Taiwan’s National Health Insurance is an undeniable factor behind the country’s top ranking in the Health Care Index 2024 released by Numbeo. (Courtesy of National Health Insurance Administration)
 

Taiwan retains its top ranking for the fifth year in the Health Care Index 2024 recently released by international database firm Numbeo.

One a scale of zero to 100, where 100 means complete satisfaction, the country’s score of 86 is followed by South Korea with 82.7, Japan with 79.3, the Netherlands with 78.9 and France with 78.1.

Among the eight components that made up the overall index, Taiwan achieved an 89.88 percent satisfaction rate in convenience of location, 89.62 percent with regard to cost, and 87.69 percent in equipment for modern diagnosis and treatment. The responsiveness of medical institutions, experienced as waiting time, received the lowest satisfaction rating: 79.33 percent.

Taipei City also led the world among the 217 cities covered by the survey, with Thailand’s Chiang Mai coming in second, and Seoul, South Korea; Rotterdam, Netherlands; and Helsinki, Finland took the third, fourth and fifth spots, respectively.

Taiwan is a regular global front-runner in national health care system evaluations. In addition to the Numbeo results, it also ranked first among 110 countries and territories surveyed in the 2023 edition of CEOWORLD magazine’s Health Care Index.

Official statistics from the Ministry of Health and Welfare show that the country’s National Health Insurance, implemented in 1995, covers nearly 100 percent of citizens. In a national survey conducted in 2022, the service achieved a 91 percent satisfaction rate. (SFC-E)