Govt to up subsidy for civil service medical insurance

Govt to up subsidy for civil service medical insurance

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A new government regulation obliging the government to increase
its subsidy for civil servants' health insurance premiums is now
being drafted, an official revealed on Tuesday.

The draft regulation, which will serve as an executory
regulation implementing the 1999 civil service law, stipulates
that the cost of paying the insurance premiums is to be borne
jointly by the government and the civil servants themselves.

"The government subsidy, the minimum amount of which will be
equal to the amount that is deducted from a civil servant's
salary, will go towards the payment of the insurance premiums.
Under the new scheme, it is expected that the service will
expand," general manager of state-owned health insurance company
PT Asuransi Kesehatan Indonesia (Askes), Rosa Ch. Ginting, said
on Tuesday.

Law No. 43/1999 on the civil service stipulates that the
government, as the employer, has to pay the monthly premiums for
every civil servant in the insurance scheme in the form of a
subsidy.

The 1999 law is the latest version of civil service
legislation that obliges the government to subsidize the cost of
medical insurance premiums by as much as three percent of the
salary of unmarried employees and six percent in the case of
married ones.

Based on the previous regulation, the government currently
only deducts two percent from the civil servants' salaries for
the payment of premiums.

By comparison, the norm for monthly premiums in developed
countries is between five percent and seven percent.

"The current two-percent deduction from civil servants'
salaries has become a problem for Askes as the scheme members
have complained that they are having to pay extra expenses as we
(Askes) cannot cover everything," Ginting said after a meeting
with activists from the Health Consumers Empowerment Foundation
(YPKKI).

Askes currently provides cover for over 15 million civil
servants and retired military and police personnel across the
country.

A survey being carried out by the YPKKI since 2000 has found
that besides the lack of government subsidy, many consumers
complained they had to pay high prices for medicines that were
not covered by Askes.

During the discussion, YPKKI coordinator Marius Widjajarta
asked for better coordination between Askes, the hospitals and
doctors.

"I would also suggest that the government establish a social
health insurance scheme aimed at giving cover for poor
Indonesians (in general). The money could be obtained from the
savings resulting from the reduction in fuel subsidies," he
added.