UHC Forward: Towards Universal Health Coverage

The organization of health administration in Taiwan is divided into two structures: The National level and the local level. The National Health Insurance (NHI) system is administered by the central government, which has the overall responsibility for the formulation of health care policies and the regulation of health care services throughout Taiwan. The Department of Health (DOH) has jurisdiction over the Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI), the NHI supervisory Committee, the NHI Dispute Mediation Committee, and the NHI Medical Expenditure Negotiation Committee, all of which plan and monitor tasks that relate to the NHI. BNHI acts as the primary executive of the NHI. BNHI contracts with health care facilities and is the primary organization responsible for administering the National Health Insurance system, collecting premiums from the insured and regulating health care services for the insured.

Under the executive branch, Taiwan has 6 regional divisions divided into 25 local health bureaus under city or county local governments. These local bureaus are responsible for daily operations of health management and directly handle underwriting operations, insurance premium collection, review and payment of medical claims, and management of NHI-contracted medical care institutions. The bureaus all have close relationships to local level health and aid in managing the contracted medical institutions through quality counseling, and management of emergency rescue services, mental health services, and human resources. In addition, each of the 25 county governments in Taiwan has a health liaison bureau, which is responsible for the operation of public health centers within their geographical region under the guidance of the health department.

While the NHI is governed by the central government, most management of NHI is decentralized. The BNHI is the primary overseer of NHI, acts to set the annual national budget, and implements most policy in a centralized, top-down fashion. The BNHI also acts as the primary intermediary between the insured and the providers. Oversight of the NHI is also provided by the NHI Supervisory Committee (NHISC), which provides a forum for social associations, employers and providers to communicate with one another; the NHI Disputes Mediation Committee (NHIDM), which mediates disputes between the insured and providers; the NHI Expenditure Negotiation Committee (NHIENC), which negotiates the payments for providers under the Global Budget Payment; and the NHI Task Force. The daily management of the NHI, however, is highly decentralized. The BNHI distributes responsibilities to the 6 regional divisions and local governments.

The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is the body responsible for regulation of the system and the different health insurance schemes. The Governing Board of the National Health Insurance Scheme is the National Health Insurance Council (NHIC). NHIC works to regulate the scheme (including setting standards, determining contribution rates, providing technical support, etc), license HMOs and providers, train health care providers, and manage the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).

HMOS are licensed by the NHIS to facilitate the provision of healthcare benefits to contributors under the Formal Sector Social health Insurance Program; to interface between eligible contributors, including voluntary contributors and the healthcare providers, ensure member registration, public education about the schemes, collect premiums from members and employers, contract with providers, process claims, and pay claims directly to providers.

The informal sector scheme under the NHIS is managed by a Board of Trustees composed of the Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and four others. A clerk is appointed to carry out clerical and accounting duties. The Board of Trustees has executive power and is responsible for collecting contributions from participants, paying providers for services rendered, and operating a bank account with an NHIS accredited Bank.

The Nigerian system is organized as a federation and divided into three tiers: federal, state, and local. The federal government sets overall policy direction and standards, implements national immunization programs, and oversees federally funded tertiary health facilities. The states undertake policy making and regulation as well as financial responsibility for the personnel, operating costs, and capital investment of the tertiary, secondary, and primary care facilities. The 774 local government associations (LGAs) are responsible for primary health care delivery, under the guidance and supervision of federal and state departments of primary health care. LGAs tend to exert the least influence in this system, and frequently suffer from insufficient funding.

Several stakeholders are involved in the oversight and execution of RSBY at both the national and state levels. A key actor in the administration of the scheme is the insurer. The insurer must cover the benefit package designed by the central MoLE through a cashless facility. Additionally, it acts as an intermediary between RSBY and local organizations in order to provide grassroots outreach and assist members in utilizing the services after enrollment.

Once a state has agreed to implement RSBY, a nodal department is selected by the State. The nodal department designate sets up a nodal agency which is responsible for implementing RSBY. The nodal agency seeks bids from registered public or private insurance companies. The financial bid is essentially an annual premium per enrolled household.

Technically qualified insurer(s) with the lowest bid is/are selected as the state’s RSBY insurer. A state can seek bids from multiple insurers for various districts. Selected insurers are compensated on the basis of the number of SmartCards issued (i.e. households covered). Each contract is specified on the basis of an individual district in a state, with the insurer agreeing to set up an office in each district where it operates. While more than one insurer can operate in a particular state, only one insurer can operate in a single district at any given point in time.

The use of a cashless facility in turn requires the use of SmartCards which must be issued to all members. This requires that a sub-contract be arranged with a qualified Third Party Administrator/SmartCard provider. The insurer must also agree to engage intermediaries with local presence (e.g., NGOs) in order to provide grassroots outreach and assist members in utilizing the services after enrollment. The insurer must also build a list of empanelled hospitals that will participate in the cashless arrangement. These hospitals must meet certain basic minimum requirements (e.g., size and registration) and must agree to set up a special RSBY desk with SmartCard and fingerprint readers and train the hospital staff. The list should include public and private hospitals.

The insurer must also establish a separate Project Office for implementing the scheme and coordinating activities with the state nodal agency in the state capital. The insurer will have appropriate people in their own/TPA, state, and district offices to perform the following functions:

• Operate a 24-hour toll free call center
• Manage district kiosks for post issuance modifications to SmartCards
• Management info system functions, including collecting, collating, and reporting data on a real time basis
• Generating reports, in predefined format, at periodic intervals, as decided between insurer and state nodal agency
• IT related functions which include running the local website/updating data regularly
• Pre-authorization function for non-package surgical interventions
• Claims settlement
• Organizing Health camps
• Publicity for enrollment and post-enrollment
• Grievance and dispute resolution
• Feedback functions

As of January 2010, eleven public and private insurance companies were engaged in insuring RSBY beneficiaries across 23 states.

Since in the initial phases of RSBY, the focus was on stabilizing processes and operations, insurer contracts were set for one year. Now that processes and basic operations have been ironed out and stabilized, the contract period has been extended to a maximum period of three years. However, even three year contracts are subject to annual renewal based on insurer performance, with annual performance goals defined by the government at the time of initial contract signing.

The table below summarizes the roles and responsibilities of all organizations involved in operationalizing RSBY at the state and national level: