Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesia has undertaken sweeping reforms that only a few multi payer countries have been able to achieve. Indonesia consolidates more than 300 risk pools into one risk pool, enabling subsidies from the healthy to the sick, from the working to the non-working population. BPJS Kesehatan presents as a single payer for health services to maximize the quality, efficiency and sustainability of the National Health Insurance Program (JKN). In the activities of the 2023 iHEA Biennial World Congress in Cape Town, South Africa which was held from 8 to 12 July 2023, President Director of BPJS Kesehatan, Ghufron Mukti said that the presence of BPJS Kesehatan aims to maximize the quality, efficiency and sustainability of health services in Indonesia. As a Public Legal Entity, BPJS Kesehatan is directly responsible to the President of the Republic of Indonesia and supervised by internal and external agencies. “With an operational cost of only 2.89%, BPJS Kesehatan, with a total of 8,500 employees, is able to serve hundreds of millions of JKN participants. The success of the JKN program has boosted participation coverage to more than 93% of Indonesia’s entire population, which is around 258.3 million people in less than 10 years,” explained Ghufron. In addition, the JKN program has also succeeded in reducing the portion of public spending on health service costs, from 49% to 25% of total health spending in the 8 year period between 2013 and 2021. The JKN program provides a wide range of benefits, including necessary medical care without additional restrictions or payments. However, there are a number of challenges, such as the possibility of unnecessary operational costs and inefficient payment methods to health facilities. “To overcome this, the JKN Program continues to carry out quality transformations by adopting structural and cultural transformations to increase participant satisfaction levels. With the three slogans ‘Easier, Faster and Equal,’ the JKN program is committed to providing services without discrimination, between paying and non-paying participants,” he added. Not only that, Indonesia has also shown a firm response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite being one of the most affected countries in the East Asia and Pacific region, Indonesia has responded quickly, especially when it comes to vaccinations. In December 2020, Indonesia became one of the first countries in the world to announce free vaccinations for all senior citizens and secure an adequate supply of vaccines. “The Covid-19 pandemic has also raised awareness of the importance of strengthening the health insurance system. Currently, Indonesia is focusing its attention on the development of Digital Health. Telemedicine and applications such as P-Care and i-Care JKN have increased the accessibility and efficiency of health services, as well as assisting in the reporting of the Covid-19 vaccination program,” added Ghufron. By continuing to increase awareness and investment in the health insurance system, Indonesia hopes to protect the fundamental right of every citizen to live a healthy life. Through the JKN Program and the Digital Health development initiative, Indonesia believes that good health will increase the country’s productivity and make Indonesia a stronger country. Not only that, the rapid development of the JKN program has also made the South African government wish to come to Indonesia to witness the practices implemented by BPJS Kesehatan in serving JKN participants. Even the South African media, when conducting a direct interview with Ghufron, were amazed at how well the JKN program was implemented in Indonesia.
Source: Antara News Agency