As it also seeks to eliminate mandatory health spending and encourages foreign doctors to open practices in the country, critics have accused the bill of liberalizing the country’s health sector.

But we must observe the bill more carefully before we reject it.

The omnibus law, if passed, will replace critical laws, including Law No. 36/2009 on health, Law No. 44/2009 on hospitals and Law No.18/2014 on mental health, as well as specialized laws that regulate physicians, dentists, nurses and midwives.

Associations of the medical professionals have taken to the streets to protest the bill amid concerns that the bill will put jobs at risk.

Job security and the welfare of medical workers should be a priority, as we learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, when we witnessed the dedication of healthcare workers on the frontline battling the disease and putting their lives at risk to care for their patients.

We must also keep in mind that our healthcare system remains far from perfect. There is a scarcity of medical professionals in Indonesia despite the health law which requires the government to allocate at least 5 percent of the state budget and 10 percent of the provincial budget to public health.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends one doctor for every 1,000 people, which means that Indonesia, with a population of 270 million, should have 270,000 doctors. Statistics Indonesia (BPS) found that last year there were only 176,110 doctors, including specialists and general doctors. 

Medical schools have attracted few students because of the long duration and high cost of study programs. Understandably, doctors opt to work in cities that offer better pay, leading to shortages in rural areas.

The commitment to improving the welfare of medical workers should be met with equal efforts to bring quality health services to people in all areas of the country. We support the new health bill if it can serve these two purposes.

The health gap between urban and rural areas must end. There should be more doctors outside of big cities to ensure better access to good health services in rural areas, and bringing in more foreign doctors could help address the disparity. Increasing the number of foreign medical professionals is difficult because of resistance from the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI).

Lawmakers, who initiated the deliberation, argue that the extreme provisions in the omnibus bill do not mean to harm, but rather to better regulate health care providers and to improve the country’s healthcare system.

The professional organizations of medical workers, along with their standards, will remain intact and regulated. These regulations should exist to ensure the welfare of our medical workers.

Furthermore, the bill should uphold the principle of universal healthcare and ensure equal distribution of healthcare workers. A strong presence of both local and foreign medical professionals would make healthcare more accessible for people everywhere in the country.

We also want to raise the alarm for the plan to abolish mandatory health spending.

The National Health Insurance (JKN) program is currently in a good state, covering 94 percent of the population. After suffering constant deficit since its establishment in 2014, state insurer Healthcare and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan), which runs the program, has turned a surplus for the past two years.

With life returning to normal in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, and more people flocking to hospitals to get medical treatment, the medical costs that insurance needs to cover may also rise. Without the support of state and regional budgets, the burden of healthcare costs may be shifted to patients or JKN members.    

A major reform in the country’s healthcare system is crucial for the sake of sustainability, but the government should ensure that it will, first and foremost, benefit all people equally.