Ridwan Max Sijabat, Nusa Dua (Bali) – An insurance expert and legislators warned the government on Friday against politicizing and manipulating the huge healthcare fund for the needy, saying the so-called Jamkesmas scheme launched nine years ago was really social assistance and not social security.

Ribka Tijiptaning and Surya Chandra Surapaty, both legislators of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and members of the House of Representatives' Commission IX on Labor, Health and Social Affairs, said the government had to stop all social assistance in the education and health sectors.

They argued that not only did the assistance over-burden the state budget, it was also politically motivated and manipulated in such a way that it ran against the national social security system.

The politicians said people were in need of social security programs more than social assistance, like the school operation assistance, cheap rice and healthcare assistance (Jamskesnas), which have all been manipulated for political ends, especially in the 2009 general elections.

"The fund was raised partly from the oil subsidy and the state budget and they are not healthcare programs under the national social security system," Surya Chandra said at the ASEAN regional meeting of the International Social Security Association (ISSA).

Ribka said the House has asked the health minister to revoke a 2001 ministerial decree on Jamkesnas that she claimed had been manipulated and implemented in violation of the 2004 National Social Security System Law.

"Jamkesnas is against the law because it is carried out by the government and if it is earmarked as social assistance, it must be carried out by the Social Services Ministry, not the Health Ministry," she said.

Ribka and Surya said the government should learn from Malaysia, which collected 3 ringgits (Rp 8,400) per monthly from eligible members to cover healthcare. "In fact, Indonesia can do it too, and the people can afford it," Surya Chandra said.

Hotbonar Sinaga, the chairman of the Indonesian Insurance Companies' Association (AJSI), said Jamkesnas and other social assistance programs for the poor were not a form of social security because they were non-contributory and were not carried out by legal providers.

So far, only PT Jamsostek, PT Taspen, PT Askes and PT Asabri have been appointed legal providers to run social security programs for workers, civil servants and servicemen in the Indonesian Military (TNI), he said.

Confederation of Reformed All-Indonesian Workers Union (KSPSI Reformasi) chairman Syukur lambasted the government for its weak political will to protect citizens, especially workers. He said social security already required rigid law enforcement, but was left unenforceable.

Syukur added that it was high time the government increased contributions from employers, gave due protection for workers injured in workplace accidents and designed a dismissal funds scheme at the expense of employers.

He said that by learning from Malaysia and Singapore, Indonesia should be able to press for an increase in workers' and employers' contributions and law enforcement to double the social security fund to improve worker protection and accelerate national economic development.

Delegates from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines underlined the importance of their government's political will, higher contributions and law enforcement to widen social security coverage among employers and workers.

R. Vijaya Kumar, ISSA liaison officer for Southeast Asia and also an official of Malaysia's Employee Provident Fund (EPF), said the government's political commitment was no longer an issue and the EPF would bring to court all employers violating the social security act.

"With 23 percent of contributions from employers (12%) and workers (11%), the EPF has collected 380 billion ringgit in premier national security savings from 12.5 million workers and the funds have already been reinvested in strategic corporations and sectors to give maximum benefit to the workers during their retirement," he said.

Erica Bee Kuan of Singapore's Central Provident Fund (CPF) stressed that an effective and efficient collection system was a key success factor for a contribution scheme.

With 36 percent of contributions from 3.3 million workers and 116,000 employers, she said, CPF collected S$1.64 billion per month and its asset had reached $166.8 billion, a large part of which had been reinvested in strategic businesses to support the city state's economy.