NHIA Director-General Lee Po-chang (center) fields questions from the media during the release of the latest NHI satisfaction survey Nov. 26 in Taipei City. (Courtesy of NHIA)

Public satisfaction with Taiwan’s National Health Insurance system hit a record high 89.7 percent this year, up from 86.5 percent in 2018, according to the NHI Administration under the Ministry of Health and Welfare Nov. 26.
 
Ease of access to treatment topped the survey at 41.6 percent, followed by inexpensive medical care, 41.5 percent; and reasonably priced insurance premium, 19.9 percent. The needs-based approach, which encourages users with nonserious ailments to seek treatment at small clinics so as to reduce pressure on Taiwan’s major hospitals, recorded a 70 percent approval.
 
Of those in disagreement, nearly 70 percent cited perceived superior treatment at major hospitals as the main reason. Nearly half felt the approach was potentially problematic as they could not discern the severity of a health issue.
 
On the service provider side of the survey, physicians and dentists indicated satisfaction levels of 33.7 percent and 36.6 percent, respectively, with dissatisfaction levels at 19.1 percent and 14.9 percent.
 
Lee Po-chang, director-general of the NHIA, said increasing satisfaction levels of users and service providers reaffirms the success of government policies aimed at improving health care in Taiwan and the well-being of the country’s 23 million people. The results serve as the basis for further NHI reforms and upgrades, Lee added.
 
Established in 1995, the NHI is regularly praised at home and abroad as a model health care system. It covers more than 99 percent of Taiwan’s 23 million people, and offers a comprehensive range of leading-edge medical services.
 
The annual survey was conducted by Taipei City-based National Yang-Ming University between July 1 and Sept. 10 via landline, mobile and online platforms. Respondents comprised a random sampling of 7,234 NHI users aged 20 and above. (SFC-E)