The Slow Absorption Of The Health Budget For COVID-19 Is Due To Only 5.12 Percent Used

Capture the screen of the Ministry of Finance's Expert Staff for State Expenditure, Kunta Wibawa Dasa Nugraha. (Mery Handayani / VOI)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Finance revealed that the health budget for handling the COVID-19 pandemic has only been absorbed by IDR 4.48 trillion or 5.12 percent of the total budget given, namely IDR 87.55 trillion from the 2020 national budget (APBN).

Expert Staff to the Minister of Finance for State Expenditure of the Ministry of Finance, Kunta Wibawa Dasa Nugraha, said that the biggest obstacle to absorbing the budget for handling COVID-19 lies in the delay in claims, especially for incentives for health workers and claims for hospital treatment costs.

"Until now, the actual absorption of the health budget is still around 5.12 percent," he said, during the 'Media Briefing on the Acceleration of Health Budget Disbursement' which was held virtually, Wednesday, July 8.

However, Kunta said the government had accelerated it through several policies. First, it will accelerate payments in July after simplifying procedures according to the revised Decree of the Minister of Health (KMK). This solution is shown for the constraints on labor incentive claims.

Second, by providing a down payment, without waiting for incomplete documents. This down payment is to speed up the payment of claims for treatment costs.

"Hospital claims can be paid in advance while waiting for the required documents," he said.

Kunta said, of the total Rp4.48 trillion that had been disbursed, the biggest realization was at the post of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB). As much as Rp2.9 trillion of which has been distributed there. Meanwhile, the budget allocation set for BNPB is IDR 3.5 trillion, including for the procurement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and medical devices.

Furthermore, said Kunta, the rest is scattered in other allocations. For example, additional stimulus spending for health worker death benefits and BPJS Health contribution assistance.

"Others are still relatively low, especially incentives for health workers," he explained.

Kunta ensured that the government would continue to monitor the disbursement of the health budget every week by maintaining governance. He hopes that the realization rate will continue to rise and reach 100 percent until December.

Joint Solutions Ministry of Health and Ministry of Finance

Secretary of the Human Resources Development and Empowerment Agency, Ministry of Health, Trisa Wahjuni Putri, admitted that previously there was a delay in budget spending. So, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance are looking for a solution.

One of them is the revised Kepmenkes, from Kepmenkes Hk. 01.07 / Menkes / 278/2020 to become Kepmenkes Number Hk.01.07 / Menkes / 392/2020.

"We, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance, are looking for a joint solution to speed things up. This is in accordance with the president's order to make a breakthrough," he said.

Trisa explained, from the absorption of 5.12 percent, the Ministry of Health had distributed IDR278 billion for incentives for 166 thousand health workers and IDR 9.6 billion for death benefits for 32 health workers who died due to COVID-19.

"We have budgeted Rp. 1.9 trillion for incentives for health workers, then Rp. 60 billion for compensation for death. For incentives for health workers, which has been realized amounting to Rp. 278 billion, the total is for health workers at the central and regional levels as many as 166,029 people," he said.

Meanwhile, continued Trisna, for compensation for the death of 32 people. From the total budget of Rp. 60 billion, approximately Rp. 9.6 billion has been absorbed.

For your information, based on the program, the budget allocation for handling COVID-19 is IDR 65.8 trillion, incentives for health workers IDR 5.9 trillion, death benefits IDR 300 billion, JKN contribution assistance IDR 3 trillion, COVID-19 Task Force IDR 3.5 trillion, and tax incentives of IDR 9.05 trillion.