Gus Ipul: 11 Million BPJS PBI Members Deactivated, 40 Thousand Apply for Reactivation

The Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos) recorded that more than 40 thousand National Health Insurance Contribution Assistance Recipients (PBI JKN) under BPJS Kesehatan who had previously been deactivated have submitted reactivation applications, Monday (16/2).

“More than 40 thousand who have undergone the reactivation process are part of approximately 11 million members who were deactivated,” said Minister of Social Affairs Saifullah Yusuf during a press conference following a limited meeting with Coordinating Minister for Human Development Muhaimin Iskandar in Jakarta on Monday.

Saifullah Yusuf explained that of the total reactivation applications, approximately 2,000 members had already switched their status to become independent BPJS Kesehatan members. This change indicates that some participants were deemed capable of paying contributions independently.

Kemensos assessed that the data updating process was proceeding on target. The measure was taken to ensure that health contribution assistance genuinely reaches poor and near-poor community groups falling within Deciles 1-5 of the National Socio-Economic Single Data (DTSEN).

Although some members have switched to the independent scheme, the government continues to conduct further evaluations of their conditions.

“Even though they have switched to the independent pathway, we still carry out cross-checks to ascertain whether they can continue independently or will eventually return to the PBI scheme,” the Minister said.

He added that data updating and matching are carried out routinely every month to maintain the accuracy of social assistance recipient data.

Previously, Kemensos, together with more than 30 thousand Family Hope Programme (PKH) facilitators and Central Statistics Agency (BPS) teams, had conducted field verification of the 11 million deactivated PBI-JKN members. The process aimed to ascertain the current socio-economic conditions of the members whilst serving as the basis for membership adjustments based on DTSEN.

Kemensos affirmed that the deactivation policy does not reduce the total number of assistance recipients. The policy was implemented to transfer membership from financially capable community groups in Deciles 6-10 to disadvantaged groups in Deciles 1-5, based on regional government recommendations and the latest data updating results.