Bogor Regional House of Representatives Asks The Ministry Of Health To Complete Claims For COVID-19 Patient Fees

BOGOR - The Bogor Regional House of Representatives, West Java has urged the Ministry of Health to immediately settle claims for the cost of handling COVID-19 patients at every hospital in its area.

"This problem must be immediately resolved. If needed, Forkompinda (Regional Leadership Communication Forum) will write a joint letter to the Ministry of Health", said the Chairman of Bogor Regional House of Representatives, Rudy Susmanto, after visiting several hospitals in Cibinong, Bogor, quoted by Antara, Friday, July 2.

Because he continued, the cost of handling COVID-19 patients that had not been paid by the Ministry of Health to several hospitals in Bogor had reached tens of billions of rupiah.

Until the end of June 2021, claims that have not been paid to the Cibinong Regional General Hospital are around IDR 15 billion, to Ciawi Hospital around IDR 16 billion, Marry Hospital around IDR 16 billion, MH Thamrin Hospital around IDR 30 billion.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chairman of the Bogor Regional House of Representatives, Agus Salim, said that to reduce the burden on hospitals in serving COVID-19 patients, the Health Service must increase the role of Puskesmas in all sub-districts.

According to him, the Level I Health Service Facility must be able to handle patients with mild symptoms, as well as continue to educate the public to comply with health protocols.

"Public heal centers must be the initial screening sites and their capacity must be increased to serve COVID-19 patients", said Agus Salim.

He admitted that he was surprised by the phenomenon of the number of Puskesmas closing in the midst of a surge in COVID-19 cases.