After the insurance system was initiated, many people in mountainous areas or offshore islands complained, "We hand in the insurance premium like other people but cannot enjoy the same medical service." In response, Yeh Chin-chuan explains that because of insurmountable geographic barriers those areas are beyond their reach.
至於全民健保開辦後，一度抱怨「同樣繳保費卻享受不到醫療服務」的少數幾個山地部落及離島民眾，葉金川解釋，這些地區因為有難以克服的地理障礙，難免鞭長莫及。