The Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI) will later this month study the feasibility of covering the costs of targeted therapy for early-stage breast cancer under the national health insurance system, a BNHI official said Thursday. Sheen Mao-ting, a BNHI official in charge of reviewing medical claims, made the comment in response to a call by several ruling Kuomintang legislators for the national health insurance to cover this type of treatment. Legislator Huang Chao-shun said that targeted therapy for early-stage breast cancer, which aims to slow the growth of cancer cells, costs 20 times less than the medical bills for treating such cancers if they spread. She added that in many countries, including Thailand, targeted therapies are covered by national health insurance. 'Why can't Taiwan do the same?' she asked. Legislator Lin Hung-chih also said that the government's tax revenues from a hike in the health surcharge on cigarettes, beginning June 1, are expected to be more than NT$20 billion per year, while the cost of covering targeted medicines for early-stage breast cancer would be only NT$900 million. Therefore, he said, he hopes the BNHI would soon agree to cover the payments for that type of treatment. The health and welfare surcharge on tobacco products will be increased from NT$10 per pack to NT$20 per pack with effect from June 1. Seventy percent of the surcharge revenues will be used by the BNHI in various areas, including cancer prevention which will be allocated 6 percent of the revenues. Yang Li-huan, another KMT legislator and a breast cancer survivor, said that women around the age of 40 years make up the largest group of breast cancer sufferers and are also the main supporters of their families. In view of the fact that early detection of cancer greatly increases the chances of successful treatment, the government should quickly allocate funds for early treatment of the disease, she urged. Citing a report released March by the Department of Health, Taiwan Breast Cancer Alliance Secretary-General Lin Wei-jie said that 6,895 new breast cancer cases were recorded in Taiwan in 2006, and 1,552 women died of that type of malignancy in 2007. Lin said the national health insurance system covers targeted therapy only for fourth-stage breast cancer treatment. However, after treatment, the survival rate of cancer patients in this stage is only 30 percent, she noted. It costs about NT$700,000 to NT$800,000 to undergo a program of targeted therapy, Lin said, adding that most early-stage breast cancer sufferers can hardly afford to pay that. 