Health Minister BGS Discusses Strategies to Increase Hospitals, Doctors, and BPJS Contributions

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, in an Economic Update, revealed efforts to strengthen the resilience of the health industry so that it can support national economic growth. One of the Ministry of Health’s current focuses is the equitable distribution of healthcare services, such as hospitals, across Indonesia by encouraging hospital networks to invest and open hospitals in the regions, thereby driving investment and creating jobs. The Ministry of Health is targeting improvements to around 400 hospitals in regencies and cities so that healthcare services are more evenly distributed and patients do not need to travel to big cities or go abroad. The ministry is also ensuring regulatory ease to increase the competitiveness of health sector investment.

However, the Minister also highlighted the health sector’s problem of a shortage of medical personnel, with Indonesia lacking 70,000 specialist doctors while only 2,000 specialist doctors graduate each year. Therefore, the Ministry of Health is promoting hospital-based specialist education to accelerate the production of specialist doctors, including the potential entry of foreign doctors, so that the distribution of doctors will also be more equitable. The Ministry of Health is also encouraging transformation within BPJS Kesehatan, where ideally BPJS Kesehatan should cover 60-80% of healthcare spending to prevent healthcare inflation from rising too high, whereas currently it only covers 20%. In an effort to strengthen BPJS Kesehatan’s finances, the Ministry of Health is pushing for improved governance of BPJS Kesehatan with a mutual cooperation concept regarding premiums.