Addin Anugrah Siwi, Jakarta – Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin on Thursday urged affluent Indonesians to rely on private health insurers instead of the state-run BPJS Kesehatan, saying the universal healthcare scheme must concentrate its resources on lower-income citizens.
Budi said BPJS Kesehatan is preparing to introduce a standardized inpatient class system that would eliminate tiered room categories. The reform, he noted, is intended to ensure the scheme's benefits are targeted primarily at those most in need.
"The plan is to implement a standard inpatient class. The goal is for BPJS to focus on lower-income communities," Budi told lawmakers during a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission IX and BPJS Kesehatan leadership.
"Although BPJS continues to debate this plan, I told them clearly: BPJS should not be covering wealthy individuals," he added.
According to Budi, high-income groups will be directed to private insurers under a new collaboration framework between the Health Ministry and the Financial Services Authority (OJK), recently formalized through an agreement. He did not provide further details but said the arrangement allows private coverage to complement BPJS benefits.
"For first-class hospital care, let private insurance handle it," Budi said, adding that OJK has approved a combined BPJS-private insurance model.
The minister said the approach would allow BPJS Kesehatan to maintain financial sustainability while ensuring adequate protection for low-income groups. Meanwhile, private insurers would absorb middle- and upper-income policyholders, enabling "all 280 million Indonesians to be protected," he said.
BPJS Kesehatan currently covers more than 250 million citizens, but the agency has been strained by premium arrears of around Rp 10 trillion, accumulated by roughly 23 million participants who failed to pay monthly contributions.
The government has agreed to write off the backlog and inject Rp 20 trillion ($1.2 billion) in fresh capital next year to stabilize the system.
The effort to clear arrears and modernize BPJS Kesehatan's internal processes comes as Indonesia pushes to strengthen fiscal discipline and improve service delivery across its universal healthcare architecture, one of the largest in the world.