A Ministry of Health and Welfare committee says National Health Insurance
premiums will remain unchanged next year.

The National Health Insurance Committee says the general premium rate will
stay at 5.17 percent, following a monthly meeting of the committee in Taipei.

The committee says NHI reserves are projected to stand at the equivalent of
about two months of expenditures by the end of 2026 -- above the legally
required minimum of one month.

The announcement comes after budget negotiations in September, during which
representatives from hospitals, clinics, dental services and traditional
Chinese medicine clinics agreed on the total NHI spending for 2026.

All four sectors secured the maximum approved growth rate of 5.5 percent,
bringing next year's total NHI budget to $988.3 billion NT.

The leaders of Taiwan's opposition KMT and TPP met Wednesday to discuss the
prospects for collaboration in the 2026 local elections.

Speaking during their public meeting in New Taipei, KMT Chairperson Cheng
Li-wun told TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang that she hoped the parties' recent
cooperation in the Legislature would deepen in the run-up to local elections.

Huang, meanwhile, said he would direct the TPP's think tank to reach out to
its KMT counterpart to discuss local governance and the parties' 2026
election goals.

The two parties have also increasingly warmed to the idea of collaborating in
the November 2026 local elections, and even forming what they have called a
"unity government" after the 2028 national elections.

Cheng said such an arrangement would not look like some of the parliamentary
governments in Europe, but rather like the dual executive system in France.

The TPP had stated that it wanted to reach a cooperation agreement with the
KMT by March, and Cheng said she thought such a timeframe was "reasonable."

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed a bill requiring the State Department to
regularly review and update the rules governing U.S. engagement with Taiwan.

The Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which was passed without objection,
directs the State Department to "identify opportunities and plans to lift
self-imposed restrictions on relations with Taiwan," according to the U.S.
Congress website.

The bill also requires that the guidelines take into account that Taiwan is
"governed by a representative government peacefully constituted through free
and fair elections."

The bipartisan act would require the State Department to assess on a
two-yearly basis whether current guidelines can deepen and expand U.S.-Taiwan
relations and reflect the value and importance of the bilateral relationship.

The act will take effect once President Donald Trump signs it into law.