Department of Health (DOH) Minister Yaung Chih-liang is to resign over a lot of controversial issues that actually have nothing to do with him, including the government's bungling over imports of U.S.beef products, health insurance premium hikes and the national inoculation program against influenza A (H1N1).
Yaung, a specialist in national health insurance policy and finance, has been blasted by lawmakers of both the ruling and opposition camps suggesting an increase in the health insurance premiums for those who earn monthly salaries of over NT$50,000, in an effort to save the cash-strapped health insurance system.
To be fair, Yaung is an excellent, integral and outspoken political appointee who has always tried to address problems from a professional point of view without taking into account any political fallout.
He would have been able to complete his term and win praise from the pubic if he served in an advanced country, but here in Taiwan, elections decide everything, and he became the scapegoat of the latest election defeat for the ruling party over the disputes on the beef-trade and the inoculation program.
If Yaung had been shrewder, he would not have insisted on the premium hike -- a just and fair decision -- at a time when a series of elections is to be held.
We want to know when the premium hike can be carried out, since elections take place in Taiwan almost every year. We would also warn lawmakers and political commentators against putting on shows in which they attack and insult officials harshly, to avoid the undesired phenomenon of "bad money driving out good money." (March 9, 2010) (By Bear Lee)
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