Taiwan's 2027 NHI Budget Growth Projected Up to 5.5%, No Premium Hikes Planned

The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) announced that even with a high-end projection of a 5.5% growth rate for the 2027 National Health Insurance (NHI) budget, the program's safety reserve will remain above the required one-month threshold by the end of next year. Consequently, there is no pressure to increase standard NHI premiums, with formal negotiations scheduled for September.

During a meeting of the NHI Committee, Executive Secretary Chou Shu-wan stated that the growth rate for next year is estimated between a low of 2.619% and a high of 5.5%. The NHI budget covers payments for hospitals, primary care, traditional Chinese medicine, dentistry, and dialysis. By law, the safety reserve must maintain at least one month of expenditures.

With Taiwan’s NHI budget now exceeding one trillion TWD, projections indicate that even at the high-end growth rate of 5.5%, the safety reserve will sit at 1.01 months. While payers have expressed a desire to avoid premium hikes, they have suggested that increased government budget subsidies could help maintain financial stability. Furthermore, the MOHW is reviewing discrepancies between statistical drug price estimates and actual procurement costs faced by medical institutions to ensure better alignment with real-world conditions.

Policy goals for the coming year include accelerating the adoption of new drugs and medical technologies, optimizing payment standards for critical care, and improving pediatric and rare disease support. The current projections are in the draft stage, with the Executive Yuan expected to finalize the growth range following consultations between July and August.