Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung | Wed, 08/04/2010 10:36 AM
Poorer residents of Lampung province not yet covered by health insurance soon will be, according to provincial health official.
The free insurance will be provided to those who are not covered by government social security scheme Jamsostek by their employers, and residents who do not qualify for insurance schemes for the poor, such as the public health insurance (Jamkesmas), health insurance (Askes) and the provincial community health insurance (Jamkesda).
The new program, which is called the Semesta Health Insurance (Jamkesta), will be launched this year, after the provincial administration and Abdul Moeloek hospital finished registering eligible recipients.
"The program is expected to provide better health care for Lampung residents," Lampung Governor Sjachroedin Z.P. said.
"Civil servants, private employees and poor residents, who already benefit from such coverage, will not be included in this insurance scheme. But we believe the number of residents living without health insurance makes up a much larger proportion of the population."
Lampung Health Office data showed that currently, only two regencies - Way Kanan and East Lampung - provided free health services for their residents.
Abdul Moeloek hospital's director of education, training and human resources, Arief Effendi, said all regency and municipal administrations could provide free health insurance as the costs were reasonable.
"The administrations only cover those who do not have health insurance, meaning the cost won't be too high. If the financial burden is shared with the provincial administration, the cost will be much less," Arief said.
He said that under the Jamkesta scheme, the administration would cover the Rp 60,000 (US$7) premium for each resident each year.
"We are currently still registering residents not covered by a kind of health insurance. After completing the registration process, we'll find how much the scheme will cost," Arief said.
Coordinator of the Coalition for Healthy Lampung, Herdimansyah, said the free insurance scheme should involve all residents to prevent mismanagement.
He warned that, if mismanaged, the scheme could end up being enjoyed by the rich instead of the poor.
Currently insurance funds for the poor in Lampung total Rp 73 billion per year, but only manage to reach 30 percent of the province's residents living in poverty.
He blamed the situation on the presence of corrupt brokers selling the services to the highest bidders. "The brokers are not only found around hospitals but also at subdistrict offices."
He suspected many neighborhood heads did not provide Jamkesmas cards to poor residents, instead selling them to the rich.
"I hope with the new insurance program there will be no more poor residents who are so frustrated by their inability to afford medical treatment they feel they need to take their own lives," he said, adding that last year three such cases were reported.
