A single-payer, compulsory social health insurance system covering nearly the entire population of Taiwan, established under the National Health Insurance Act passed in July 1994 and launched on March 1, 1995, run by Taiwan's Ministry of Health and Welfare. It replaced a fragmented set of earlier insurance schemes with one nationwide program financed mainly through payroll based premiums split between workers and employers, supplemented by government funding for the poor and veterans and by out of pocket payments, and it covers outpatient care, hospitalization, dental services, traditional Chinese medicine and prescription drugs. By the end of 2023 enrollment had reached 99.9 percent of Taiwan's population, administrative costs stood at about 2 percent of spending, among the lowest of any national health system, and the country counted 476 hospitals and 23,421 clinics under the program.
Facts
Program Statusactive; population coverage reached 99.9 percent by the end of 2023 1 Sponsoring BodyMinistry of Health and Welfare of the Executive Yuan, Taiwan 1 Target Populationthe whole population; the working population pays premiums split with employers, others pay a flat rate with government help, and the poor or veterans are fully subsidized 1 Health Goalpromise equal access to healthcare for all citizens 1 Geographic ScopeTaiwan, nationwide, single-payer compulsory insurance 1 Measured Resultspatient satisfaction rates consistently reaching about 90 percent in recent years 1 Classification
Program KindHealth Insurance or Financing Program 1 Connections
Associated With
Delivers Practice
Entity-backed identity for the program-kind enum value this public health program already carries, resolved to a health practice by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The program-kind fact itself stays on the program unchanged.
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: Asia, found in there.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Healthcare in Taiwan
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationNational Health Insurance section, opening sentence, clause naming NHI
known as National Health Insurance (NHI, Chinese: 全民健康保險)
National Health Insurance section, opening sentence, on the 1995 founding
The current healthcare system in Taiwan, known as National Health Insurance (NHI, Chinese: 全民健康保險), was instituted in 1995.
Lead paragraph, opening sentence, on Ministry of Health and Welfare administration
Healthcare in Taiwan is administered by the Ministry of Health and Welfare of the Executive Yuan.
National Health Insurance section, sentence 2, on the single-payer nationwide plan
NHI is a single-payer compulsory social insurance plan that centralizes the disbursement of healthcare funds.
National Health Insurance section, sentence 3, on equal access goal
The system promises equal access to healthcare for all citizens.
History section, healthcare reform subsection, sentence on premium structure by population group
The working population pays premiums split with their employers; others pay a flat rate with government help and the poor or veterans are fully subsidized.
National Health Insurance section, sentence on 2023 coverage rate
Population coverage reached 99.9% by the end of 2023.
History section, healthcare reform subsection, sentence on patient satisfaction rates
Patients have largely been satisfied with the system, with satisfaction rates consistently reaching 90% in recent years.
Program classification, entity description sentence
A single-payer, compulsory social health insurance system covering nearly the entire population of Taiwan, established under the National Health Insurance Act passed in July 1994 and launched on March 1, 1995, run by Taiwan's Ministry of Health and Welfare.
View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.