The head of state emphasized that speed of service, efforts to shorten patient queues, and improvements to hospital facilities should be addressed immediately by the agency.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) lauded the service of the Social Security Administering Agency (BPJS) for Health that continues to improve despite the presence of queues of patients at health service facilities.

"The queue still takes a long time. It must be improved. However, the case is almost the same everywhere. I asked some patients, and they have been queuing up for 30 minutes. I think this is still tolerable, not too long," Jokowi stated during his visit to the Salatiga City Regional Hospital in Central Java on Monday.

In a live YouTube broadcast from the Presidential Secretariat in Jakarta, the head of state emphasized that speed of service, efforts to shorten patient queues, and improvements to hospital facilities should be addressed immediately by the agency.

"From what I saw, the queues were still spiraling at the hospital facilities because the location was inadequate," he said when asked about aspects that must be improved in terms of health facility services in the local area.

On that occasion, the president, accompanied by Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan, and related regional officials, took time to converse with patients to check the practice of illegal levies in health services provided by the government.

President Jokowi also checked the implementation of the Healthy Indonesia Card (KIS) program, with currently around 96 million beneficiaries, and the National Health Insurance (JKN) service that is now managed by BPJS Health that covers 267 million participants, or the equivalent of more than 95 percent of Indonesia's population.

"I asked patients regarding any additional fees they must pay. They said none. There was also no limitation on treatment for inpatients. I think this is good," he stated.


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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Arie Novarina
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