Legislative proceedings on amendments to a bill that will allow the introduction of a second-generation national health insurance (NHI) system hit a snag Tuesday amid widespread uproar from lawmakers across party lines, mainly because of the proposed premium calculation formula. The legislators did not let the Department of Health (DOH)-proposed amendments to the NHI Act clear the legislative floor, nor did they review most of the 20 clauses in the bill that are still in dispute. They resolved that the disputed clauses should be debated during the next legislative session on Friday. Responding to the impasse, President Ma Ying-jeou, who doubles as chairman of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) , said a well-designed and operated national health insurance is a must for the country, meaning that the second-generation NHI system must clear the legislative floor, according to KMT spokesman Su Jun-pin. The president, nevertheless, stressed that while seeking to have the amendments passed into law, the KMT and its legislative caucus should handle it carefully and try to avoid creating negative implications for society, according to Su. The development was a disappointment for Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng, who vowed the previous week to push through the bill and who said that 'whatever it takes, the bill must be passed into law Dec. 7.' DOH Minister Yaung Chih-liang was apparently also disappointed with the development, saying that 'the legislators were too calculating.' The bill mainly involves a new scheme for calculating premiums based on total household income rather than the existing system, which considers only individuals' salaries and wages. The change is considered essential to keep the cash-strapped program operational. The KMT legislators lambasted the revision to the premium rates and a plan to calculate premiums based on 'presumed income, ' under which the very poorest sector of society will be charged according to the premise that they are earning more than NT$17,280 per month, whether they are actually earning money or not. The KMT lawmakers refused to endorse the amendments. Meanwhile, the legislative caucus of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spelled out its opposition to the plan to calculate premiums based on 'presumed income' and a plan under which salaried workers will be required to pay higher premiums. The DPP lawmakers also suggested that a health insurance donation be included in the land value increment tax as a means of making the wealthy pay more for health insurance. They also suggested that the new premium rates to be stipulated in the second- generation NHI system should be capped at under 2.7 percent of household income -- compared to a figure of 3.5 percent put forward by the DOH. Also Tuesday, the non-profit Consumers' Foundation opposed the proposed amendments, saying that they will end up causing the health insurance system to 'rob the poor to help the rich.' (By Lee Shu-hua, Justin Su, Chen Ching-fang, Ho Meng-kuei and Deborah Kuo) 