JakartaPost-Sept 30
The government’s planned Rp 20 trillion (US$1.1 billion) injection into national health insurance provider BPJS Kesehatan will help shore up its finances in the final months of the year, but analysts say the insurer needs broader reforms to address its cash-flow problems. Administered by BPJS Kesehatan, the National Health Insurance (JKN) program covers almost the entire Indonesian population, making it one of the world’s largest public health insurance schemes. But the program has faced recurring financial pressures and periodic deficits since its inception in 2014. The injection plan comes as BPJS Kesehatan faces a Rp 14 trillion gap between premiums collected and healthcare benefits paid out this year. As of September, the insurer had collected Rp 118 trillion in premiums while paying Rp 132 trillion in healthcare benefits, according to BPJS Kesehatan president director Prihati Pujowaskito. Timboel Siregar, advocacy coordinator at BPJS Watch, said the government’s support was consistent with provisions allowing the state to assist BPJS Kesehatan when it faces cash-flow problems. But he warned that the injection would not address the causes of the recurring shortfalls. “We welcome the government’s initiative, but if asked whether this injection solves the underlying problem? Not yet. We will soon discuss the same deficit problem again,” Timboel told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara said Rp 10 trillion would be disbursed in October and another Rp 10 trillion in November to strengthen BPJS Kesehatan’s finances and ensure it can continue paying healthcare facilities. The additional funding is separate from the roughly Rp 47 trillion allocated to pay premiums for 96.8 million government-subsidized participants, Suahasil said after a meeting with President Prabowo Subianto on Monday. Timboel said BPJS Kesehatan’s cash reserves had fallen to about 1.3 months’ worth of payments, below the 1.5-month level considered healthy. Read more at:
