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View all search resultsJKN overhaul faces persistent healthcare hurdles in 2026
Indonesia’s National Health Insurance (JKN) program is set to undergo a series of policy revamps to improve the quality and access to medical service, but there is still a long road ahead to truly achieve universal health coverage.
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A Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan) official helps a customer on May 14, 2024, at the agency's South Jakarta office. (Antara/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)
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ndonesia’s National Health Insurance (JKN) program is set to undergo a series of policy revamps to improve the quality and access to medical service, but persistent structural weaknesses in the broader healthcare system mean the scheme remains far from delivering truly universal health coverage.
One of the most significant changes is the planned write-off of premium arrears starting in 2026, which Coordinating Social Empowerment Minister Muhaimin Iskandar described as giving policyholders a clean slate to rejoin the program and preventing denial of care because of long-standing debt.
The write-off will apply only to those who initially were self-pay policyholders but fell into poverty and had their plans downgraded to the scheme fully paid by the state. As of October 2025, over 23 million policyholders were in arrears, owing a total of Rp 10 trillion (US$599 million) to Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan), the JKN administrator.
It remains to be seen when the plan will be implemented, pending the completion of technical regulations designed to prevent violations and fraud.
Alongside the write-off, the government has also introduced a competency-based hospital referral system to shorten treatment times and reduce costs for BPJS Kesehatan, to be in place sometime this year.
The new system will allow primary care facilities like community health centers (Puskesmas) to send patients directly to hospitals they need to be.
It will replace the current multitiered referral system, which classifies hospitals by bed capacity and restricts primary care providers to refer patients to secondary hospitals. The multiple referrals often delay care and double the cost of treatment.
