Nurses and caregivers and chronically underpaid and overworked, causing shortages and high turnover–a problem that will only get worse as the population ages. Being top of the PFP party list gives Eva Teng (滕西華) a shot at getting into the legislature and addressing the issue, if the PFP can cross the 5% threshold on the party list vote in January. Current polling mostly has the PFP below 5%, but not by much–and they crossed that threshold in the last election.
From the Taipei Times:
The People First Party (PFP) yesterday said that it plans to propose legislation that would implement “total nursing care,” which it said would only raise National Health Insurance (NHI) premiums by about NT$40 (US$1.31) per month.
The “total nursing care” proposal was presented by Eva Teng (滕西華), a long-time advocate for the rights of patients and the physically challenged, as well as the PFP’s No. 1 nominee on its legislator-at-large list.
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Because the nation has become an aging society — with one elderly person being supported by 3.4 adults — the government should implement a “total nursing care” policy to improve the situation in hospitals, she said.
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Total nursing care should be covered by the NHI, she said.
Caretakers receive an average of NT$2,100 to NT$2,400 per day, but if the expense was covered by the NHI, a person would only need to pay NT$500 to NT$700 per day, because the NHI would have NT$25 billion to NT$30 billion from premiums to cover the difference, Teng said.
If a caretaker could be hired for NT$500 per day, with the remainder covered by the NHI, people would only have their monthly premium increase about NT$40, she said.
Picture of Eva Teng (滕西華) courtesy of the PFP Facebook page
