Minister of Health Reveals the Wrong Target of PBI: 1,824 Desil 10 Participants Still Receive BPJS Subsidies
JAKARTA - Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin revealed that there were still problems of wrong targeting in the BPJS Health Fee Assistance (PBI) program. He said that as many as 1,824 people from the 10 desil group or the richest people were still listed as PBI subsidy recipients, which were actually intended for the poor.
"The richest desil actually gets PBI. As a result, people who should be included in PBI cannot be accommodated because the quota is limited," said Budi in a meeting with Commission IX of the DPR RI, Wednesday (11/2/2026). He said that the PBI quota is currently around 96.8 million participants.
To overcome this problem, the government has given three months to carry out data refinement. This process involves BPJS Kesehatan, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the Ministry of Social Affairs, and the local government. The target is that participants from high villages are removed from PBI, while the subsidy quota is transferred to people from villages 1 to 5 who are more entitled.
In addition, Budi also touched on the impact of the discourse on the elimination of BPJS dues arrears. According to him, the policy had encouraged an increase in the number of inactive participants from around 49 million to 63 million people.
He revealed that the total BPJS Health dues receivables currently reached Rp. 26.47 trillion, with the largest portion coming from PBPU Mandiri participants of around Rp. 22.2 trillion.
On the other hand, the coverage of participation in the National Health Insurance (JKN) has reached 287 million people as of February 2026. However, Budi reminded that the sustainability of the program is still facing pressure due to the difference in income and spending which has almost touched Rp. 20 trillion.
"This year the gap was closed with an additional budget of Rp. 20 trillion. However, in the future, we need structural steps so that subsidies are really targeted," he said.