T

he city administration is set to launch the Jakarta Health Card program that will allow all Jakarta residents to access free medical services at the city’s community health centers and hospitals.

The administration will begin distributing about 3,000 health cards to the city’s poor in densely populated areas such as Tambora in West Jakarta and Pademangan in North Jakarta on Saturday. The program aims to cover all Jakarta citizens, but Governor Joko Widodo, also known as Jokowi, said the poor were the priority.

“We are 100 percent ready. We will begin distributing the cards tomorrow,” the governor told reporters at City Hall on Friday.

Jokowi expects that by 2013, about 4.7 million Jakartans, be they rich or poor, will have the cards that will entitle them to free health services in all community health centers, or puskemas, or third-class facilities in hospitals across the capital.

The governor claimed that the program covered all kinds of diseases, though his deputy, Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, said that it would only cover basic health services. “As long as the rich are willing to use a third-class health service, they can have it,” he said.

The Jakarta Health Card is expected to serve as a model for the implementation of the central government’s plans for universal health coverage by 2014. Residents will no longer be required to obtain additional documents from local authorities to get the cards as they will be given to all Jakarta identity card holders.

The health card scheme was one of Jokowi’s campaign platforms during the gubernatorial race. He claimed the program had been a success in Surakarta where he served as mayor for about six years.

The program, however, has been met with criticism, including from the Jakarta City Council. A member of the City Council’s budget committee, Johny Wenas Polii, said the governor’s policy could be illegal as it overlapped with the similar health care plan initiated by the previous governor, Fauzi Bowo.

Fauzi introduced the Gakin Card, aimed only at the poor. The program is still ongoing and is funded by the 2012 budget. Johny suggested that Jokowi seek legal opinion on the issue to avoid problems in the future.

The governor, however, played down the concerns, saying that he was convinced that he had not broken any regulations. “We are just fixing the system. No rules have been violated,” he was quoted as saying by kompas.com. “It does not matter if the Gakin Card is still applicable. No bylaw is broken.”

The administration expects to spend about Rp 2.9 trillion (US$301.31 million) on health next year, making it the biggest budget allocation of the 2013 budget, according to the city’s health agency head, Dien Emmawati. Most of the funds will be used to finance the health card schemes, which is estimated to cost Rp 900 billion. “The rest of the funds will be allocated to other health sectors, including preventive programs,” Dien said.(fzm)