Speaking after a joint meeting with the House of Representatives at the Parliament Complex in Jakarta on Monday, Purbaya said funding for the health sector remains sufficient to meet current needs.
However, he noted that the Social Security Administering Body for Health, (BPJS Kesehatan), still needs to finalize revisions to one budget item before the Ministry of Finance can release the funds.
“There is one budget item under review. BPJS may need to revise it or coordinate directly with me. We can disburse the funds next week,” Purbaya said.
During the meeting, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin proposed a temporary automatic reactivation of JKN coverage for three months while beneficiary data are being validated. The proposal follows the deactivation of JKN membership for around 11 million recipients of government-borne health insurance assistance, known as PBI JKN.
“This will be comprehensively revalidated within three months. The process can be carried out by Statistics Indonesia (BPS), regional governments, and the Ministry of Social Affairs to verify beneficiaries’ poverty status,” Sadikin said.
He explained that among the 11 million people whose JKN coverage was deactivated, around 120,000 have a history of catastrophic illnesses, including about 12,000 patients requiring hemodialysis.
According to Sadikin, Indonesia has approximately 200,000 dialysis patients nationwide, with about 60,000 new patients added each year. Without immediate and routine treatment, which requires dialysis two to three times a week, patients face a high risk of death, he said.
He also underscored the need to ensure continued treatment for other catastrophic conditions, such as chemotherapy for cancer patients, medication for heart disease, and regular transfusions for children with thalassemia.
“For this reason, the reactivation is crucial to ensure continued eligibility for those who are truly in need,” Sadikin said.
He added that the temporary reactivation can be implemented through a decree (SK) issued by the Ministry of Social Affairs.
Sadikin said the budget required to reactivate health insurance coverage for around 42 thousand PBI JKN recipients for three months amounts to Rp15 billion.
The three-month validation period, he added, can also be used to inform the public that the PBI JKN program is intended for those who genuinely require government assistance.
Under the automatic reactivation scheme, beneficiaries will not need to visit health facilities or BPJS offices to restore their JKN membership, he said.
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Translator: Imamatul Silfia, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Primayanti
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