Is It True That Indonesian Babies Automatically Become Active BPJS Participants? Here's the Explanation!
Recently, a rumour has been circulating that starting from April 2026, the government plans for every Indonesian citizen born in Indonesia to automatically become an active participant in BPJS Health.
In response to the rumour, Head of Communications for BPJS Health, Rizzky Anugerah, stated that the policy on registering newborns as JKN programme participants still refers to the applicable regulations.
According to the rules, the baby must first be registered by their family with BPJS Health. This regulation has been in place for a long time. This is as mentioned in Presidential Regulation No. 82 of 2018, Article 16, which states that newborns must be registered as JKN programme participants no later than 28 days from their birth.
“Babies registered within that time period will have their JKN participation status immediately active,” explained Rizzky on Monday (6/4/2026). Registration of newborns can be done via the WhatsApp PANDAWA chat at number 08118165165, by attaching a photo of the mother’s ID card, a photo of the Family Card, and a photo of the baby’s Birth Certificate.
If the newborn is registered more than 28 days after birth, their JKN contributions will be billed retroactively from the date of birth.
Currently, more than 98 percent of Indonesians of all ages are registered in the JKN programme, from newborns to the elderly. The programme adheres to the principle of mutual cooperation, with contributions collected from all Indonesians.
Unfortunately, even though the programme has been running for more than 13 years, some people still only register for JKN when they fall ill. Therefore, it is important to become a JKN participant while still healthy and to ensure that our JKN participation status is always active, because illness can come at any time,” said Rizzky.
Regarding the integration of BPJS Health participation systems with the integrated public service portal (INAku) of the Ministry of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform (PANRB), Rizzky said that in principle, BPJS Health is ready to support government policies established through applicable regulations, in accordance with their respective functions.
According to him, the public also needs to know that JKN participant contributions are not only used to pay for health services for sick participants but are also utilised to keep healthy participants healthy through various promotional and preventive programmes in collaboration with partner health facilities.
“We hope that the public can routinely contribute by paying dues to maintain the sustainability of the JKN programme so that it can continue to provide benefits into the future,” said Rizzky.