Fuel subsidy benefits well-to-do residents

Fuel subsidy benefits well-to-do residents

Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung

Agus Sahlan, 30, a resident of Sribawono, East Lampung, was
frustrated trying to arrange for his two nephews to receive free
treatment at a hospital in Bandarlampung.

In the end, Agus had to pay in full for the boys' hospital
stay, even though Lampung Governor Sjachroedin Z.P. earlier said
the state would cover the medical bills of all poor residents
seeking treatment for dengue fever or malaria, including those
treated at private hospitals.

Despite this promise, there are numerous people being treated
at hospitals in Bandarlampung who qualify for free treatment but
are still being required to pay for care.

In many cases, this is because patients have not received the
registered cards (gakin) that they must present to receive free
medical care.

While many poor people are not getting free care, some
relatively wealthy families have used gakin to get free medical
treatment.

An employee at Kalianda hospital said that many people who
could afford health care were using gakin to avoid paying their
hospital bills.

The head of Kalianda Hospital, Dr. Yudha Putra, said it did
not matter if a wealthy family used the card, as long as it
was certified before the patient was admitted to the hospital.

According to data from the Lampung Bureau of Statistics,
432,000 families, or 2,381,585 people, in Lampung's 10 regencies
and mayoralties were officially listed as poor. There are 56,530
poor families in Tanggamus, 15,349 in Way Kanan, 3,197 in Metro,
26,790 in Bandarlampung, 36,244 in North Lampung, 87,035 in South
Lampung, 58,072 in East Lampung, 106,856 in Tulangbawang and
41,941 in Central Lampung.

Data from Lampung's National Family Planning Board shows there
are 285,481 households, or 1.7 million people, in the province in
need of free medical care.

"If there are an average of 3.5 people in a family, then the
number of poor people who need free medical care totals 1,699,184
people," said Rosmalia Helmi, an official from the Lampung Health
Office.

The 2005 provincial budget, under its Medical Care for Poor
People program, allocates funds to provide free health care for
1,561,717 people.

The mayoralties and regencies will have to allocate funds from
their budgets to provide health care for those people not covered
in the provincial budget.

"There are still 137,467 poor families in Lampung in need of
free medical care from the government," Rosmalia said.

The Medical Care for Poor People program will cover 1,561,717
people in 10 mayoralties and regencies in Lampung. These are
West Lampung with 82,693 people, Tanggamus (173,970), South
Lampung (340,900), East Lampung (257,189), Central Lampung
(210,582), North Lampung (188,950), Way Kanan (112,257),
Tulangbawang (126,257), Bandarlampung (58,935) and Metro
(10,725).

About Rp 101.9 billion will be needed to provide 1,699,184
people with free medical care, but only Rp 93.7 billion has been
allocated from the provincial budget.

Rosmalia said the Lampung provincial administration would
provide an additional Rp 7.5 billion, while the remaining Rp 2.8
billion would come from local administrations.

The East Lampung regency is expected to provide Rp 860
million, North Lampung Rp 570 million, Tulangbawang and Way Kanan
Rp 500 million each, Tanggamus Rp 350 million and West Lampung Rp
65.1 million. There is no word on how much Bandarlampung, Metro,
South Lampung and Central Lampung will be providing.

The executive director of the Lampung Anti-Corruption
Committee, Maya Ferlianti, said differences in data on the number
of poor made it more likely that funds would be misused.

"In our experience, differences in data make it easier for the
misappropriation of funds.

"Corrupt officials usually use the data that shows the most
number of aid recipients, while most of the funds never reach
those the money was intended for," Maya said.

In line with a ministerial decree on health care for the poor,
the funds for the provincial health care program have been handed
over to PT Asuransi Kesehatan to guarantee that those in need
receive free medical care.