Poor people receive free health care
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari launched a health insurance program on Monday to cover the medical costs for more than 36 million poor people in a bid to offset the government's decision to raise fuel prices earlier this month.
"Poor people will no longer be charged a single rupiah to pay for their medical treatment, room charges or even photocopies of documents required by hospitals," she announced on Monday.
The scheme, known as the Health Treatment Program for the Poor (PJPKMM), will cover the insurance premium of Rp 5,000 (US$0.5) per person for a total of 36,146,700 poorest people, based on last year's data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).
For the program, the government has allocated Rp 2.1 trillion of the total Rp 20.3 trillion it saved from cutting the fuel subsidies.
The insurance program will cover most types of patients, including those hospitalized in third-class rooms, out-patients, and those referred by doctors for treatment in Jakarta.
However, only government-run community health centers (Puskesmas) and public hospitals will provide free medical services.
Minister Siti Fadilah said the government had appointed state insurance firm PT Asuransi Kesehatan (Askes) to oversee the one- year health program.
The appointment was made based on the company's good performance in managing insurance for civil servants, police officers and military personnel, she explained.
"We have 12 offices in large cities, 92 branch offices and 202 area managers. So, we assure you that we can cover people in small and isolated villages," PT Asker president director Orie Andari Sutadji said during a press conference.
However, people that are eligible for the free health program must wait a few more weeks, as it will only be effective by the end of June due to the long process of registering poor people down to the village level.
"Through the end of this month, the registration process has only collected 20 percent of data needed," Orie said.
Fadilah said the people eligible for the program would be issued insurance cards that would be approved by regents or mayors. The data will be obtained by teams formed in all villages.
Those who do not receive such cards could still use other documents that verify their financial situation, she added.
She highlighted some obstacles arising from several provincial administrations, including Jakarta, which insisted on running their own health insurance programs.
"If they want to organize themselves, I can't forbid them," she said.
Zelfino, spokeswoman for the Jakarta health office, said that her administration had not refused to join the program, but it would allocate the central government's money to cover the treatment for poor people coming from outside Jakarta or those who do not hold a Jakarta identity card.
"We already have health insurance for poor Jakartans, which is funded from the provincial budget. But, the fund from the Ministry of Health will be used to cover non-Jakartans, who cannot afford to pay hospital bills," Zelfino said. (006)