Taipei City Government

On August 12, Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je attended the Slowly and Beautifully Growing Old with Taipei – In Control of Your Own Happiness Policy Clarification Press Conference.

In the beginning of his speech, Mayor Ko pointed out that, “Actually the first order of business today is to announce the main visual for senior social welfare or social welfare affairs in the future. Earlier, the MC was complaining that the Senior Card was simply an EasyCard, with no design at all. But slowly, Taipei will become a more sensible city, so our Senior Card will also be re-designed. Then for the design, the main visual will now use an orange and yellowish color.”

When he first looked at the design, he had hoped it could have more red in it – since the color of maple trees should be a fall color, we would want a color that represents fall. But he also didn’t want it to be too light or too dull, so he told the branding team he hoped that it could be redder, maybe as red as the color of the mountains at the back.

“Once the main visual is established, when we offer different kinds of services, whether it’s the exhibition venue or the Sports Center, people will know that the place caters especially to elderly persons. MC also mentioned earlier that it is hoped that seniors could have more freedom, more self-confidence, and more self-awareness. The meaning of freedom is to live freely in a metropolitan city, so the 480 points in the Senior Card we have promoted was to resolve the transportation issue. And that is why Taipei City Government is allowing the seniors to use the points on bus, MRT, YouBike, Maokong Gondola, and even the Taipei Sightseeing Bus. And recently we have added in taxis, as we should be treating taxis as part of public transportation. We are encouraging seniors to just take taxis, and not to drive themselves around, offering them better mobility in the City.”

Ko said that, from his observation in hospitals, many seniors would start watching TV at home and would later be watched by TV before finally falling asleep. That is why he encourages seniors to go out more, and the first step to achieve that is to improve transportation. Many people have complained to him that people above 80 have no use of the points, but he has noticed that many people who have just passed 65 years old have used up their points. For these people just over 65 years old who are able to use up their 480 points, he is hoping that they will continue their habits of going out so that they will stay healthy longer. Looking at the statistics thus far, before the seniors surveyed passed away, they would spend 7 to 8 years resting in bed, which is way too long. So he is hoping that seniors would not only live longer, but also live healthier. Taipei City Government therefore has been fully supporting seniors on public transportation. Once they are able to move freely, the next issue would be their health.

“Starting around January 1 next year, people over 65 years old will once again receive subsidies for National Health Insurance. It had once been 65 years old, and then there was a period when the threshold was limited to above 70 years old. Why? Because Taipei City’s elderly population over the past few years has increased unexpectedly. So the same expense, the National Health Insurance subsidy expense for people over 65 years old, will be NT$ 3.1 billion in 2029. But now the expenditure is only NT$ 1.5 billion. Even when we go back to 65 years old starting next year, we still need more than NT$ 600 million to fill the fiscal gap. Everything we do needs money.” But personally, the mayor still believes that National Health Insurance subsidy needs to be put as top priority, as according to statistics, there are still several thousand seniors above 65 years old who are not paying for their National Health Insurance.

“It’s a serious issue for society, because National Health Insurance is still an extremely important factor in promoting Taiwanese citizens’ health. So it is hoped that every senior, except those with exceptionally high income and thus excluded, above 65 years old will be covered by and subsidized for their National Health Insurance. To restore this policy, we will need to first set aside more than NT$ 2.1 billion, which is a huge amount. We have also been more conservative in our spending over recent years and moved some money from other resources, so we will re-initiate the National Health Insurance subsidy starting January 1 next year.”

“In addition, 12 Sports Centers in Taipei City have begun subsidizing each senior NT$ 50 every time they use the Sports Center, hoping that seniors will fully utilize the Centers and do more exercise; after all, doing exercise does make you healthier. Once you can go out freely and are protected by National Health Insurance, then you can start working out more, and you will also have a better-looking Senior Card. Later, the chairman of EasyCard will talk about how a senior economy will be developed in Taipei. Since now EasyCard has obtained the rights for electronic payments and is capable of transferring money card-to-card, overall cashless transactions will speed up at the end of the year. The Senior Card will be even more convenient in terms of cashless transactions. Maybe EasyCard will have some new policies. Last but not least, Taipei City Government is ultimately hoping that all Taipei seniors will be able to have freedom, self-confidence, and self-awareness and live happily in the City.”

The mayor later took group media interviews and was first asked by a reporter if the expansion of elderly welfare was meant to win their approval. He indicated that, to avoid any suspicion, the government was thinking of starting it in October, but he rejected the idea and decided to follow the annual budget schedule. “Elderlies’ National Health Insurance subsidy had originally been above 65 years old, and for a period of time we moved it to 70 years old. Now we are bringing it back to 65 years old, because over the past few years, Taipei City’s population above 65 years old has had a dramatic increase. Initially, we had not enough money for it – we only had NT$ 1.5 billion. Now we are projecting the National Health Insurance subsidy will reach NT$ 3.1 billion, which will almost be double the current amount, in 2029, the year when Taipei City will have the highest number of elderlies. So there are many aspects of everyday necessities we need to look after. As recently we have been planning our budget for next year, we’ve noticed the increasing number of senior populations – we will be spending a lot on seniors’ social welfare. So how should we effectively use our budget, of course we have to prioritize them, so our National Health Insurance subsidy for next year will probably be increased by more than NT$ 600 million. We still need money to work it out – when the economy is bad, nothing can be done.”