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Higher BPJS premiums, tobacco excise to reduce people’s purchasing power, experts say
These hikes are expected to affect the country’s inflation rate, projected to be 4.5 percent in 2020.
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Hold tight: A patient and a member of Social Health Insurance Provider (BPJS) is pushed by her family member after undergoing a medical check-up at Bahteramas hospital in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi. (Antara/Jojon)
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sharp increase in national health insurance premiums and the tobacco excise amid the country’s sluggish economic growth will affect the sales of consumer goods and reduce the people’s purchasing power, analysts have said.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo signed in October a new presidential regulation (Perpres) on healthcare security, stipulating a rise in premiums under the Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan) in a bid to help the agency reduce its huge financial deficit.
In the new regulation, the government raised the premium for first-class service by 100 percent to Rp 160,000 (US$11.40) per month per person, while more than doubling the cost for second-class service from Rp 51,000 to Rp 110,000. The government also hiked the premium for third-class service by 64 percent from 25,500 per person per month to Rp 42,000.
BPJS Kesehatan, which manages Indonesia’s national health insurance, has suffered from a financial deficit as its income from premiums is not enough to cover payments for insurance claims.
BPJS Watch projected the increase in premiums to reduce its deficit to Rp 18 trillion from an initial estimate of Rp 32.89 trillion at the end of 2019.
Read also: Can BPJS Kesehatan survive after drastic premium hikes?
The hike received a mixed response from the public, with some saying the new premiums are too expensive while others support the move as long as services are improved. Analysts are also predicting that the hike could increase inflation in 2020 and hurt the public’s ability to spend.
