Legislators Call for Inclusion of Dementia Group Homes in Long-Term Care Payment System

(Central News Agency reporter Lin Ching-yin, Taipei, 11th) Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislators Lin Yueh-chin, Lai Hui-yuan, and Liu Chien-kuo stated today that the dementia population continues to rise. Dementia group homes, which serve as an important service model combining home-like care with community integration, have not yet been included in the long-term care payment system and can only rely on subsidies to maintain operations. They urged the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) to incorporate group homes into the long-term care payment system, so that they are no longer "policy orphans."

Lin Yueh-chin, Lai Hui-yuan, and Liu Chien-kuo held a press conference this morning at the Legislative Yuan titled "Dementia Group Homes Become Policy Orphans, Where is Long-Term Care Payment, Group Homes Need to Be Included in Payment, Dementia Cannot Be Forgotten."

Lin Yueh-chin stated that dementia group homes are currently still in the subsidy program stage and have not yet been institutionalized into the payment system, leading to a systemic breakdown. This includes unstable financial sources, difficulty in retaining personnel, ambiguous policy positioning, and continued heavy family care burdens. Dementia group homes have been proven effective but have not yet been formally embraced by the system as a critical service. If the government only supports them through subsidies, it will not only fail to stabilize service capacity but may also lead to a gradual loss of frontline operators and care personnel, further affecting the overall development of the dementia care system.

Lai Hui-yuan said that group homes bear the important functions of community care and family support, but have long been constrained by high operating costs and insufficient institutional resources, leading many units to struggle to operate. In addition to promptly improving the long-term care payment system, the government must also comprehensively review whether the current tax system can provide more support, including property tax, land value tax, and business-related burdens, to reduce the operating pressure on group homes through a more reasonable and friendly institutional design.

Liu Chien-kuo stated that group homes are an important line of defense for dementia families and are by no means dispensable pilot projects. The MOHW should comprehensively incorporate group homes into the long-term care payment system, establish stable financial resources, and clearly define them as community-based care rather than residential institutions. It should expand subsidies for establishment, review current fee ceilings and relevant tax systems, provide reasonable development space, and open up admission to mildly demented individuals to delay deterioration, and accelerate the introduction of mid-level foreign personnel to fill care gaps. (Editor: Su Lung-chi) 1150511

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