Health Minister: BPJS Kesehatan Contributions Must Be Raised
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has stated that national health insurance contributions must be raised promptly, as the deficit at the Social Health Insurance Administration Body (BPJS Kesehatan) continues to widen. In 2025, the BPJS Kesehatan deficit was reported to have exceeded Rp 20 trillion.
“What does this mean? Contributions must indeed go up. It is impossible for BPJS contributions not to be adjusted every five years,” Budi said at a press conference on the Optimisation of the National Health Insurance Programme in Jakarta, broadcast online on Monday, 23 February 2026.
Minister Budi outlined two reasons why a contribution increase is necessary. First, healthcare costs rise annually due to inflation. Without contribution adjustments, inflation will increasingly burden the national health system. According to data presented by Budi, national health insurance costs stood at Rp 158 trillion three years ago, rising to Rp 175 trillion in 2024 and Rp 190 trillion in 2025.
Second, Budi explained that the expansion of access and improvement in BPJS Kesehatan service quality have also significantly increased the national health insurance obligations that BPJS must cover.
If BPJS Kesehatan contributions are not raised, Budi predicted that within five years the state will no longer be able to fund healthcare for the Indonesian public. “Not during my tenure, but under the minister after me. I guarantee BPJS will not survive. It will certainly not have enough money to maintain public health,” Minister Budi said.
The Health Minister acknowledged that raising BPJS contributions is no easy task, as the policy carries significant political considerations and frequently provokes public protest. However, he argued that a contribution increase is the fairest approach for the public.
His reasoning is that without a contribution increase, the deficit — the costs not covered by participant contributions — has been paid for, or subsidised, by the state. This means the burden that should be borne by wealthier individuals through higher contributions continues to fall on the state because contribution levels remain stagnant.
Budi explained that through the National Social and Economic Single Data (DTSEN) scheme, contributions for people in deciles 1-4 would be covered by the central government, deciles 5-6 by regional governments, and contribution increases would only target those who are financially able, in deciles 7-10. A decile is a statistical term used to divide data into ten equal-sized groups. “That is why a contribution increase is a fairer instrument that must be championed,” he said.