Taipei: The Ministry of Labor (MOL) on Tuesday announced measures to prevent a controversial amendment from depriving people with critical care needs from getting live-in caregivers, but questions remain on whether they go far enough.
According to Focus Taiwan, under the amendment effective Tuesday, individuals aged 80 and older can now obtain a caregiver without the need for a professional health assessment. Critics argue this change may make it harder or more expensive for severely ill people to secure live-in help. Previously, those over 80 had to pass a Barthel Index assessment or prove a “serious need of care” to qualify for a full-time caregiver.
The MOL contends that its new measures will still prioritize those with the greatest need for caregiving services. Taiwan’s long-term care system lacks night-time or overnight care, often placing the burden on caregivers from Southeast Asian countries. The measures aim to foster closer cooperation with these nations.
Su Yu-kuo, an official with the MOL’s Workforce Development Agency (WDA), stated that the MOL is collaborating with the representative offices of Taiwan’s main sources of migrant workers-Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand. The focus is on prioritizing live-in caregivers for critical care and increasing the number of caregivers coming to Taiwan each year.
The MOL plans to enhance the number of migrant workers recruited annually from between 40,000 and 50,000 to approximately 60,000, Su added. A “triage” system will be created to prioritize critical care cases, ensuring their applications are processed first.
Indonesia, Taiwan’s largest source of live-in caregivers, has indicated that the expected rise in demand will not delay the review process for critically ill cases. It has also agreed to provide tailored training for migrant workers to meet Taiwan’s needs for the triage system, according to Su.
Additionally, Su mentioned that critically ill cases will receive the highest priority for hiring domestic caregivers transferred from other households. They will also be permitted to hire workers from different sectors if the worker completes 20 hours of supplementary training before a hiring permit is granted.
The MOL will support families needing caregivers through its Direct Hiring Service Center by organizing job matching programs, Su noted. For individuals with disabilities, rare diseases, dementia, or severe impairments requiring live-in caregivers, getting the issue right is crucial.
The MOL estimates that the eased rule, passed by the opposition-controlled Legislature in December 2024, could lead to 100,000 more households applying to hire live-in caregivers. Some of these could be relatively healthy or slightly frail seniors, who may be easier to care for and more appealing clients.
WDA Deputy Director-General Chen Shih-chang reported that the agency has received cases of migrant caregivers for severely ill households requesting raises, including those who recently renewed their contracts. Some also asked to transfer to households with easier tasks, Chen said.
Hung Yu-tai, deputy executive director of the Taiwan Foundation for Rare Disorders, cited a survey after the bill’s passage showing 40 percent of caregivers intended to request a raise, and 23 percent considered switching employers.
Chen Ching-ning, director of the Taiwan Association of Family Caregivers, expressed concern about caregiver supply, noting Taiwan has added at most only 14,000 new foreign caregivers annually in recent years.
Grace Huang, secretary-general of the Domestic Caretaker Union, questioned whether the new measures would prevent newly eligible applicants from displacing those with critical care needs. She doubted the compliance of manpower brokers, who control most job opportunities for migrant workers, in prioritizing caregiving jobs for seriously ill cases.
Huang also urged the Ministry of Health and Welfare to address the absence of night-time care services in Taiwan’s long-term care system, contributing to high dependency on migrant caregivers.