T

he National Social Security System (SJSN) could be the hottest issue in the 2014 general election in connection with the mandated implementation of the National Healthcare Program as of Jan. 1, 2014, and the four labor social security programs in July 2015.

There are some differences in the behavior of voters compared to previous general elections; voters appear to be more intelligent and pragmatic, and they are expected to cast their vote for candidates and parties fighting for their political aspirations, as indicated in the ongoing gubernatorial election in Jakarta.

Presidential candidates are required not only to understand the 2004 SJSN law and the 2011 social security insurer’s law, but also to have a state of welfare concept to implement the five mandatory social security programs aimed at
improving social welfare.

Besides, presidential candidates are postulated to have full knowledge of the social reality that the majority of people — mainly 70 million low-income workers and 30 million jobless and poor people — have no access to standard healthcare services and have been left unprotected.

Eligible voters will certainly say “goodbye” to presidential candidates and their supporting political parties that fail to bring up social welfare in their campaign programs and will select candidates who have a strong political commitment to it.

This issue, however, could be a black campaign for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. His government and his Democratic Party (PD) have shown no strong political commitment to providing comprehensive social protection for the people.

The absence of a strong political commitment was specifically displayed by the President’s violation of the 2004 SJSN law, which mandated SJSN’s implementation in October 2009, and his government’s slow move in preparing the necessary regulations and infrastructure. SBY avoided a political impeachment proposed by opposition parties at the House of Representatives after his government and its ruling parties agreed to endorse the 2011 Insurer’s Law, which appointed state-owned PT Askes and PT Jamsostek as social security providers in the future.

Similarly, the SJSN issue could be a fireball that could harm the next president if presidential candidates take the issue merely as a political commodity to garner votes during the race and fail to implement it when they are in power.

Informal workers like ojek and becak drivers and farmers will be facing financial hurdles to pay their contribution because they are self-employed and have a low income.

Major problems are anticipated to emerge not only concerning its budget and infrastructure, but also in regards to government regulations and presidential decrees needed to start implementing the compulsory programs.

Ten government regulations and 11 presidential decrees mandated by the law have not been issued yet. The regulations will function as technical guidelines on how the five social security programs will be carried out based on the contribution of workers and their employers for each program and on the unemployed and the poor as cash aid recipients (PBI) because the law requires the government to cover the contribution of the jobless and the poor.

A special regulation will also be needed to monitor how the law will be enforced to ensure its universal coverage because the two providers will not be equipped with an investigative authority.

The government must provide a moderate actuarial calculation in setting all stakeholders’ contribution to the five programs to ensure their fixed benefits for participants and to prevent them from overburdening the state and employers.

The economic downturn hitting Greece and the financial problems some developed countries are currently facing are good lessons that the government should learn from in making regulations.

In implementing the healthcare program scheduled for Jan. 1, 2014, the government is required to have hospitals or public health centers with class-3 facilities, medical equipment and specialists at least in 522 municipalities and regencies nationwide to allow Askes to provide healthcare service with class-3 standard for all.

 Many do not believe the government will be able to provide the infrastructure within 16 months and are skeptical of the available funds required to finance them as most newly developed regencies have yet to have hospitals or public health centers. Specialist doctors also seem reluctant to work in remote regencies and rural areas.

Data at the Health Ministry shows that 1,523 units of state- and private-run hospitals are mostly found in Java and provincial capitals and only 43 percent have been accredited. Many hospitals are still lacking qualified health workers despite having an adequate number of specialist doctors employed.

The next president should bear in mind that people do not ask to be sick and those living far from health facilities in remote regencies and rural areas have a humane right to standard health services and facilities as guaranteed by the law.

The next president should pay attention to the population administration system to provide single identity cards to all citizens and simultaneously to all registered with the social security programs.

The four labor social security programs will require less infrastructure, except Jamsostek’s regional offices and service outlets in public sites, including industrial estates, but its implementation is seen to raise numerous problems in terms of universal coverage and data base. Jamsostek will face fewer problems in establishing a database and outlets to provide good service to participants as it has had a long experience in running a social security program for workers since 1977.

An immediate problem will emerge regarding the participation of more than 70 million informal workers who are self-employed and working in small-scale enterprises. Informal workers like ojek and becak drivers and farmers will be facing financial hurdles to pay their contribution because they are self-employed and have a low income.

Developed countries have included informal workers earning less than US$2 dollar a day on the list of jobless and poor and cover their premium to all the five programs but the 2004 SJSN law stipulates that the government could cover the premiums of low-income informal workers if its financial condition enables it to do so.

The four programs’ coverage is also expected to remain low because unlike insurance providers in Malaysia and Singapore, Jamsostek cannot force all workers to take part in the program and impose sanctions against employers violating the Indonesian law.

From 33 million workers in the formal sector, only 10 million, or 31 percent, have taken part in the current social security programs. Most employers have ignored the 1992 social security program because they know that they will not be prosecuted or punished for doing so.

The government, in this case, could lend a hand by employing state investigators to monitor the two providers to enforce the law or revise the law to give them investigative authority to gradually improve the four compulsory
programs’ universal coverage.

The writer is a journalist with The Jakarta Post.