Surabaya City Government Pays IDR 422.3 Billion BPJS Kesehatan Premium, DPRD Praises Mayor Eri Cahyadi

SURABAYA - The BPJS Kesehatan premium that must be paid by the Surabaya City Government, East Java, through the Amendment to the Financial Budget (PAK) of the 2021 Surabaya Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBD) is worth IDR 422.363 billion.

Chairman of Commission B of the Surabaya DPRD (Regional House of Representatives), Khusnul Khotimah, said that the BPJS Kesehatan premium is borne by the Surabaya City Government through the Health Office has increased, from IDR 265.741 billion to IDR 156.622 billion.

"So the city government will pay BPJS Kesehatan premiums of IDR 422,363 billion. This amount, as far as I know, is the largest in Indonesia paid by the regional government to BPJS", he said quoted by Antara, Monday, September 27.

According to him, the BPJS Kesehatan premium payment is for 1,022,588 residents of Surabaya. The data has been synchronized with BPJS.

Khusnul explained that during the discussion of the 2021 Surabaya APBD PAK, the Health Office received a fairly high budget increase. The total increase reached IDR 277.063 billion, from the original budget of IDR 950.698 billion to IDR 1.227 trillion.

According to Khusnul, with such a large budget, his party hopes that the health office can spend its budget on target, on time, and without leakage.

"One of the biggest budgets for the department is the Surabaya Health Office. That means the mayor's commitment to providing health services to his citizens is good", he said.

She said the additional budget that reached hundreds of billions was used for incentives for 2,832 health workers. The details are 1,098 State Civil Apparatus health workers and 1,734 non-State Civil Apparatus health workers, with a nominal amount of IDR 28.672 billion. Another addition is for BPJS premium payments of IDR 422,363 billion.

In addition to receiving a fairly high 2021 APBD PAK, Khusnul continued, the Surabaya Health Office also saw an increase in revenue of IDR 27 billion, so that the revenue from the previous IDR 116.281 billion became IDR 143.355 billion. Income is obtained from the capitation fund for the National Health Insurance (JKN) and first-rate health facilities (FKTP).

With this increase in the health budget, Khusnul hopes to be able to answer the community's need for health services for the citizens of Surabaya. Besides that, it can also be a trigger for the health office to be able to provide good health services for residents.

"In addition, it is also reinforcement for preparedness in tackling or controlling the COVID-19 pandemic in the future. We do not know when this pandemic will end. There is even a prediction that there will be a third wave surge. Answering that, the city government is ready with its high health budget allocation", he said.