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Poor data denies Indonesia's poorest access to JKN
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Indonesia in March, South Tangerang, Banten, resident Tinto Arianto Wibowo's 2-year-old son's hospital visits became even more frequent, draining him financially. His son had long suffered fevers, coughing and a lump on his neck and hospitals now suspected him of having COVID-19.
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An illustration of a patient at a hospital. (Shutterstock/File)
W
hen the COVID-19 pandemic hit Indonesia in March, South Tangerang, Banten, resident Tinto Arianto Wibowo's 2-year-old son's hospital visits became even more frequent, draining him financially. His son had long suffered fevers, coughing and a lump on his neck and the hospital advised him to go to another hospital as it suspected he had COVID-19.
The pandemic, however, prevented Tinto from taking up his usual side jobs, leaving him with only Rp 2 million (US$138.32) per month that he earned as an honorarium-based worker -- barely enough to feed his family of five.
He immediately signed his son up for a National Health Insurance (JKN) plan, which is run by the Healthcare and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan). The South Tangerang administration later included the son as a recipient of the contribution assistance (PBI) -- low-income patients whose JKN premiums are fully paid by the central government or local administrations.
Upon rejection from six different hospitals, Tinto discovered that his son had extrapulmonary tuberculosis, not COVID-19. By then, in late May, the boy required surgery to remove the lump, which Tinto believed would have been unnecessary had he been diagnosed earlier.
"I didn't have much money with the pandemic and all. So, I used the JKN," he said.
Just four days before the surgery in early June, the hospital told him that his son was no longer registered as a PBI recipient. Tinto, appalled and confused, rushed to reactivate his son's JKN plan and managed to do so in time for the surgery.
"My wife and I think it's alright to pay the premiums [Rp 25,500 per month]. The service is already bad even with us paying, never mind if we don't pay. By paying we can also help cover those in need given its cross-subsidy system," he said.
