Government Guarantees Continued Healthcare Services for 11 Million Inactive BPJS PBI Participants

Jakarta – The government, via the Ministry of Health, has reaffirmed that 11 million citizens impacted by the deactivation of their Penerima Bantuan Iuran Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional (PBI) memberships are still guaranteed healthcare services during a three-month transitional period until the end of April 2026. Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin stated that this commitment is a follow-up to the agreement between the government and the DPR decided on 9 February. “The Ministry of Health has issued a letter for these 11 million people to ensure they are still served if they come to the hospital. The agreement is clear: during the transitional period, they still receive their healthcare service rights,” said Minister Budi during a working meeting with Commission IX of the DPR RI on Wednesday, 15 April 2026. Budi explained that during this service period, citizens are urged to promptly undergo the reactivation process facilitated by the Ministry of Social Affairs. This aims to verify their economic status based on the latest data. “The goal is data certainty. If after checking they fall into the able group (decile 10), they will be directed to independent participants. But if they indeed fall into the low decile, they will be immediately reactivated as PBI participants,” he explained. This reaffirmation was conveyed following interruptions from several Commission IX DPR members who highlighted field-level obstacles, where some hospitals were reported to still refuse affected patients. Commission IX DPR Chair Felly Estelita Runtuwene, as the meeting leader, emphasised that according to the previous consultation meeting results between DPR leaders and the government, PBI for these 11 million citizens must still be paid by the state for the three-month period without distinguishing types of illnesses, including catastrophic patients or chronic diseases. “How about it, Mr Minister? Number one repeated. I’ll read the first point. Our conclusion point one, let’s look together: DPR and government agree that for the next three months, all healthcare services will still be provided and PBI paid by the government. Period, up to there, Mr. No amount mentioned there. It says for all services, yes,” she said. The government has recorded payments for BPJS Health premium subsidies for 159.1 million souls or more than 50 percent of Indonesia’s total population.