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Mandatory spending scrapped as lawmakers pass new health law
Under the new law, the health budget will follow the national health development planning drafted by the government.
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House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani (second right) receives a document from Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin (left) during a plenary session on Tuesday, July 11, 2023. (Antara/Galih Pradipta)
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awmakers passed the omnibus health bill into law on Tuesday, eliminating mandatory health spending, which critics say will hurt the development of the national health system.
All seven pro-government parties at the House supported the bill. Two opposition parties, the Democratic Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), voted against the bill, citing rushed deliberation and the removal of mandatory spending for the health sector as their reasons.
The new health law supplants 11 existing laws governing public health, including the 2009 law on health.
The previous law mandated that the government allocate at least 5 percent of the state budget to public health every year. Provincial administrations had to spend at least 10 percent of their budgets on health. This public health spending did not include salaries and benefits for government employees working in the health sector.
Read also: No magic number for mandatory health spending amid multiple crises
The government has argued that mandatory spending on health has led to ineffective budget expenditure at the regional level. Local health authorities often spend all their allocated budgets even if the spending is unnecessary.
Under the new law, the budgeting will be based on the national health program, formulated by the government and the House of Representatives. “This will follow the national health planning, which will become clear guidelines for the government and regional administrations,” said Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin during the House plenary meeting on Tuesday.
