News

    County Magistrate Lin Ming-chen puts great emphasis on the new healthcare measures of improving senior citizens’ chewing and biting. Since 2017, the Denture Sponsorship Program has been provided to senior citizens aged above 65 years old to install free dentures. This year, due to insufficient sponsorship caused by proactive applications, the County Government has provided an additional 17-million dollar sponsorship to more senior citizens. The deadline of normal family applications is March 9th; this is to notify that the citizens who need the sponsorship should finish the application process in time.

    County Magistrate Lin indicated that in considering of the current financial status of the County Government, a certain adjustment has been made to the sponsorship amount for senior citizens from normal families. In the future, once the financial status becomes more affluent, the care of senior citizens most in need will be the targeted focus in the administration for striving all benefits to senior citizens in the healthcare aspect.

    The Department of Social and Labor Affairs of the County Government indicated that Nantou County is the 8th county of the nation providing the Denture Sponsorship Program. The sponsored target of the 1st category is: registered citizens aged above 65 years old with low income or mid-low income; and the 2nd category: normal registered citizens over a year and aged above 65 years old should report to the dentist medical institution and get the doctor’s Diagnosis certification and denture cost pricing list before application. Each person gets the maximum sponsorship of 40,000 dollars.

    Last year, the County Government spent 27.5 million dollars on the Denture Sponsorship Program for sponsoring 257 people of the 1st category, and 949 people in the 2nd category, totalling 1,206 senior citizens who have benefited. This year, the County Government has arranged 32.49 million dollars, including 12.49 million dollars spent on (low) mid-income families, and 20 million dollars spent on normal families. Due to more requests from senior citizens from each city and town, County Magistrate Lin has agreed to arrange another 17 million dollars for senior citizens to benefit from the program; the total expense of the program has reached 42.49 million dollars.

    The County Government evaluates that the total time of the denture installation process, including the evaluation of installation, finishing the seat for the denture, model of jaw-closing system and other treatments, will take 2 – 4 months. Consequently, those citizens who have got the approval of sponsorship should report to the dentist’s office for healing, modelling and the installation of the dentures. Then, they can apply for reimbursement of the sponsorship. The County Government will review the actual reimbursement situation, detailed executive process and budgeting process for further improvement. In the future, the welfare of senior citizens will be gradually implemented.