The woman who traveled abroad returned to China for a short time, and was charged with health insurance premiums to apply for constitutional interpretation. The Constitutional Court ruled yesterday that the implementation rules of health insurance violated the principle of legal retention and should be amended within two years.

(Photo by reporter Wu Zhengfeng)

[Reporters Wu Zhengfeng and Wu Liangyi/Report from Taipei] A woman Li who lived abroad for a long time stopped paying health insurance premiums in accordance with the implementation rules of the National Health Insurance Law, but she didn't know that even if she returned to China for a short time to visit relatives, she would automatically reinstate the insurance, so she was chased by the National Health Insurance Department. 2,247 yuan for health insurance.

Ms. Li questioned that Article 37 and Article 39 of the implementation rules were unconstitutional, and petitioned for constitutional interpretation. On the 23rd, the Constitutional Court made the 111 Constitution Judgment No. 19, declaring it unconstitutional, and invalidated two years later. It violates the principle of legal clarity, so it is up to the legislators to decide whether the suspension and reinsurance system will continue.

Shang Dongfu, director of the Social Insurance Department of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said yesterday that the general direction of the suspension and reinsurance regulations remains unchanged, but the National Health Insurance Law will be revised in accordance with the judgment to improve the legal system.

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Suspension and reinstatement of justices: not unconstitutional

The judgment pointed out that the suspension and reinsurance system of national health insurance affects the rights and obligations of the insured and involves major public interests. principle; however, the implementation rules of health insurance are not authorized by law, that is, they directly regulate major rights and obligations related matters such as cessation of insurance and reinsurance, which violates the principle of legal reservation, and will lose their effectiveness after two years from now on. The 60,000 Taiwanese studying and working abroad should still follow the current regulations.

Ministry of Health and Welfare: Amend the Health Insurance Law in accordance with the judgment

The Constitutional Court emphasized that the cessation and reinstatement provisions only violated legal clarity, and did not violate rights such as proportion, equality, property, and the right to self-determination to manage one’s own health risks. Whether to maintain it in the future is a decision made by legislators based on social risk sharing policy considerations.

In short, the justice believes that the suspension and reinstatement system is not unconstitutional, but it should be determined by a clear law or an order authorized by the law; whether to cancel the system within two years will return to the National Health Insurance Law, which is the authority of the legislator; If the amendment is not completed after two years, the provision will become invalid.