Starting April, Surabaya Residents Only Use KTPs To Get Health Services

Mayor of Surabaya Eri Cahyadi (DOK. City Government of Surabaya)

SURABAYA - The Surabaya City Government (Pemkot) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Surabaya branch of the Social Security Administration for Health (BPJS).

This signing is related to the Universal Health Coverage program collaboration for residents of the City of Surabaya.

The Mayor of Surabaya, Eri Cahyadi, said that the signing of this memorandum of understanding was to ensure that Surabaya residents would automatically get health services using ID cards.

"God willing, starting April 1, 2021, all residents of Surabaya KTP, regardless of the hospital that collaborates with the city government, it is enough that the KTP can have their health served," said Eri Cahyadi at Surabaya City Hall, Tuesday, March 16.

In the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) program, if the holder of health insurance has reached 95 percent, it is enough for people who are sick to show their KTP to get health services.

On the other hand, this program is also to ensure that people get access to health services without having to face financial difficulties.

"So that to get health services, Surabaya KTP residents no longer need to use a poverty certificate," he said.

The program also regulates the condition of residents who previously paid BPJS independently in first class, but suddenly were unable to pay, automatically these patients could be entered in third grade. The payment responsibility lies with the Surabaya City Government.

"For example, if a Surabaya resident is sick in (BPJS) first class, suddenly he is unable to pay, then he changes to third class. Now, when he wants to move to third class, the city government will automatically cover the costs," he said.

Eri Cahyadi said that the Surabaya City Government is also ready to bear the BPJS Health payments for Surabaya residents if they are already inactive when the residents resign or no longer work for companies that bear BPJS costs.

"I hope that no more residents of Surabaya are sick and sad because their health is not served," he said.

It seems that the optimization of health services is not only carried out by the Surabaya City Government in terms of financing. This is because the city government is currently preparing SOPs for the maximum time limit for services at the puskesmas, starting from registering to receiving drugs.

"Well, this is what we really want to provide health insurance to the community. Do not let (residents) come for treatment 15 minutes later, wait 2 hours. So that later the service can be faster," he explained.

Meanwhile, Deputy Director of the East Java Region, I Made Puja Yasa, appreciated the efforts of the mayor and his staff in overseeing the data collection process for health insurance membership in the city of Surabaya. Moreover, he said, national health insurance is a program that must be followed as an effort to protect financial health.

"This shows that there is an extraordinary commitment related to the presence of the government in ensuring health insurance in the city of Surabaya," said I Made.

He revealed that currently the total population covered by this program nationally is 222 million people or around 82 percent of the total population in Indonesia. Meanwhile, in East Java, the number of people who have been covered by this program is 30.9 million, out of 41 million. This means that 75 percent of the total population in East Java is already covered.

"While the position of Surabaya itself, currently the population that has been covered from 2.9 is 2.5 million. So it is approximately 84.4 percent. So currently the city of Surabaya is already above the national average," he said.

According to him, although Surabaya is the city / district with the largest population in East Java, the number of health insurance participants is also the highest. Of course, to achieve this requires commitment and hard work.

"So this is quite an extraordinary achievement. Moreover, the Mayor also conveyed that residents (Surabaya) who are in arrears of payment (BPJS) are also immediately included as participants who are financed by the regional government. This means that this is an extraordinary commitment," he said.