Pediatric diagnostic fees to increase this summerPAY FOR VALUE: The health minister cited the challenge in diagnosing children’s illnesses and the unpopularity of pediatrics as a specialty as reasons for the increaseBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporter, with CNAMinister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) yesterday said the ministry is working to double diagnostic and treatment fees for pediatricians from the current rate. Shih said Taiwan’s birthrate has continued to decline, causing a significant impact to pediatric departments and new physicians’ willingness to choose pediatrics as their medical specialty. Increasing the payments for pediatricians would include adjusting “inpatient diagnostic fees” and “fees for diagnosis and treatment items by pediatric specialists,” he said. It is more time-consuming and challenging to diagnose and treat children’s illnesses, so the diagnostic fees should be twice the current rate, to reflect the different medical services pediatricians provide, Shih explained. Moreover, some pediatricians working at hospitals are currently receiving lower diagnostic fees than their counterparts in primary clinics, so the adjustment must also address this problem to retain pediatricians at hospitals, he said.

Source: Taipei Times April 11, 2026 17:13 UTC