Oyos Saroso H.N, Bandarlampung – Health insurance for the poor (Jamkesmasda) provided by the regional administration is being denied to 30 percent of poor families in Lampung because some of the insurance has wrongly been earmarked for rich people.
The coordinator for the Coalition for Healthy Lampung (KULS), Herdimansyah, blamed the misappropriation on scalpers offering to apply for the insurance program on other people's behalf for a fee.
"They operate not just at hospitals and health centers, but also at the subdistrict level," Herdimansyah said Wednesday.
He added that there were many heads of neighborhood units (RT) who did not distribute Jamkesmasda cards to the poor, but sold them to scalpers instead.
"There are many who enjoy free healthcare using Jamkesmasda insurance cards despite the fact they own luxury houses, cars and good business," he said.
He added that if the Rp 73 billion fund allocated by the Lampung provincial administration in 2009 to provide free healthcare to the poor was properly allocated, the number of people suffering from tuberculosis, polio and malnutrition in the province would drop significantly.
"It's very worrying to know that three people from impoverished backgrounds committed suicide last year because they did not have the money to see a doctor to treat their illnesses," Herdimansyah said.
The Jakarta Post conducted observations at hospitals in Bandar Lampung and saw many scalpers operating, claiming to be working for an NGO.
They approached the families of patients in the emergency wards and offered to process Jamkesmasda cards for a fee, according to the illness suffered by the patient.
"I usually ask for between Rp 100,000 and Rp 300,000 per card," a scalper at a hospital said.
The director of Bandar Lampung's Abdoel Moeloek Hospital, Wirman, denied scalpers were operating at his hospital. "There were some before, but there are none now. We have made announcements calling on patients' families not to seek free health services through scalpers," he said.
The head of the Lampung provincial health agency, Wiwiek Eka Maeni, said the fact that many poor families did not have Jamkesmasda cards could be blamed on poor distribution of the cards by heads of subdistricts and neighborhood units.
"Another possible reason may be that data on poor families reported by the Central Statistic Bureau to state-owned insurance company PT Askes does not match the reality in the field," Wiwiek said.
Wiwiek declined to comment on the alleged misappropriate use of the insurance by rich people.
Wiwik said the amount allocated to the Jamkesmasda program for 2010 was Rp 41 billion, an almost 50 percent decrease from 2009. The provincial budget contributed Rp 31 billion, with the remaining Rp 10 billion from the state budget, she said. "We actually need Rp 73 billion for the program this year," she added.
Herdimansyah said that a change to the way the Jamkesmasda program was implemented was needed to avoid misappropriation and prevent unnecessary budget increases.
"What is more important is that economically disadvantaged families have to be prioritized. Hospitals should no longer reject treatment because patients cannot afford the down payment," Herdimansyah said.