The Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI) finally decided to plug one of the loopholes that have been eating away the insurance premiums paid by taxpayers. Officials announced a sweeping plan to crack down on almost 1,000 pharmacies actually operated by or affiliated with hospitals or clinics themselves.

Huang Chao-ming, a specialist of the BNHI under the Department of Health (DOH), said yesterday at a press conference held in Tainan of southern Taiwan that the so-called "front door pharmacies" affiliated with hospitals or clinics are required to hand back the certificates issued to "independent pharmacies" before the end of June.

They should also return the "excess premium payment" for the January-April period this year before the June 30 deadline, Huang said.

Those complying with the directive will be exempt from prosecution.

Otherwise, Huang said, charges of fraud and forgery will be filed against doctors, pharmacists, or other medical workers running these pharmacies. Those convicted will face a maximum imprisonment of five years, according to the regulations.

Unlike the "independent pharmacies," Huang explained, the "front door pharmacies" are established right in front of the gates of hospitals or clinics, or nearby, by the medical organizations or medical workers themselves.

Hospitals and clinics are allowed to collect NT$49 -- NT$24 as medical service fee and NT$25 as diagnosis fee for releasing the prescriptions to pharmacies -- from the BNHI for each medical treatment case.

BNHI officials said such fees are intended for "independent pharmacies" as part of the integrated medical service network in Taiwan.

However, the pharmacies affiliated with the hospitals or clinics are presently also collecting the money from the bureau.

Huang said those known as "front door pharmacies" with ties to hospitals or clinics should not draw the payment from the premiums paid by taxpayers.

Such "excess premium payment" currently runs up to about NT$1.6 billion a year.

Data and records gathered by the BNHI show that among the 1,986 "independent pharmacies" throughout Taiwan, 1,061 of them are allegedly connected with hospitals or clinics.

Huang said hospitals or clinics will have the chance in the next one-and-a-half months to clarify their status and give back the fees they had wrongfully collected during the first four months of the year.

He said the bureau and the Tainan Prosecutors' Office already got an early start to root out the illegal practice in certain areas in southern Taiwan.

The BNHI will soon turn the data about the ownership of the pharmacies to regional prosecutors' offices and police stations in other areas for sweeping verification and investigation.

Among the 430 "independent pharmacies" in the counties of Yunlin, Chiayi, and Tainan, 251 of them were allegedly to be related to hospitals or clinics in the three counties, according to the BNHI.

Lawmakers and some organizations have been resisting the DOH's plan to raise the premium rates or the portion of medical payment to be shared by the insured patients in order to cover financial deficit in the national health insurance (NHI) system.

They applauded the BNHI for plugging the loophole and forcing the "front door pharmacies" to return the excess payment.

The DOH and the BNHI should take active actions to stamp out other financial breaches and wastes before forcing the people to pay higher premiums and medical costs, they said.

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The China Post staff
 
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