Denpasar Mayor Apologizes and Clarifies After Claiming BPJS Health PBI Deactivation Was Presidential Order

Denpasar Mayor I Gusti Ngurah Jaya Negara clarified his previous statement claiming that the deactivation of Health Insurance Premium Assistance Recipients (PBI) for BPJS Health was ordered by President Prabowo Subianto through the Minister of Social Affairs.

“I, as the Mayor of Denpasar, apologize to the President and the Minister of Social Affairs for our statement claiming that the President instructed the Minister of Social Affairs to deactivate PBI beneficiaries in Deciles 6 through 10, totaling 24,401 people in Denpasar City,” said Denpasar Mayor I Gusti Ngurah Jaya Negara in Denpasar on Saturday, accompanied by Denpasar City Social Affairs Agency Head Laxmy Saraswati.

Jaya Negara stated there was no intention to create public commotion as suggested by the Minister of Social Affairs. What the Mayor meant in his statement was Presidential Instruction (Inpres) Number 4 of 2025 on the National Social and Economic Unified Data (DTSEN).

“Honestly, we had no such intention whatsoever. What we meant was that the President issued Instruction Number 4 of 2025 on DTSEN, which aims to improve data accuracy so that it is better targeted, effective, and efficient,” he said.

After receiving information from Denpasar City Social Affairs Agency Head Laxmy Saraswati that there were 24,401 PBI beneficiaries in Denpasar City, he coordinated with BPJS Health to take the strategic step of reactivating the data of these tens of thousands of Denpasar residents so they can continue to receive health services.

The reactivation of these tens of thousands of Denpasar City residents will be funded from the Denpasar City regional budget (APBD).

“We want to adopt a policy whereby the deactivated data will be reactivated using Denpasar City APBD funds so that our residents continue to receive BPJS Health services in Denpasar City,” he said.

Previously, Indonesian Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf demanded that Denpasar Mayor Jaya Negara retract his statement, which was deemed misleading to the public regarding the deactivation of Health Insurance PBI recipients. The Denpasar Mayor had previously claimed there was a presidential order through the Ministry of Social Affairs to deactivate BPJS Health PBI patients in Deciles 6 through 10, including in Denpasar City.

The Social Affairs Minister considered the Denpasar Mayor’s statement to have created widespread public confusion because it was far from the actual facts.