News
MOHW prepares for long-term care
The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) plans to launch a new long-term care policy next year to address the growing needs of an aging society.
The "Long-Term Care Policy 3.0" will focus on better care for people with severe disabilities, community-based services, and end-of-life care. Deputy Minister Lu Jien-de (呂建德) says the plan includes integrating home, community, institutional, and medical care into one system.
To fund this, the government is considering an insurance programme for severe disability care, while mild and moderate care will remain tax funded. A monthly NT$15,000 subsidy for institutional care is also under review. The long-term care budget for 2024 is set at NT$88 billion, a 6% increase from last year, with most of the funding going to services and payments. Officials say these plans are still in early stages and require financial studies and private sector support.
In other healthcare news, the MOHW has agreed to take the articles about surrogacy out of a draft amendment to the Assisted Reproduction Bill. Ministry officials say with the opposition to and controversies around the surrogacy issues, there should be another set of laws to deal with them.
The draft amendment, which includes in-vitro fertilization and intrauterine insemination, is now pending in the Legislative Yuan. DPP lawmakers like Huang Xiu Fang (黃秀芳) and Lin Yue Qin (林月琴) in a press conference framed the draft as defending women's right to control their own bodies. The current draft amendment was made public in July, and two legislative committees will convene on Thursday to review it.
