House Member Rebukes Health Workers for Insulting BPJS Patient: No Discrimination Allowed

A member of the House of Representatives Commission IX, Nurhadi, has criticised health workers who allegedly insulted a BPJS patient after he complained about waiting eight hours for an inpatient room. Nurhadi has called for an investigation into the alleged ethical violations by the health workers involved. Nurhadi stated that the controversy is not merely an issue of social media communication. According to him, it also concerns public trust in the national healthcare system. “Regardless of the medical chronology, every patient has the right to be treated with respect, dignity, and empathy,” Nurhadi told reporters on Thursday (6/8/2026). Nurhadi emphasised that the healthcare profession is a humanitarian one. Therefore, he said, remarks or behaviour that demean a patient’s suffering cannot be justified. The NasDem Party politician also expressed his condolences to the patient’s family. He hopes this incident will serve as a moment of evaluation for all stakeholders in the health sector. “Healthcare services are not only measured by the sophistication of equipment and medical competence, but also by empathy, ethics, and respect for human dignity,” he said. Nurhadi believes the case needs to be investigated objectively. This includes the alleged ethical violations by the health workers involved and an evaluation of the hospital’s service system. According to him, if there was indeed a delay in treatment due to a lack of inpatient rooms, the cause must be disclosed transparently. “The public has the right to certainty whether this was purely a capacity issue, a hospital management problem, or if there was negligence that must be accounted for,” he said. He also reminded that BPJS Kesehatan participants have the same rights as other patients. According to him, there should be no stigma or differential treatment of patients based on their financing status. “BPJS patients are not second-class patients. There should be no stigma, discrimination, or differential treatment just because of their payment status,” Nurhadi said. Furthermore, Nurhadi requested that the Ministry of Health, professional organisations, health education institutions, and healthcare facilities strengthen professional ethics guidance, including social media ethics. “Professionalism must be reflected not only in the practice room but also in every interaction in the digital space,” he said. The case came to light after a BPJS patient named Yurizal Tri Chaerawan’s complaint went viral on social media. On 22 July 2026, via his Threads account @yurizaltrich, Yurizal claimed he had been waiting for an inpatient room for eight hours. In his post, he did not name the hospital where he was being treated. “8 hours and still no room. I don’t want to expose the hospital, because I’m using BPJS,” Yurizal wrote. Instead of receiving sympathy, the post was flooded with insulting comments. Some accounts even suggested Yurizal move to the mortuary to get a room faster. There were also comments joking about serious illnesses and self-harm. Several accounts that wrote these comments are suspected to be doctors, nurses, or other health workers based on information listed on their social media profiles. However, the identities and professions of these account owners have not yet been fully verified. The discussion widened after Yurizal was reported to have passed away on 31 July 2026. The sad news was conveyed by his cousin via social media, causing Yurizal’s old post to go viral again.