我國老人保護安置費用追償之實務課題及政策因應

Reimbursement System of Protection Settlement Expense for the Elderly in Taiwan: The Practical Issues and Policy Responses

老人福利法第四十一規定老人因直系血親卑親屬對其有疏忽、虐待、遺棄等情事，致有生命、身體、健康或自由之危難時，地方主管機關得依老人申請或職權予以適當短期保護及安置，並通知老人之直系血親卑親屬償還費用。隨著二○一八年三月我國正式宣告邁入「高齡社會」，老人保護事件與日俱增，老人保護安置亦然，隨之而來的安置費用追償，在國家政策方向徘徊不明的窘境下，衍生成為一個公法糾紛誘發私法事件、彼此糾葛的難題，整體社會成本不可小覷。有鑑於此，衛生福利部保護服務司遂於二○一六年訂定「〔直轄市、縣（市）政府〕先行支付老人保護安置費用案件追償作業原則（範例）」，以供作各地方政府訂定其內部作業規範之參考。本文將先藉由相關統計數據、立法資訊，分述我國當前老人保護之社會及政策脈絡；爾後則分析「追償作業原則」之內容及性質，並將老人保護安置費用案件分為安置階段、協調階段、追償階段三部分，分別探討其所面臨之實務課題，參照相關法規及判決，提供因應建議，期能於老人福利法進行修法前之過渡階段，供各地方政府處理相關案件之參考。

Senior Citizens Welfare Act, Article 41: “Shall the elder encounter difficulty or danger on lives, body, health or freedom due to inadvertence, mistreatment or desertion by their inferior lineal relatives by blood or contractual supporters, the municipal or city/county governments shall provide short-term protection and settlement, upon request or based on governmental rights .… The expense needed can be sent to elders’ inferior lineal relatives by blood for a reimbursement.” In March, 2018, Taiwan entered the “Old Age Society”, the number of elderly protection incidents is increasing day by day, so is the protection and resettlement of the elderly. The reimbursement of protection settlement expense has become several hard issues from the mutual entanglement of public law and private law, the overall social cost can not be underestimated easily. In view of this, the Department of Protection Service of the Ministry of Health and Welfare set out “The Principle of Protection Settlement Expense Reimbursement for the Elderly” in 2016 for reference of the local governments. This article will firstly describe the current social and policy context of the protection of the elderly in Taiwan through relevant statistical data and legislative information. Later, it analyzes the content and nature of “The Principle of Protection Settlement Expense Reimbursement for the Elderly” and divides the process into “resettlement stage”, “coordination stage” and “reimbursement stage”. The practical issues of three stages and the relevant regulations and judgments are discussed in order to provid reference for the local governments before Senior Citizens Welfare Act’s amendment in the future.