. Chen, Ph.D., Vice President and CFO of the Bureau of National Health Insurance, here to share that experience with America.
As journalist T.R. Reid reported on Frontline in “Sick Around the World,” Taiwan was the last industrialized nation to adopt universal health care. Except us. As latecomers, they had plenty of precedent to consider. For several years, the Taiwanese government sent representatives to examine most of the world’s existing systems, then worked to consolidate best practices into a form appropriate to their own culture and economy. Dr. Chen was here to report on their system and results as the Obama administration tackles the myriad problems involved in reforming American healthcare.
“Cost is about 100 U.S. dollars, or about two percent of their income for an average family of four," Chen said. The service is mostly paid for by mandated premiums, with about 10 percent paid for by the individual, 60 percent by the employer, and the remaining 30 percent by the government. They achieve near 100 percent enrollment by sending agents out to enroll people who do not comply. Subsidies are available to ensure affordability. Union workers do not get an employer contribution, but pay 60 percent, with the remaining forty percent again from the government, according to Chen.
Any medically justifiable expense is covered, and patients may go to any doctor they choose, though doctors in high demand may have waiting lists. The system itself does not have any backup at all, he said. When individuals are flagged as having an unusually high rate of utilization, their care is examined, and their eligibility may become limited to “just two or three clinics,” Chen said.
Total spending on the National Health Service is about six percent of GDP, which is less than the budgeted seven-to-eight percent.
Publicly, doctors have complained about compensation. “Privately they like it," Chen says, "because they are guaranteed four to five percent rate increases per year. What other occupation can say that?”
As was the case for Taiwan, America would not have to re-invent the wheel, “There are so many wheels already,” Chen said, referring to the many existing systems and long experience in other industrialized democracies.
When the 20 to 30 percent of Taiwanese who disapprove do so, he said, “It’s usually because they think $100 a month is too much money. I tell them to visit America.”