7 November 2017

On 7 November the legislature passed an amendment to the National Health Insurance Act to allow newborn babies of legal foreign residents in the country to be covered by the compulsory health insurance plan upon birth. The newly revised health insurance rule reverses the current situation in which foreign parents with resident status in Taiwan can only obtain health insurance for babies six months after they are born.

The amendment is a follow-up measure to the passage of the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals by the Legislative Yuan on 31 October, which included a number of provisions aimed at making Taiwan more attractive for foreign nationals to live and work.

The revision effectively resolves the issue of insurance for newborns that had been raised in the position papers of the ECCT's Better Living committee for several years. The ECCT welcomes the amendment which had been a matter of concern for young foreign professionals living and working in Taiwan.