Expat Insurance Services in Taiwan

The Republic of China government based in Taipei, Taiwan since the year 1995 has offered a mandatory national public health system to residents, which is known as National Health Insurance. This system was developed as a reform of the previous health care model after careful comparative studies were conducted of the public insurance coverage programs operating in ten other nations around the world. The chosen model was largely based on the US Medicare system, except that at least 97 percent of the people in Taiwan are now enrolled, and coverage is comprehensive for all costs arising from all types of medical treatment including dentistry and even traditional Chinese medicine. The premiums for this government operated public health care service are largely based on personal withholding taxes as a rate of a salaried employee’s pay check. There is also a competitive private health clinic market that requires supplementary insurance. Residents of Taiwan who are enrolled with the state operated national health insurance policy are provided a smart card that contains their important information programmed inside to speed up processing. All medical, prescriptive, clinical, hospitalization or consultative treatment costs that are incurred by a patient in Taiwan are paid automatically by the public health care insurance without any worry on the part of the patient.