T

he government said on Monday that it was set to implement its universal healthcare program on Jan. 1, a policy that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono termed '€œa milestone in the country'€™s history'€.

Yudhoyono said he would officially launch the program on Tuesday after discussing its final preparations at Bogor Palace, West Java, on Monday.

'€œThis is an important milestone because it will change the welfare of Indonesians. This will create more equitable development, especially for those who are less fortunate,'€ he said.

Yudhoyono admitted there were still challenges, even on the day prior to the Social Security Providers (BPJS) Law coming into effect. He hoped that all deficiencies could be immediately ironed out so that during implementation such problems would no longer exist.

The president said the government had prepared 12 regulations and five presidential regulations to support the BPJS implementation.

Several Cabinet ministers were present during the meeting, namely Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto, Health Minister Nafsiah Mboi, Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi, Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar, Law and Human Rights Minister Amir Syamsuddin, State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan and state-owned insurance company PT Askes president director Fahmi Idris.

Askes has been appointed implementing agency for the BPJS Law, which will take effect on Jan. 1, 2014 as mandated by the 2004 National Social Security System (SJSN). The entire population will be covered by the program by 2019. Around 140 million people are targeted to join the program by January 2014.

Previously, Fahmi said his company had prepared the healthcare program'€™s online system, as well as all necessary infrastructure.

He said that as of Dec. 10, more than 111 million individuals had been registered on the healthcare program'€™s database.

Under the BPJS, the government will fully cover those deemed unable to afford a minimal standard of health care and each participant will be eligible to receive health services throughout Indonesia.

Around 86.4 million people will be considered eligible for premium payment assistance (PBI) of Rp 19,225 (US$1.57) per individual per month. The government said it would allocate a total of Rp 19.3 trillion to pay for the premiums of those considered to be in '€œpoor'€ or '€œnear-poor'€ categories.

The premium for informal workers and retirees ranges from Rp 25,500 per month for third-class medical services to Rp 59,500 for first-class medical services, with at least three months payment in advance.

For formal workers in the private sector, the premium is 5 percent from their monthly income.

The government decided that employers should pay 4 percent and employees should pay 1 percent of the national health insurance program (JKN) starting from 2015.

Several parties have challenged the government'€™s claim that it is ready to implement the BPJS.

Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) chairman Zainal Abidin said he regretted that information about the program had not been properly disseminated to health workers and the public.

'€œMost health workers still don'€™t know how the program will work, what types of services we should provide and if the premium is enough to pay for a particular service,'€ said Zainal on Monday.

'€œWe can only run the program while learning about it and evaluating it,'€ he said.

The opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) struck a note of caution, believing the government was not fully prepared to operate the program.

Ribka Tjiptaning, head of the party'€™s health department, said the government'€™s decision to conduct another survey on which Indonesian citizens were eligible for the healthcare social security card was an indicator that different government institutions held different views on what constituted '€œpoor'€.

'€œThe Health Ministry says there are 40 million poor Indonesians, while the BKKBN [National Population and Family Planning Board] says there are 70,'€ Ribka said.