Jakarta – Labor unions have accused the government and the Social Security Management Agency (BPJS) of failing to carry out a mandate, in accordance with the Constitution, which requires them to provide nationwide healthcare coverage for all Indonesians people.
A statement issued by the Social Security Action Committee (KAJS) and the Confederation of Indonesian Workers Union (KSPI) said there were still many challenges to be overcome in the implementation of the national health insurance (JKN) program, which is managed by the BPJS.
Among the challenges hampering the JKN are the issues of membership, payment rates, hospital services, the quality of medicines, the coordination of benefits and a BPJS fund audit.
KSPI president Said Iqbal said many poor people, homeless people, street children and others facing social difficulties had not been registered as premium payment assistance (PBI) beneficiaries.
"As a result, many of them are being denied access to medical treatment in hospitals," Said said in a discussion at the Office of the Coordinating People's Welfare Minister in Jakarta on Friday.
As many as 86.4 million people have been registered as PBI beneficiaries, lower than the number cited in National Team for Alleviating Poverty (TNP2K) data, which refers to 96.7 million people.
"With such a huge gap, it's not strange to see impoverished people being rejected when they seek medical treatment, while at the same time, local administrations do not dare to cover them using their local budgets or the regional health insurance scheme Jamkesda," he said.
According to Said, almost Rp 20 trillion (US$1.76 billion) had been allocated by the Finance Ministry for PBI beneficiaries, but the funds is not filtered down directly to the BPJS, thereby disrupting claim payments to health providers, such as hospitals, clinics and community health centers (Puskesmas).
"The government should immediately fix all the problems," he said. "The number of PBI beneficiaries must be increased to around 100 million people, including homeless people, street children, and workers earning incomes less than the provincial minimum wage," he added. (ebf)
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/03/28/govt-bpjs-accused-failing-deliver-health-program.html