Farmers' occupational accident insurance to be piloted in October, expected to cover pesticide injuries, agricultural machinery operation and heatstroke
Farmers' occupational accident insurance could be piloted as early as October! The Counseling Office of the Council of Agriculture stated that in the future, farmers' occupational accident insurance will tend to have farmers' associations serve as the insuring units and the Bureau of Labor Insurance serve as the insurer, with farmers holding farmers' insurance status as the insured; farmers may enroll voluntarily regardless of age. Once the amendment to the Farmers' Health Insurance Act is passed, the Council of Agriculture estimates, based on the current number of farmers' insurance enrollees, that about 1.17 million farmers will be eligible to enroll in farmers' occupational accident insurance.
Council of Agriculture: use and operation of agricultural machinery, pesticide injuries, heatstroke and others are all expected to be included in the scope of occupational accidents
Those currently engaged in agriculture, forestry, fishery and animal husbandry may enroll in labor insurance or farmers' insurance, but only labor insurance provides occupational accident insurance protection; those engaged purely in agricultural work, apart from lacking the occupational accident protection of labor insurance, may also be unable to join farmers' insurance because of the qualification requirements for farmers' insurance. Wang Tung-liang, section chief of the Farmers' Welfare Section of the Counseling Office of the Council of Agriculture, pointed out in a past interview that workers who suffer occupational injuries receive wage subsidies, but farmers do not.
Wang Tung-liang stated that labor insurance includes ordinary accident insurance and occupational accident insurance, covering maternity benefits, old-age benefits, disability benefits, injury and sickness benefits, death benefits and medical benefits; farmers' insurance, however, only has maternity benefits, medical benefits, physical and mental disability benefits and funeral allowances. How should the occupational safety protection of farmers be improved? Premier of the Executive Yuan Lai Ching-te yesterday (the 29th) reached a consensus on the content of the amendment to the Farmers' Health Insurance Act.
As for what exactly the consensus covers? Which occupational accidents might be included in the protection items in the future? Wang Tung-liang stated that occupational accidents from the use and operation of agricultural machinery, pesticide injuries, heatstroke and other items may all be included in the scope of occupational accidents; however, the council is still discussing with agricultural improvement stations and agricultural research institutes, and once opinions have been collected, the scope for determining occupational accidents will be set out in accordance with the subsidiary regulations authorized by the Farmers' Insurance Act, with the integration of opinions expected to be completed as early as next week.
Premium: roughly estimated at about 14 yuan per month, still subject to actuarial calculation
Su Meng-lan, deputy director of the Counseling Office of the Council of Agriculture, also added that two insured amount tiers of 10,200 yuan and 27,600 yuan have currently been listed, and one of the two will be chosen for the pilot after actuarial calculation. And how is the premium rate calculated? Wang Tung-liang stated that the average occupational accident rate of 0.23% for agriculture, forestry, fishery and animal husbandry under labor insurance is currently used as a reference, and it may be adjusted again after actuarial calculation.
If calculated on the basis of a monthly insured amount of 10,200 yuan and the average occupational accident rate of 0.23% for agriculture, forestry, fishery and animal husbandry under labor insurance, the monthly premium is 24 yuan; Su Meng-lan stated that under the current plan, the government and farmers will each bear part of the proportion, "farmers bear 60%, the government bears 40%." Calculated on this basis, farmers' own payment is 14.4 yuan, while the government bears 9.6 yuan. The Counseling Office stated that an actuarial company has been commissioned to further calculate which rate is more reasonable, a single premium rate will be adopted, and the actuarial results are expected to be released as early as June.
Su Meng-lan stated that the Ministry of the Interior has already amended the Farmers' Insurance Act and submitted it to the Executive Yuan, while the Council of Agriculture is studying the details of the related bills. According to the schedule planned by the Executive Yuan, the Council of Agriculture will submit the pilot plan in September this year, and farmers' occupational accident insurance is expected to begin its pilot as early as October.