Seeing a doctor in Taipei: when NHI starts, clinics and the ER, and English-friendly hospitals

On this page

1. When can foreigners join NHI?
2. Where do you enroll without an employer, and what if you wait?
3. How much is NHI per month if you enroll yourself?
4. How do you get an NHI card, and can you use NHI before it arrives?
5. What if you're not enrolled yet, or can't enroll?
6. Should you go to a clinic or a hospital for something minor?
7. What do you bring to your first appointment, and how does it work?
8. Where do you fill a prescription?
9. Ill at night or on a weekend? When to go to the ER and when to call an ambulance
10. Where can you get help in English?
11. Who can you talk to when things feel like too much?
12. Mistakes newcomers make most often
13. Frequently asked questions
14. Sources

The first time you run a fever in Taipei, the questions are very practical. Where do you go? How much will it cost? What do you bring? Nearly every answer depends on one question: are you in National Health Insurance (NHI) yet? The quick answers come first. Details and sources are further down.

1. NHI doesn't start when you land. If you hold an ARC (Alien Resident Certificate) and have a regular employer, the company enrolls you on your first day at work. Students and other ARC holders can join only after living in Taiwan for 6 months, and without an employer you sign up yourself at the district office.
2. Until you're enrolled, or if you can't enroll at all (working holiday makers on a visitor visa, visa-free visitors), every visit is full price. Buy private insurance before you leave home.
3. For minor illnesses, start at a clinic. The basic outpatient copayment at a Western-medicine clinic is NT$50. Walk into a medical center without a referral and it's NT$420. The registration fee comes on top in both cases.
4. Bring your NHI card plus your ARC or passport. Forgot the card? Pay in full that day, then bring it back within 10 days (weekends and public holidays don't count) and get the difference refunded.
5. A prescription is valid for 3 days. Fill it at a pharmacy contracted with NHI.
6. In an emergency, call 119 for an ambulance. For the police, call 110. For questions about doctors or NHI in English, call the National Immigration Agency on 1990, staffed 24 hours a day in Chinese, English and Japanese.
7. The Ministry of Health and Welfare's 1925 support line is free and open 24 hours, but it's Chinese only. To talk things through in English, book a Taipei community counseling clinic that offers bilingual sessions.

When can foreigners join NHI?

Article 9 of the National Health Insurance Act says that anyone in Taiwan holding a residence document who fits any row of the table below is required to join. You can't opt out. An ARC counts. So does the Taiwan Area Resident Certificate that Hong Kong and Macao residents hold. If you have no residence document at all, you're not in this table; skip ahead to the section for people who aren't enrolled yet or can't enroll.

"6 months of residence" means 6 months in a row. If you left Taiwan once, for no more than 30 days, the days away are taken off and the rest still adds up to 6 months. The NHIA's English examples work it out like this: arrive on 1 February and never leave, and you can enroll on 1 August. Spend 10 days abroad, from 1 to 11 March, and that moves to 11 August.

The catch is that this only works once. Leave a second time, even for 30 days or less, and the count restarts from the day you last came back. In the fourth example, someone returns on 11 March and goes abroad again from 1 to 21 April, 20 days in all. Their start date becomes 11 March, the 20 days are subtracted, and they qualify only on 1 October. A single trip of more than 30 days (50 days in the third example) resets everything. The count starts again from the last entry, on 20 May, and they qualify on 20 November.

A few groups, such as the families of foreign professionals, are exempt from the 6-month wait. The conditions are on the NHIA's page for non-Taiwanese nationals (非本國籍人士). If you can't tell which case applies to you, call the NHIA on 0800-030-598 (02-4128-678 from a cell phone). For an answer in English, call the immigration agency's 1990 line instead.

Where do you enroll without an employer, and what if you wait?

You're supposed to be insured from the day you reach 6 months of residence. If you have no employer and can't be covered as a family member's dependent, you go in person to the district office (區公所, the local government office for each district) that covers the address printed on your ARC. Phone the office first and ask which documents to bring, so you don't make the trip twice.

Putting it off gets you fined. Article 91 of the National Health Insurance Act allows a fine of NT$3,000 to 15,000, and you'll still have to enroll backdated to the day you became eligible and pay the missed premiums. Until both the fine and the premiums are paid, NHI won't cover you.

If you live at Seal Co-living and your ARC address is registered at the house, go to the district office for the district the house is in. Every house page shows the address. We explain how to apply for an ARC, and how to change the address after a move, in ARC (Alien Resident Certificate) application and address change: what to bring and how long you have. The other errands for your first month are in Your first month in Taipei: the order and deadlines for your ARC, phone, bank account and health insurance.

How much is NHI per month if you enroll yourself?

People who enroll at a district office fall under Category 6, the "regional population" group. The premium is NT$826 a month for yourself, or NT$1,652 in total with one dependent. That rate has applied since 1 Jan 2021, and it's already net of the 40% the government pays. If you work, your company handles the enrollment, and they can tell you exactly how the premium comes out of your pay.

For how NHI fits into a monthly budget, see Living in Taipei in 2026: how much does it cost per month?.

How do you get an NHI card, and can you use NHI before it arrives?

When you're first enrolled, ask your company or the district office to apply for the card at the same time. They'll need a recent 2-inch photo: upper body, facing forward, no hat, not retouched. The first card is free and is mailed to the address on the form within 5 to 14 business days. Replacements cost NT$200 each.

You don't have to wait for the card to use NHI. Take a photocopy of your enrollment form to the doctor instead. If the enrollment was filed online, print it out and have it stamped by whoever enrolled you (your employer or the district office). At the clinic, you then fill in the 例外就醫名冊, the register for patients seen without a card.

What if you're not enrolled yet, or can't enroll?

It depends which of these describes you:

• Without an ARC, you can't join NHI at any point in your stay, whether you came on a visitor visa or visa-free. Working holiday visas for most countries, Japan and Korea included, are visitor visas. The working holiday entry flowchart from the Bureau of Consular Affairs (BOCA) states that these holders may not join NHI, even if they're hired in Taiwan and the employer has put them on Labor Insurance. The one exception on the chart is UK nationals: they get a resident visa, and once they have an ARC they can join.
• With an ARC but leaving before 6 months are up (say, here for one semester), you never reach the threshold and won't have NHI at all.
• With an ARC and no employer, but less than 6 months behind you, you have to wait until you've been here that long.

In all these cases, clinics and hospitals charge the self-pay price, so your private insurance has to run until the day you join NHI or the day you leave Taiwan. Working holiday makers already need proof of insurance to get the visa. BOCA's visa notes ask Japanese applicants for overseas travel health insurance covering the whole stay, with benefits for death, injury and illness. Korean applicants need medical and comprehensive hospitalization insurance lasting a year or more. After each visit, keep the receipt and the itemized bill. You'll need them for the claim.

In Xinyi District, Taipei Medical University Hospital (TMUH) has an international healthcare center that helps foreign patients without Taiwanese NHI, and it has direct billing with some international insurers. Before you go, call 02-2737-2181 ext. 8485 and ask whether your policy is on their list.

Should you go to a clinic or a hospital for something minor?

Taiwan sorts healthcare providers into four levels, from smallest to largest: clinics, district hospitals, regional hospitals and medical centers. The NHIA wants people to see a clinic near home first and get referred to a bigger hospital by the doctor when it's needed. Copayments are set the same way. For a Western-medicine outpatient visit on NHI, this is the basic outpatient copayment you pay each time:

Every visit also has a registration fee on top of the copayment. NHI doesn't cover it. Each clinic or hospital charges a rate approved by the health department of its city or county, so the amount differs from place to place. Dental and traditional Chinese medicine visits don't follow the levels: the basic copayment is NT$50 everywhere. Medicines have a separate copayment.

Only clinics with the NHI logo at the entrance are contracted with NHI. You can also look them up with the provider search on the NHIA website.

What do you bring to your first appointment, and how does it work?

You can register in person, by phone or online, depending on the place. National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) and TMUH both take online bookings on their English websites.

Bring your NHI card plus your ARC or passport. At a hospital you haven't been to before, start at the first-visit counter, where you fill in a form and they open a medical record for you. After you see the doctor, pay at the cashier. If there's a pharmacy on site, you pick up your medicine right there.

If you leave your NHI card at home, there's no need to go back for it. The clinic charges the full amount and gives you a receipt. Bring the card in within 10 days of the visit, not counting weekends and public holidays, and they refund everything except your copayment. If you miss that window through no fault of your own, you can claim the money from the NHIA within 6 months, with the itemized bill and the receipt.

Where do you fill a prescription?

If the place you saw the doctor has a pharmacist, you get your medicine there. Otherwise, take the prescription to any NHI-contracted pharmacy, along with your NHI card and ID.

An ordinary prescription is valid for 3 days, counting from the day it's written. When the last day falls on a holiday, it carries over to the next working day. Miss it and you'll have to see the doctor again. For chronic conditions that need the same medicine for a long time, the doctor can write a refillable chronic illness prescription (慢性病連續處方箋) that you collect in several rounds.

Ill at night or on a weekend? When to go to the ER and when to call an ambulance

NHI covers the emergency room too, including most tests, treatment and medicine. What you pay is the emergency copayment: NT$750 at a medical center, NT$400 at a regional hospital and NT$150 at a district hospital or clinic (rates in force since 1 Jul 2023), plus the registration fee.

On Sundays and national holidays, the NHIA is piloting urgent care centers (輕急症中心) in Taipei. Right now the list has Taipei City Hospital's outpatient clinic in Xinyi (No. 116, Dadao Rd., Xinyi District) and the hospital's Linsen and Kunming campuses. Sites get added and dropped, so check the NHIA website before heading out.

Save 119 for real emergencies. The National Fire Agency's guide to using ambulances gives examples: a sudden, severe headache unlike any before; numbness on one side of the face or slurred speech; sudden chest or back pain; struggling to breathe; someone who can't be woken; or an injury that's bleeding heavily.

When the call connects, say first that you need an ambulance. Then give the address in this order: district, road, section, lane and alley, number, floor. If you don't know the street number, name a landmark or intersection nearby. Next, say who it is and what happened, and whether they're conscious and breathing normally. End with your name and phone number. If 119 won't go through, dial 112.

The ambulance crew chooses the hospital based on the patient's condition and heads for the nearest suitable designated emergency hospital. Before you leave, grab a passport or ARC, the NHI card, some money and any medicine the patient takes regularly.

Don't call an ambulance to pick up medicine, change a dressing, get to a regular appointment or treat a small scrape, or just because you have no ride. In Taipei, if the ambulance doesn't take you to the emergency department of a designated emergency hospital, a bill arrives by mail afterward: NT$1,800 per trip. After a traffic accident, call 119 first if anyone is hurt. When nobody is and you only need the police there, call 110. Theft, or someone threatening you, is also 110.

Which emergency hospitals are near our houses?

The Taipei City Department of Health's English website lists emergency hospitals by district. These are the ones in the same districts as our houses:

Being in the same district doesn't make a hospital the closest, though. And once you call an ambulance, the crew decides where you go.

Where can you get help in English?

We've only listed services that a government agency or the hospital's own website says it provides.

One number covers doctors, NHI and residence questions: the National Immigration Agency's Foreigners in Taiwan Hotline, 1990. Chinese, English and Japanese are answered 24 hours a day, all year round. Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai and Khmer are available Monday to Friday, 9:00–17:00. From outside Taiwan, dial +886-800-001990.

As for hospitals, Taipei City Hospital has a foreign language service line: dial 1999 and ask for extension 888, or call 02-2555-3000 from outside Taipei City. TMUH and NTUH both have English websites, online booking and international medical centers, and TMUH says its center provides translation and interpreting.

The NHIA's English website covers who can enroll, the NHI card and how a visit works. Its hotline, 0800-030-598, doesn't say whether English is available, though. To ask in English, 1990 is the safer bet.

Whether the doctor speaks English varies by hospital and by department. Ask when you book; it's the quickest way to find out.

Who can you talk to when things feel like too much?

The Ministry of Health and Welfare's 1925 support line (安心專線) is free and open 24 hours. But the Taipei City Department of Health's English leaflet notes that this line, like Taipei City's mental health consultation hotline (02-3393-7885), is Chinese only. You can also call Lifeline on 1995 or Teacher Chang on 1980, though the official listings don't mention any other languages.

To talk in English, book a session at one of Taipei's community counseling clinics. They're run in each district's health center, and a session lasts 30 minutes. Book by phone or on the Taipei City Hospital website; you pay a NT$50 registration fee plus NT$200 for the counseling (from your 9th session in the same year, the counseling fee is NT$288). According to the Department of Health's English page, bilingual counseling is currently available at the clinics in Beitou and Datong districts and at the Taipei City Community Mental Health Center (02-3393-6779 ext. 10). Rosters change, so confirm this when you make the appointment. If you need an interpreter for another language, mention it at the same time.

If anyone is in immediate danger, don't wait. Call 119.

Mistakes newcomers make most often

• Assuming NHI starts on arrival and skipping private insurance, or thinking a working holiday will eventually qualify for NHI if you stay long enough.
• Going straight to a medical center with a cold. The copayment alone is NT$420, more than 8 times the clinic rate, and the registration fee is extra.
• Leaving a prescription until day 4 before filling it.
• Taking a second trip abroad before enrolling, or one longer than 30 days, and having the 6 months start over.
• Reaching 6 months of residence without enrolling at the district office, then getting fined and billed for back premiums.
• Calling an ambulance when it isn't really urgent.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to see a clinic before going to a big hospital?

No. NHI still works if you go straight to a hospital. Without a referral, though, the basic outpatient copayment is higher at regional hospitals and medical centers: NT$240 and NT$420 respectively, plus the registration fee.

If I travel abroad before enrolling, does the 6-month count restart?

Not after a single trip of 30 days or less. The days away are subtracted and the rest is added together. A second trip, even one within 30 days, or any trip over 30 days pushes the start date back. The NHIA's English website has four worked examples to check your own dates against.

Can working holiday makers join NHI?

Most can't. Working holiday makers from Japan, Korea and most other countries come on a visitor visa and never get an ARC, and BOCA's flowchart says they may not join NHI. That means the insurance you bought for the visa has to last until the day you leave. UK nationals are different: they get a resident visa, and once they have an ARC, the eligibility table above applies. Anyone with an ARC who leaves before 6 months (after a single semester, for example) can't get NHI either.

Sources

(All retrieved on 2026-10-09.)

1. 1.National Health Insurance Act (amended ROC 112-06-28), Articles 9, 43 and 91law.moj.gov.tw/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?pcode=L0060001
2. 2.Enforcement Rules of the National Health Insurance Act (amended ROC 114-10-20), Articles 8 and 24law.moj.gov.tw/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?pcode=L0060002
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