Government subsidies of health insurance premiums for over 11m Indonesians have been suspended by the Health Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan). This massive exercise was initiated after a review of the data of subsidy recipients by the Ministry of Social Affairs, which revealed that the Indonesians concerned no longer met the eligibility criteria for the subsidies.
The suspension affected participants registered under the Contribution Assistance Beneficiaries (PBI) Scheme. BPJS Kesehatan President Director Ali Ghufron Mukti, speaking to the media, said, “The figure we have received is approximately 11m people who are considered no longer eligible, so their participation has been deactivated.
“The authority to decide whether someone qualifies for contribution assistance lies entirely with the Ministry of Social Affairs,” he said.
According to media reports, the government is currently overhauling the registration system for social assistance recipients through the implementation of the Single National Socio-Economic Data, or DTSEN, which serves as the sole reference for all government aid programmes.
Under the DTSEN system, households are categorised into economic deciles, ranging from Decile 1, the poorest group, to Decile 10, the most economically secure. Adjustments based on this classification have led to the removal of a number of PBI recipients from the beneficiary list.
Indonesian Minister of Social Affairs Saifullah Yusuf has said the affected participants could apply for reactivation if they can prove they fall within Deciles 1 to 4 under the DTSEN classification.
Also, BPJS Kesehatan has issued a clarification that hospitals cannot turn away patients requiring emergency treatment, including National Health Insurance participants with inactive Contribution Assistance Recipient status.