COST OF LIVING/46 additional types of Da Vinci surgery to be covered by NHI

Taipei, July 15 (CNA) The National Health Insurance (NHI) program will cover 46 additional types of surgery performed by the Da Vinci robotic surgical system, Shih Chung-liang (石崇良), head of the National Health Insurance Administration, has announced.

The expansion will be implemented in September at the earliest, Shih told reporters on Saturday.

The surgeries to be covered include gastrectomies, gastric bypass surgeries, cholecystectomies, nephrectomies and myomectomies, with over 8,400 people expected to benefit per year, Shih said.

For the expansion the NHI will disburse about NT$285 million (US$8.762 million) each year. As the costs of each type of surgery ranges widely, patients can save up to NT$100,000 or more on surgeries like total gastrectomies, Shih said.

Surgeries performed by the Da Vinci system are less time-consuming, make smaller incisions and reduce hospitalization time.

The NHI has covered 17 types of surgeries performed by the system since March 1, 2023.

While the NHI aims to give the public more treatment method choices, it was impossible to achieve complete coverage in one step, as there are varying degrees of complexity to the surgeries that can be performed by the system, Shih said.

Shih also pointed out that a few years ago there were only about 20 Da Vinci robots in Taiwan, whereas the number has more recently increased to about 70.