Taiwan Long-Term Care Association Proposes Act Amendments to Boost Private Sector

Taiwan's long-term care industry association is pushing for significant revisions to the Long-Term Care Service Act, aiming to inject flexibility and private sector vitality into a system struggling to keep pace with the nation's rapidly aging population. The association presented its proposed amendments at a press conference, highlighting the urgent need to address challenges such as rigid payment rates, disparities in operating costs across regions, unstable funding, and insufficient service flexibility.

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The current system faces challenges of rigid payment prices, regional operating cost differences, unstable financial resources, and insufficient service flexibility.

The proposed changes focus on several key areas. A central amendment seeks to establish a "Long-Term Care Special Service and Fee Review Committee" responsible for determining the scope of services, subsidy amounts, and rates. This committee would reflect changes in the consumer price index, wage levels, and operational costs. Crucially, the committee's membership would include representatives from government agencies, family caregivers, care workers, and service institutions, with these non-governmental representatives forming at least a quarter of the total membership to ensure impartial and transparent decision-making.

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We hope to establish a credible collective negotiation mechanism through legislative amendments to solve structural dilemmas.

Further proposed revisions include allowing for differentiated pricing in areas with higher costs or unique circumstances, and implementing a five-year review mechanism for technology and AI integration in long-term care. The association also advocates for a review of funding sources every five years, considering options like long-term care insurance. To enhance efficiency, the amendments suggest shifting the fee approval for non-contracted long-term care services from a "fixed" to a "filing" system, with annual announcements of reasonable reference standards.

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The current annual supervision and evaluation administrative process is cumbersome, and we hope to reduce the administrative burden to focus on care quality.

Industry stakeholders expressed support for the proposed changes. Representatives from long-term care institutions highlighted the administrative burden of current inspection and evaluation processes and the limitations imposed by fee caps on providing high-quality residential care. They emphasized that loosening regulations and providing policy guidance, drawing from experiences in the medical sector, could unlock significant private sector capacity to meet the growing demand for elder care services in Taiwan's super-aged society.

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In a super-aged society, the supply of high-quality institutions is clearly insufficient. The government should learn from past experiences in guiding private forces into the medical system.