Health insurance scheme gives remote areas more doctors
Health insurance scheme gives remote areas more doctors
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The proposed National Health Insurance (AKN) scheme will
encourage a more even distribution of doctors and hospitals, said
a public health observer on Saturday.
Speaking at his inauguration as resident professor at the
University of Indonesia's school of public health, Hasbullah
Thabrany, who is also the dean of the faculty, said without the
scheme, medical services would mostly benefit urbanites who could
afford it.
"The AKN will cover everybody's insurance needs and the money
will follow the patients," said Thabrany in his speech.
As a result, doctors, hospitals, and other facilities would
also follow the patients, he added.
Hospitals in Indonesia are mainly located in cities. Doctors,
who used to have to do compulsory tours of duty in outer regions,
now have no such obligation, so they usually prefer to stay in
cities and towns where more services, and money, are available.
The AKN scheme would also push forward the family doctor
concept that the Ministry of Health and the Indonesian Medical
Association (IDI) had proposed, said Thabrany, who was a member
of the team creating the insurance scheme.
The government completed earlier this year the draft of the
National Social Security System (SJSN), covering insurance on
health, life and workers' welfare, as well as severance payments
and pensions.
When this system takes effect, all workers -- both from the
formal and informal sector -- will have to pay monthly premiums
to the AKN amounting to about 6 percent of their income.
Employers are expected to pay half of the premiums and workers
the remaining 3 percent. The premiums for the poor will be
covered by the government.
Thabrany questioned business people who claimed that this
scheme would put additional burden to the already high production
costs.
Currently, private companies are obliged to pay the social
insurance Jamsostek for pensions, which amounts to 12 percent of
employee's salary.
Data from 2000 showed that salaries accounted for only 8.1
percent of the total production costs, Thabrany explained. Thus,
even if the companies pay premiums of 5 percent of salaries,
costs would only increase by 0.4 percent.
"Do we really believe that the compulsory contribution for the
AKN will reduce our product competitiveness?" he said.
Aside from that, a study of the faculty's health economy
research center, which surveyed 1,084 small, medium and big
enterprises in 2001, shows that on average, company spending for
employees and their families' health was 5.24 percent of the
monthly salaries.
The government has handed over the draft to the House of
Representatives, which is expected to deliberate upon it in its
next session, starting next week.
"I hope that the bill can be passed before new elected members
of the House take their seats, as this bill was a mandate from
the last general assembly," said Thabrany.