Taiwan’s Ministry of Health is considering a plan to include Chinese nationals studying in Taiwan under the National Health Insurance (NHI) programme, possibly from the 2024 academic year.
According to a report in Focus Taiwan, the development follows recent comments by Vice President and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Lai Ching-te.
During a DPP party meeting, Lai suggested that the existing six-month residency requirement for foreign students to qualify for NHI coverage should be removed. He also advocated extending NHI coverage to Chinese students, who are currently excluded from the programme.
Health Minister Hsueh Jui-yuan confirmed the preliminary stages of planning for these policy changes, which he noted do not require legislative approval. If implemented, the new policy could take effect from the start of the 2024-2025 academic year.
However, the proposal has been criticised by opposition Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers. They have described Lai’s proposal as politically motivated, pointing to the current low number of Chinese students in Taiwan. In contrast, DPP lawmaker Hung Sun-han argued that extending NHI coverage to Chinese students was a human rights issue that deserved to be implemented regardless of the number of students it would affect.
According to government data, the number of Chinese students in Taiwan has fluctuated significantly over the years. It peaked at 41,975 in 2006, but fell to around 25,000 in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic further affected these numbers due to strict travel restrictions.
In other recent developments, the Financial Services Council (FSC) of Taiwan organised a colloquium to foster closer communication with insurance-related companies and associations.
