Ten billion Taiwan dollars (US$332 million) will be spent to improve long-term care in the next three years. That’s the word from Premier Jiang Yi-huah on Wednesday.
Jiang said that Taiwan will become an “aged society” in 2018 when 14% of the total population is over 65 years old. Although Taiwan already has many long-term care facilities, demand is still on the rise.
“We need a long-term plan for our aging society," said Jiang. "We have already achieved the goal of setting up 120 long-term care facilities by 2013. I hope in three years, by the end of 2016, every one of the 368 towns in Taiwan will have long-term care facilities available."
Jiang also promised to increase long-term care subsidies by 10% so the hourly wage for long-term care workers can be raised from NT$150 (US$5) to NT$170 (US$5.60). The NT$10 billion the Cabinet will spend on long term care will benefit 72,000 families that require long-term care services.