Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf said he had sent a letter to the mayor to clarify the statement, warning it could mislead the public. He did not name the mayor.
Presidential Instruction No. 4/2025 governs the use of the National Social and Economic Single Data (DTSEN) as the sole reference for ministries and regional governments in running social programs, Yusuf said.
It does not order the deactivation of Premium Assistance Beneficiaries (PBI-JKN) under the BPJS Kesehatan system.
The ministry, together with Statistics Indonesia (BPS), updated beneficiary status using the latest DTSEN data, particularly removing individuals no longer classified in deciles 1 to 5 — the poorest and most vulnerable groups.
Yusuf said the national quota for PBI-JKN stands at 96.8 million people, allocated across districts and cities. Regional leaders can propose additional quotas to the ministry if needed.
He added that those removed from the list can seek reactivation through existing government mechanisms.
“The authority to determine or deactivate PBI-JKN participants rests with the social affairs minister based on DTSEN data. There is no presidential order to deactivate this premium assistance membership,” Yusuf said.
Earlier, in a consultation with the House of Representatives leadership, the ministry acknowledged inaccuracies in PBI-JKN targeting following the 2025 DTSEN update.
The revised data showed that more than 54 million people in deciles 1–5 have yet to receive PBI-JKN support, while over 15 million individuals in deciles 6–10 and outside the decile classification remain registered as beneficiaries.
The findings underscore challenges in ensuring accurate targeting of subsidized health coverage in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, where the government aims to focus limited fiscal resources on low-income households.
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Translator: M. Riezko Bima, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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