Insurance: Amendments to Regulations Governing the Deduction and Payment of the Supplementary Insurance Premium of the National Health Insurance Chinese has been promulgated and will become effective on September 1th, 2014.

[2014/07/21]

Amendments to Regulations Governing the Deduction and Payment of the Supplementary Insurance Premium of the National Health Insurance (the “Regulation”) has been promulgated on July 21, 2014 by Ministry of Health and Welfare with the effective date on September 1, 2014. This Amendment is dealing with how to deduct the supplementary premium from the salaries paid by parties other than the group insurance applicant who insures the payee. Such salary is also known as the income from part-time job.

Currently, the second generation National Health Insurance requires deduction of supplementary premium at the rate of two percent (2%) from certain income if the payment satisfies the following: (1) the payment falls into the six types of income, i.e. income from the great amount of bonus, income from part-time job, uninsured income from professional practice, income from stock earnings, income from interest and income from lease, and (2) of which the single payment reaches NT$5,000. However, in avoidance of adding undue burden to the disadvantaged people, the threshold of deduction with respect to the part-time job income earned by the group of people as indicated in the Regulation, such as children and juveniles, mid- and low-income families, students without full-time job, is the minimum wage publicized by the central labor competent authority.

The amendment revokes the elements of disadvantaged status. In the future, any single payment less than the statutory minimum wage (currently, NT$19,273), regardless of whether he or she is of disadvantaged group, is not deductible for paying supplementary premium. Please be noted that this amendment is not applicable to the other five types of income which are still subject to the NT$5000 threshold on any single payment.