The Framework and Challenges of Social Security in Taiwan：Focusing on Social Insurance System

• Main Authors: Ting-Chuan Chien, 簡廷涓
• Other Authors: 蔡宗珍
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/14848218753071400346

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 法律學研究所 === 101 === The social security system in Taiwan has centered on the social insurance system, which initially covered military personnel, civil servants, teachers, and laborers. In recent years, the national health insurance and the national pension have been rolled out to expand the scope of the social insurance system, and the whole social security framework has thus become a more important part than ever of the lives of Taiwanese citizens. The present social insurance system, though appearing as comprehensive, is actually deeply flawed to an extent to which the system becomes shaky and is gradually eating away trust from the public and their sense of security. The whole social security system is doomed to fall short of fulfilling the spirit embodied in the Constitution if the flaws cannot be addressed properly. Therefore, through a review of the social security framework and the laws and regulations regarding social insurance in Taiwan, this study aims at sorting out how the social security system has evolved and how it deviates from or corresponds to the mission implicated in the Constitution, and, most importantly, pointing out obstacles on the path to social security system reforms. This paper is divided into four parts: the author first looks into the constitutions of various social welfare states and points out the transition of the government’s role after the advent of the concept of “social state”. Then, through comparing and contrasting how different constitutional systems put the idea of “social state” into practice, the author further clarifies the meaning of “social state” denoted in the Constitution of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Second, the author examines the concepts of social security and social insurance and the theoretical foundations of the current social insurance system, and then scrutinizes the features of the system, including its structure, scope, and the principles governing the contents and procedure for issuing payments. Third, the laws regarding the social security system are discussed respectively according to the categorization of social insurance, and an overall analysis of the system ensues. Last, challenges facing the current social security system in Taiwan are specified, including how categorizing citizens by trade renders the system vulnerable, the overemphasis of “occupation” in the social insurance system, and the potential problems that may emerge due to the extensive intervention by “the government.”