Finance Ministry: BPJS Premium Increase of 100% will not Apply to All Members
Ministry of Finance confirmed that the Government’s plan to raise the premiums for the Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan) by 100 percent will not apply to all members, but only for first-tier and second-tier members, while the premium of third-tier members shall increase by 65 percent.
“The hike (100 percent) will only apply to first-tier and second-tier members. As for the third-tier members, the increase is only at 65 percent, or increases from Rp25,500 to Rp42,000,” Head of Ministry of Finance’s Communication and Information Service Bureau Nufransa Wira Sakti stated in a press release in Jakarta, Monday (9/9).
According to Nufransa, the regular third-tier members who cannot pay the new premium tariff may propose for PBI (contribution assistance recipients) whose premium is fully paid by the Government.
The new premium tariff for first- and second-tier members will take effect as of 1 January 2020, with these following provisions: a. Rp160,000 (Rp81,000 previously) per month for first-tier members; and b. Rp110,000 (Rp51,000 previously) per month for second-tier members.
The Government, he added, has considered three factors in the process to increase the BPJS premiums, namely, ability to pay of the members, efforts to improve the National Health Insurance (JKN)’s system, and cross-subsidy system between programs.
“The Government tries not to burden the public with the increase,” Nufransa said adding that the members who think they do not have the ability to pay the new premium tariff can propose for tier downgrading, for example from first-tier to second- or third-tier; or from second-tier to third-tier.
He went on to say that the increase will be followed by improvement of JKN’s system entirely as suggested by the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP), starting from membership and premium management, service system, claims management, to strategic purchasing.
The Government’s plan to increase BPJS premiums is the outcome of consultation with related ministries/agencies, among others with Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health, and the National Social Security Council (DJSN) and the increase will be stipulated in a Presidential Regulation.
Also on that occasion, Nufransa also explained that the Government is planning to raise BPJS premiums because the program has suffered from serious deficits since the beginning of its implementation which is caused by underpriced premium, and adverse selection for regular participants.
He added that in many cases, people only apply for BPJS insurance when they have serious illness that requires expensive health services. After they have recovered, they are late to pay or even stop paying the premiums.
At the end of 2018 Fiscal Year, only 53.7 percent of the total BPJS members pay the premiums regularly. Not to mention that the total arrears of BPJS premium for regular members in 2016-2018 reached Rp15 trillion.
The increase in premiums also aims to push regular members to pay the BPJS premiums regularly. In 2018, the total money collected from premiums payment reached Rp8.9 trillion, while the insurance claims reached Rp27.9 trillion which means the claims from regular members was 313 percent. Thus, considering that figure, the premiums increase should be more than 300 percent. (Biro KLI Kemenkeu/ES)
Translated by : Rany Anjany Subachrum
Edited by : Mia Medyana Bonaedy
