The abuse of poor cards rampant in Palu,doctor says
The abuse of poor cards rampant in Palu,doctor says
Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Palu, Central Sulawesi
A senior medical practitioner revealed here on Monday that many
wealthy people in Palu carried certificates identifying them as
being unable to pay for medical treatment.
Asmarany A. Lamadjido, the president director of Undata
General Hospital in Palu, said that the improper practice had
caused the state financial losses as rich people were receiving
health subsidies they were not entitled to.
"We can establish that those people are rich from their
appearance. They arrive at the hospital in cars... they have cell
phones," said Asmarany.
"Although the hospitals are aware of the practice, they can do
little to stop it", he said, explaining that the certificates
were signed by district or subdistrict authorities.
The issuance of the inability-to-pay certificates was carried
out last year as part of the governmental policy to provide poor
people with health benefits. Money generated from last year's
utility tariff hike was allocated for the health subsidy funds.
The total amount of funds generated from the fuel, electricity
and telephone tariff hikes last year amounted to Rp 1 trillion
(US$118 million). But the funds were also allocated for other
purposes, such as soft loans for small and medium enterprises.
It is unclear how much money is available for health subsidies
for Palu's poor.
Asmarany did not specify the number of rich people who had
been issued inability-to-pay certificates, he only said that
there were a "good number of them."
He said that although he had conveyed the problem to
government officials, the certificates were still used by those
who could afford health care.
Asmarany promised that Undata General Hospital would be more
careful in determining the financial status of its patients.
"The financial status of all patients who present certificates
will be checked", he said.
"We will increase communications with the National
Coordinating Body for Family Planning (BKKBN) so that we can
determine whether the applicants are poor or rich," he added.
Last year, the Undata General Hospital admitted 9,026 patients
with certificates. The total amount of subsidies claimed by those
patients amounted to Rp 2 billion.
The number of patients using certificates last year increased,
from 8,698 patients in 2002. The total amount of subsidies
claimed by those patients was Rp 1.3 billion.
The most common ailments that patients using inability-to-pay
certificates suffered from were high blood pressure, hepatitis,
bronchitis and diabetes mellitus.
The abuse of the certificates seems widespread as other
regions of Indonesia have reported similar concerns.