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Govt urged to cautiously consider JKN premium hike proposal
Raising National Health Insurance (JKN) premiums may be necessary to ensure the sustainability of the program, but the government should refrain from making a dramatic increase like it did in 2020, an observer has warned.
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A Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan) official serves a policyholder from behind a glass screen on July 2, 2020, at the agency's representative office in Central Jakarta. (Antara/Indrianto Eko Suwarso)
T
he government needs to exercise caution should it decide to increase the national health insurance (JKN) premiums, a move aimed at saving its managing body from financial distress, observers have warned.
The Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan), which operates the JKN, recently urged the government to raise the premiums for some 277 million policyholders enrolled in the healthcare insurance program after the agency saw a record-breaking deficit this year.
As of October, the program had earned Rp 133.5 trillion (US$8.4 billion) in revenue, but incurred Rp 146.3 trillion in expenses, leaving a Rp 12.8 trillion deficit for the first ten months of 2024. The loss was expected to reach Rp 20 trillion by the end of the year.
Should the deficit trend continue, the agency officials warned that the state insurer might be unable to cover claims by August next year.
Timboel Siregar, advocacy coordinator at state insurance watchdog BPJS Watch, said that raising JKN premiums would be necessary to ensure the national insurance program’s sustainability.
“BPJS Kesehatan’s main income comes from premiums, so the fastest and most effective way to save it from financial strain is to increase the premiums,” Timboel said.
He added that prevailing regulations also mandated that the government evaluate JKN premiums every two years. The last time the government raised the JKN premiums was in 2020, when then-president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo nearly doubled the charge.
