Three Ministries Administered By Jokowi Carry Out KPK Recommendations Regarding BPJS Health

Emblem of Corruption Eradication Commission (Wardhany Tsa Tsia / VOI)

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said President Joko Widodo sent a letter to three ministries to carry out his recommendations to overcome problems in the BPJS Kesehatan body. The letter was sent through the State Secretariat.

The three ministries that are mandated to carry out these recommendations are the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture (KemenkoPMK), the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes), and the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri).

"The KPK has received a copy of the letter from the President through the State Secretariat," said Acting KPK spokesman for prevention, Ipi Maryati Kuding, in a written statement, Monday, June 8.

Through this letter, the State Secretariat asked the three ministries to follow up on the KPK's recommendations regarding the BPJS Health deficit in accordance with their authority.

Furthermore, continued Ipi, the KPK will schedule a meeting with all parties so that the recommendation can be implemented immediately.

Previously, this anti-graft agency had submitted a number of recommendations related to improving BPJS Kesehatan to the government.

The contents of these recommendations are; the government through the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) can immediately complete the National Guidelines for Medical Practice (PNPK), conduct hospital control, and implement a co-payment policy for independent participants as stipulated in Permenkes 51/2018 concerning Collecting Costs and Cost Difference in Health Insurance Program.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Health must implement a policy of limiting benefits for claims for catastrophic diseases as part of prevention efforts, accelerating the implementation of a coordination of benefits (COB) policy with private health insurance, and regarding arrears for independent participant contributions, the KPK recommends that the government link the obligation to pay BPJS contributions with public service.

As long as these recommendations have not been implemented, according to KPK Deputy Chairman Nurul Ghufron, the BPJS increase which has been regulated in Presidential Decree Number 64 of 2020 will be in vain.

Moreover, in the Health Social Security Fund (DJS) Governance Study conducted by anti-graft agencies in 2019, said Ghufron, the KPK found that the root cause of the BPJS Health deficit was due to inefficiency in governance.

"So we are of the opinion that the solution to increasing the BPJS contribution before there is an improvement from our recommendation, does not answer the fundamental problems in the management of the health social security fund," Ghufron said in a written statement, Friday, May 15.

The increase in BPJS Health contributions during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, would certainly decrease the level of public participation in this service. In fact, according to Law 40 of 2004, social security is a form of protection for the community to meet their basic needs for a decent life.

Ghufron then emphasized that BPJS Kesehatan can actually run without the need to increase their dues, as long as a number of recommendations submitted by the KPK are implemented.

"If the KPK's recommendations are implemented, it is not necessary to increase the BPJS Health premium which will be very burdensome to the community considering the current difficult situation," he said.

"We view that the recommendation is a solution to improve it is a solution to improve inefficiency and cover potential fraud that we found in the study," concluded Ghufron.