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To cite this article: Nafsiah Mboi (2015) Indonesia: On the Way to Universal Health Care, Health Systems & Reform, 1:2,
91-97, DOI: 10.1080/23288604.2015.1020642
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Health Systems & Reform, 1(2):91–97, 2015
Copyright Ó 2015 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 2328-8604 print / 2328-8620 online
DOI: 10.1080/23288604.2015.1020642
Commentary
CONTENTS
Abstract—Indonesia has been building a National Social Security
Introduction System since 2004. Formal action to build the health component in
Social and Health Care Determinants the system (National Social Health Insurance Scheme, or JKN)
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JKN Principles and Early Operations started in 2005. In line with the JKN roadmap, full achievement of
References Universal Health Care is not expected until 2019. Preparations
before the launch of JKN on 1 January 2014 involved multi-level
and multi-sector efforts related to issues of equity of access,
coverage, finance, quality of care (infrastructure, pharmaceuticals
and medical devices, medical education), management information,
and fees and tariffs. This commentary by Indonesia’s Minister of
Health examines the preparations and first eight months of JKN,
and briefly discusses these various issues as well as the policy and
practices in place at the time of launch. The article includes
information on the early implementation of JKN and four lessons
learned from the Indonesian experience of developing and
launching national social health insurance: the importance of strong
political commitment; the role of comprehensive analysis of the
national health system; the use of multiparty participation in
developing and implementing the plans; and the importance of
systematic, continuous monitoring and evaluation from technical
and administrative perspectives as well as patient satisfaction, to
assure progress toward Universal Health Care.
INTRODUCTION
In 2004, Indonesia adopted a multipart National Social
Security System (Law 40/2004)1 with the goal of provid-
ing comprehensive social protection to its citizens. The
system was designed to cover health care, work-related
accidents, elderly care, and life insurance. I was
appointed Minister of Health by the President of Indone-
sia in June 2012, joining the cabinet mid-way in its five-
year term (2009–2014) upon the unfortunate and untimely
death of my predecessor. This was 18 months before the
Keywords: health reform, Indonesia, Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional, universal scheduled launch of our National Social Health Insurance
health care (UHC)
Scheme (1 January 2014; Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional,
Received 31 July 2014; revised 4 November 2014; accepted 10 February
2015. or JKN),a the health care component of the new Social
*Correspondence to: Nafsiah Mboi; Email: nafsiah.mboi2014@gmail.com Security System.
91
92 Health Systems & Reform, Vol. 1 (2015), No. 2
As a medical doctor and civil servant with experience epidemiological transition with a double burden of acute and
working in poor, rural Indonesia and in the nation’s capital, I chronic diseases, the latter increasing steadily and expected
spent most of my professional career in the Ministry of to reach 60% of total disease burden. The public health sys-
Health and then served for six years as Secretary of the tem faces a full spectrum of challenges from the high-mortal-
National AIDS Commission. For me, JKN was a great oppor- ity infectious diseases of poverty to the more complex and
tunity to improve access to care and public health in Indone- chronic problems of noncommunicable diseases.5,6
sia, and I gratefully accepted to serve as a minister with Competition for budget among ministries has always been
priorities to: difficult for the health sector, but there has been progress in
recent years as central government expenditure on health
finalize conceptualization and planning for JKN; rose from Rp 10.5 trillion in 2005 (1.08 billion USD) or
expand health care facilities across the country in vari-
2.06% of the national budget to Rp 47.4 trillion in 2014 (4.86
ous ways, among others by advocating with national
billion USD constant) or 2.50% of the budget.b These figures
and local governments;
do not include provincial and district-level health budgets,
promote the adoption of national service and support,
logistical, and regulatory standards and systems; and which vary from a high of 15.79% of the provincial budget
strengthen continuous training and capacity building of in one case to a low of 1.95%.7
With national development, Indonesia has witnessed
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Highest Provincial
Aspect of Service Ratio (Best Coverage) Lowest Provincial Ratio Indonesian Average
and the launch of the consolidated National Health Insurance independent members, who would pay their own premiums.
Scheme on 1 January 2014, many steps were taken toward Some provincial and district governments also chose to
fulfillment of the national commitment to have a health care enroll the near poor from their local programs in JKN,
system for all Indonesians. When the law was adopted in thereby bringing the total number of poor and near-poor sub-
2004, only civil servants, the military, and the police were sidized by government to 93.9 million by 31 August 2014.f
covered by health insurance, each in a separate program. Under JKN, the Ministry of Health is responsible for setting
Attention was first directed to develop new coverage for the clinical guidelines and technical norms. On the other hand,
health needs of the poor. In 2005, a new Social Health Insur- health care delivery depends on a mix of public and private
ance for the Poor program was launched for that purpose providers. The financial affairs of JKN are run by an indepen-
(called Asuransi Kesehatan untuk Yang Miskin or Askeskin). dent management agency for the health wing of the Social
In 2008, Askeskin evolved into a broader program of health Security System, called BPJS Health.g This agency manages
insurance (known as Jamkesmas)10 with wider coverage and the new health insurance system, including recruitment of
incorporating lessons learned from Askeskin. In 2010, a new members, payment to service providers, and collection of fees.
program was added to reduce maternal and child mortality, Another major goal of JKN, which was important to pol-
providing coverage for all pregnant women (Jaminan Persa- icy makers, was improving the quality of care. In order to
linan or Jampersal). The final years of preparation for the move forward on this objective, and based on the principle
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launch of JKN focused on designing how to consolidate the that what could be measured would be well managed, we did
multiple programs under one national administrative, man- a full assessment of our system’s quality of care both from
agement, and service system while at the same time identify- the providers’ technical perspective as well as from the
ing and moving to ”fill gaps” in coverage (improving equity) patients’ satisfaction standpoint. We then sought to
and raising the quality of services. This period included the strengthen our medical education system, to assure the avail-
development of a “road map” for continuing expansion of ability of qualified staff at primary health centers (PHCs) and
the system from its launch in 2014 to the achievement of hospitals through the rotation and field assignments of doc-
UHC by 2019. tors and specialists and to encourage service by qualified
The development of JKN was based on five core doctors in the most challenging island, border, and isolated
principles: posts through the introduction of incentives (financial and
educational opportunities).
The spirit and practice of gotong royong, meaning
mutual support.
Mandatory membership for all Indonesians by 2019.
“Portability” of the right to service: members of JKN are Key Challenges of Building JKN
entitled to service anywhere in Indonesia. The Ministry of Health established six working groups to
Principles and best practice of social health insurance to address key challenges in implementing the JKN:
guide the management of JKN.
Medical service is equal for all JKN members; however, 1. Regulatory infrastructure for both service delivery and
members paying all or a portion of their own member- management
ship can choose to pay for a higher level of in-patient 2. Finance, transformation, and integration of programs
service. and institutions (from former programs)
3. Health facilities, referral, and infrastructure
An early challenge in the implementation of JNK was 4. Human resources and capacity building
integrating into one system the separate insurance programs 5. Pharmaceutical and medical devices
that had covered the poor and near poor (PBId), civil serv- 6. Socialization and advocacy
ants, the military, the police, pensioners, and some staff of
state enterprises (BUMNe). Except for PBI, these insurance The working groups were widely inclusive and in all cases
programs all involved financial contributions by both the included people from the health sector as well as domestic
employer and the employee. Under JKN all of these systems and international experts and institutional and organizational
became part of the unified National Social Health Insurance representatives. For example, the working group on health
Scheme with a single management system as well as a single facilities included representatives of hospitals and the Indo-
system of rights and benefits for members. On 1 January nesian Medical Association, as well as health economists,
2014, membership in JKN was opened to others, defined as people from the Ministry of Finance, the national planning
94 Health Systems & Reform, Vol. 1 (2015), No. 2
board, and other organizations. The working groups reported information would be provided in the 2014 year-end
to me, as Minister, and I reported to the President on the report and annual reports thereafter.
development of JKN, through the Coordinating Minister of 2. Clarification of the different components in the contin-
People’s Welfare and the Vice President, personally charged uum of care and the linkages between them was an
by the President with overall responsibility for assuring essential part of the preparation for scaling up JKN.
This called for extensive efforts by the working groups
smooth and timely development and launch of JKN. Among
on forms, procedures, and standards. It was also a topic
the many topics addressed by these working groups, I fol-
of advocacy by me, as Minister, and other members of
lowed four with particular interest because of their potential the JKN development team during national field travel.
long-term impact on the acceptability and sustainability of 3. Creation of an effective national management informa-
JKN. tion system was a crucial goal to serve the needs of
patients, health care providers, facilities, and BPJS
1. Improving the skills and placement of health care pro- Health. This information system would be critical to
viders would have a profound impact on quality of care the capacity of JKN to fulfill the principle of
at all levels in the health system, which, in turn, would “portability” of coverage and the goal of providing
influence the utilization of facilities. For JKN to work quality care to JKN members. Membership, health
effectively we needed the public to embrace and utilize records, and accounts needed to be current and accessi-
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primary care and not go directly to hospitals. In some ble when and where a patient requested service. Build-
parts of Indonesia, skepticism about the quality of ser- ing the management information system called for the
vice had left primary care underutilized and hospitals integration of multiple existing systems and the crea-
clogged with patients not needing that level of service. tion of a new umbrella system to hold the data and pro-
Multiple efforts were launched to begin the processes vide information as needed.
of improving both quality and distribution of health The management information system was the back-
care providers.Depending on the location and the bone of the JKN, and its initial performance worked
nature of local need, there were improvements made in well (most of the time) as patients moved through the
quality and distribution of staff. For example, there was system and health care providers billed BPJS Health
widespread capacity building for doctors, nurses, labo- for services and were paid. Like other aspects of the
ratory staff, and others. Increasing numbers of health system, the management information system will
care workers were assigned and reassigned to help undergo periodic evaluation and improvements as
more facilities reach national minimum service stand- needed. Furthermore, in addition to formal evaluation
ards. Beyond these actions directly related to staff, systems, print media, TV, social media, and even text
other actions contributed to increased effectiveness. messages to me as Minister have all been active since
Support for infrastructure improvement was provided the day of launch, and these informal feedback mecha-
where needed, and a national formulary and e-catalog nisms have helped identify challenges to be met. In this
were established to improve access to medication. way we are making progress.
There were also revisions in regulations and guidelines 4. The development of standard and appropriate fees and
clarifying treatments and standards and expanding the tariffs will be critical to survival of the entire health
role of primary health centers with an emphasis on pre- insurance system. Sufficient income is needed for JKN
vention and health promotion, early diagnosis and treat- to be financially viable, but the needs of three main
ment, as well as management of chronic care. actors also have to be met: JKN members, health care
The primary time frame for this article (six months providers, and institutions providing primary and refer-
after the start of JKN implementation) is too short for a ral care. Without a “reasonable” arrangement for each
serious evaluation of the effectiveness of these inter- actor (with a fee and service package for members and
ventions, and the road map for achievement of UHC is compensation for providers), the system will not sur-
five years. Nonetheless, extensive field travel during vive. In searching for the right balance, we worked
much of 2014 saw evidence of improvements in service with key stakeholders: the Ministry of Finance, various
provided by primary health centers as well as expanded academic teams, the Indonesian Medical Association,
community utilization. Information collected during the Association of Hospitals, and existing insurance
the first and second quarters of 2014 showed increases schemes; we also sought good communication with the
in utilization of primary health centers and declines in Indonesian Parliament. We received good input from
referral upward through the system in many areas, different parties, and we developed careful modeling of
because staff and programs at the primary level were different options. In the end, as Minister, balancing the
better able to respond to patients. More extensive concerns and inputs from multiple groups, I set the
Mboi: Indonesia: On the Way to UHC 95
starting point for our tariffs and fees. Only time and equipment. Our pre-JKN assessment made it clear that for
careful monitoring and evaluation will tell how close or efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency we needed to
far we were from finding “the right balance.” rethink these material aspects of our health system. With the
new unified system, JKN became the largest provider in
With JKN, Indonesia is seeking to develop a comprehen- Indonesian public health, and negotiations were undertaken
sive health care system that can provide service from preven- by the Government Agency for Goods and Services Procure-
tion to the highest level of specialist care for all of its ment Policyj to develop a new and more efficient system that
citizens. Primary care service at the community level focuses is easy to monitor and easy for JKN service providers to use.
on the prevention of ill health, early diagnosis and treatment The result was establishment of a national on-line formulary,
of disease, management of chronic conditions, and referral an e-catalog, and a system of e-procurement accessible to all
for more complicated services. with appropriate authority.
Historically, funding for PHCs was channeled through the As with other aspects of JKN development, the work to
office of the district government with any income earned by reform procurement and management of medicines included
a PHC also returning to the district government. To representatives of multiple levels of government, health care
strengthen the position of PHCs in managing their own providers, and the pharmaceutical industry. Discussion took
affairs, a new financial system was designed with payment place to reach agreement on acceptable standards and to
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on a capitation basis. The capitation system was developed assure that no unreasonable profit would be associated with
with participation from different parts of the country and the launch of JKN. By the time negotiations were concluded,
with extensive reference to historic utilization rates in earlier the prices agreed for JKN medicines averaged 30%–40%
programs. (Per capita payments are made to the health center less than before.k
according to the number of JKN members designating that
center as their primary health care center.) People who are
not yet JKN members may use the center by paying on a fee- Early Experience with JKN
for-service basis for visits (as was true before the start of Having successfully integrated the membership rolls of the
JKN) and they are encouraged to become regular members. existing government insurance schemes,l on 1 January 2014
Under the new system, which was discussed and negotiated BPJS Health had 112,208,564 members in its database enti-
with Ministries of Finance, Home Affairs, and Health, tled to be served by JKN (according to BPJS Health). The
BPKP,h and BPKi and then codified in Presidential Decree year-end membership target for 2014 was set at 121,600,000.
12/2013,11 the JKN capitation fee is paid directly to the PHC That target was surpassed by 1 May, and as of 31 August the
by BPJS Health. (There is some variation in calculation of total membership was 127,251,791. Though the integration
the fee from one PHC to another, based on the service pro- process involved many details, the greatest challenges were
vided and the PHC’s personnel.) Furthermore, a minimum of consolidating the membership lists, agreeing on entitlements
60% of capitation income is to be used as a staff incentive of members, managing relations with service providers (both
for health workers,12 to “top up” the small compensation governmental and nongovernmental) including compensa-
they receive as civil servants. tion, and operationalizing these multiple agreements in a
At the hospital level, the JKN teams developed a payment smooth “rollover” for the launch of JKN on 1 January 2014.
system based on the Indonesia Case Based Groups, a prospec- Addressing all of these challenges called for a flexible mind-
tive payment system with rates set according to the diagnosed set and a combination of human and technical skills, particu-
condition to be treated. Indonesia Case Based Groups payment larly among the political and operational leaders of the
scales were developed with the participation of organizations various separate systems, as they worked out how to come
of health professionals and the Association of Hospitals, as together under one umbrella.
well as extensive review of treatment standards and payments Minimum health services standards set before the launch
in diverse situations. Prior to the launch and for some time of JKN apply without exception to all government health
thereafter, sporadic protests continued from some hospitals facilities. Provincial and national health offices have respon-
and various health care providers, particularly specialists sibility for monitoring compliance with those standards and
accustomed to fee-for-service payment. As hospitals came to assisting where improvements are needed. Nongovernmental
understand the new system, many found that it worked to their facilities working with BPJS must meet those standards to be
advantage and institutional complaints subsided. accredited as JKN service providers.
Another major area of reform focused on systems of pro- As of 31 August 2014, 17,285 primary-level providers
curement and management of medicines and medical were working with BPJS Health, and 1,583 referral hospitals
96 Health Systems & Reform, Vol. 1 (2015), No. 2
were registered. Of these providers, about 36% of primary- 2. Comprehensive examination of our health care system.
level facilities and 42% of referral-level facilities were pri- We approached the creation and launch of JKN not as
vate. In addition, 1,245 pharmacies and 798 opticians were an exercise in health financing alone but as an opportu-
private. Private health care in Indonesia runs the full spectrum nity for a comprehensive review of our health system,
from simple not-for-profit facilities to the most expensive spe- including attention to both coverage and quality, in the
best interests of our people and on a sustainable basis.
cialist hospitals. For health facilities that were stretched finan-
For Indonesia, the development, launch, and continuing
cially, becoming a JKN provider was viewed as advantageous
evolution of the national health insurance scheme was
because it could produce more regular and adequate income. an issue of both health finance and health service.
At the same time, the Ministry of Health was pleased to have “Getting it right” on health finance is the only way to
high-end private health providers continue to work with JKN assure continuity and sustainability in provision of qual-
in compliance with existing regulations, reflecting the varied ity health service for the people of Indonesia. Strength-
market for health care in Indonesia. ening the quantity and quality of service with particular
emphasis at the primary level for prevention of ill
health, promotion of good health, early diagnosis and
Lessons Learned treatment, referral, and management of chronic care is
In early 2014, there were both Indonesians and international necessary to attract and hold good levels of utilization.
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partners who were dubious about how the launch of JKN 3. Multiparty participation in development. The creation
would go—because of the country’s size in terms of popula- of the overall JKN system and its many subsystems
tion and the geographic challenges of a widely spread archi- was carried out as multisectoral, multipartner, multi-
pelago, the limitations of central control in highly level exercises. This was not (and could not have been)
decentralized Indonesia, the historic professional indepen- a health-sector exercise alone. Diverse national and
local-level authorities were involved, public and private
dence of many health care providers and groups of providers,
entities took part, and important input came from asso-
and examples of “bumpy starts” to the start of national health
ciations of health care providers, the Association of
insurance in other countries. In fact, JKN got off to a Hospitals, and academics. Likewise, to minimize mis-
smoother start than many people expected. use of funds and corruption, a range of government
In reviewing what Indonesia has accomplished, I would bodies with national responsibility for governance and
highlight four lessons for countries seeking to develop com- accountability was built into the system.
prehensive national social health insurance: 4. On-going monitoring and assessment. The use of various
feedback systems has helped us during the development
1. Strong political commitment. The birth of JKN had and testing of JKN components as well as since the
strong political commitment from top national leaders, launch. We have practiced continuous monitoring, eval-
starting with Law 40 of 2004 coming into force under uation, fine-tuning, and more major adjustments. We
President Megawati and reinforced when President tried hard to create the best system possible for the
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono designated the launch of launch on 1 January 2014, but we also knew that we
JKN as a priority for his second term (2010–2014) to would need to make adjustments as we implemented.
be supervised directly by the Vice President. Agree- This “information loop,” combined with adequate
ment on a multisectoral road map for JKN secured the authority and flexibility to allow for change, has played
“buy-in” of sectoral partners outside of health to play a critical role in the fine-tuning needed to get our large
their respective roles and work together for successful system up and running. For example, the Indonesia Case
implementation of JKN. Key partners outside of health Based Groups fee scale was developed to cover 1,077
included, among others, the National Planning Board, diagnoses and procedures. Analysis of claims over the
the Ministries of Finance and Home Affairs, the Indo- first five months from more than 1,000 hospitals indi-
nesian Parliament, BPKP (Board of Development and cated that established fees for 39 groups were either too
Finance Supervision), and BPK (the National Audit high or too low. Though the regularly scheduled review
Board). My long-standing concern with the field of of tariffs and fees will occur only every two years, with
national health insurance systems led me, as Minister, this evidence of problems from the field, I used my
to call for acceleration of the final steps to assure a authority as Minister to make immediate corrections,
timely launch. Furthermore, I was available when thereby reducing frustration and inefficiency.
needed to negotiate with and cajole partners who were
slower to get on board than others and to choose What is the long-term future of JKN as the “people’s door
between competing views when debate threatened to to equitable health care” in Indonesia? This commentary lays
slow progress. out the primary steps taken and issues considered as we
Mboi: Indonesia: On the Way to UHC 97
worked to get the system off to a good start. The review con- management agency specifically responsible for man-
siders the first few months of operation (after the launch on 1 agement of the health component, JKN, in the
January 2014), with most information focused on the first six national society security system.
months. Only a longer period of implementation will tell us [h] Badan Pengawasan Keuangan dan Pembangunan
how successful we have been in creating an equitable and (BPKP). Board of Finance and Development Supervision.
sustainable health insurance scheme for Indonesia with atten- [i] Badan Pemeriksaan Keuangan (BPK). Audit Board of
tion to both quality of service and health finance. the Republic of Indonesia.
[j] Lembaga Kebijakan Pengadaan Barang/Jasa Pemerin-
tah. Government Agency for Goods and Services Pro-
DISCLOSURE OF POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF
curement Policy.
INTEREST
[k] Ministry of Health, Director General for Pharmaceuti-
No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed. cals and Medical Equipment.
[l] Civil servants from Askes, the poor and near poor from
Jamkesmas, the military and police from their own
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS insurance system, and laborers covered by Jamsostek.
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