The "Bureau of National Health Insurance" (BNHI) under the Department of Health is working on a formula for an increase in health insurance premiums under which 75 percent of the insured will not be affected, "Health Minister" Yaung Chih-liang said yesterday.

The hike will be imposed on the 25 percent, or 5.4 million, of insured people who earn salaries in excess of NT$50,000 ($1,563) per month, as directed by "Premier" Wu Den-yih, while the rest will not be affected, Yaung said.

However, since the actual income of the insured can be somewhat different from the salary brackets registered with the BNHI, the bureau is studying which income figure should be used as the basis for calculating the premium charged.

As for when the hike will take effect, the minister said the sooner the better, as the program has already run up debts of nearly NT$58.8 billion in addition to an expected shortfall of NT$40 billion for this year.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 03/05/2010 page8)