Day 1: Bureau of National Health Insurance and John Tung Foundation

After a somewhat restful nights sleep, we started the day on a hunt for breakfast. We ate dough that was stuffed with either fried dough, egg, or some kind of lettuce. It was pretty tasty and it was fun to explore the area around our hotel. We also found a few bakeries that we will have to try later this week. 

Making breakfast

Breakfast!

 Danielle and I after breakfast

After that, we met up with students from Asia University and China Medical University. They will be with us the entire time we are here. We were each paired with a student from one of these universities. They will take us around the city and we will also complete a project and presentation together. My partners name is Doris. She studies health care management at Asia University. She seems like a really sweet girl, and I'm excited to get to know her.

Dr. Chen introducing the students from Taiwan

Our next stop was at the Bureau of National Health Insurance where we learned about the health insurance system in Taiwan. Taiwan's National Health Insurance plan was started in 1995 with a goal of helping the disadvantaged. For private sector employees the government pays 10% of insurance costs, the employer pays 60%, and the employee pays 30%. For veterans, low-income households, and prisoners, the government pays 100%. This has made health insurance very accessible to all classes, however a disparity in health still remains between the rich and the poor. Taiwan also links all medical information to an ID card. When a person goes to the doctor, the doctor can swipe the card and view a person's entire medical history. It's a pretty neat system, which can reduce administrative costs and also control overuse of the system. It was also mentioned that Taiwan is facing a financial crisis because premiums are extremely low and cannot cover the expenses. It a political process to rise premium rates, which may face opposition, however, it looks like that may be necessary. After learning about Taiwan's health care system, we were able to ask questions and therefore compare health insurance in America to Taiwan. It was a fancy set up where everyone had a microphone and could as the Director and other leaders of the Bureau questions. It was definitely an interesting and informative discussion. 

Director Chen

Our fancy tables with microphones

In the afternoon, we headed to the John Tung Foundation, which is an organization that has played a huge role in tobacco control in Taiwan. We learned about the history of the John Tung Foundation, and where they would like to go in the future. They are hoping to raise taxes on cigarettes by $20NT which is about $0.70 American dollars. On Thursday we are visiting Congress to petition on behalf of the John Tung Foundation. 

Tonight, we visited the Longshan Temple, which is one of the five famous temples in Taiwan. It was beautiful. It's a place of worship for Buddhists, Taoists, and other folk deities. Many people were there worshiping and reflecting tonight. It was great to be a part of this and experience some of the culture here.

My partner, Doris, and I at the temple.

We concluded the night by visiting a night market. It consisted of many food and merchandise vendors selling just about anything you can imagine. Unfortunately I'm not very adventurous when it comes to food, so I had to pass up the pig ears and snake soup and settle for some good ol' fried rice. 

Overall, it was a great first day in Taipei. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, hopefully the jet lag will be better by then!