Indonesia Adds $1.2B to Universal Healthcare Funding

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta – Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto held a limited meeting with several ministers at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Monday, September 28, 2026. The meeting discussed BPJS Kesehatan, Indonesia's health social security agency, and efforts to strengthen the National Health Insurance (JKN) financing to ensure that claims from healthcare facilities continue to be paid.

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the government had approved an additional Rp20 trillion (about $1.2 billion) in funding for BPJS Kesehatan this year. The issue was also discussed during the meeting with President Prabowo.

"Two weeks ago, the government approved the disbursement of funds totaling Rp20 trillion this year to BPJS Kesehatan,” Budi Gunadi Sadikin told reporters after the meeting, as quoted from the Indonesian Presidential Secretariat.

Minister of Finance Suahasil Nazara explained that its funding had been added to the 2026 state budget. He said strengthening BPJS Kesehatan's finances was necessary to ensure that claims from hospitals could be paid regularly.

"The additional funding is now Rp20 trillion and will soon be disbursed to support BPJS's finances in October and also November," Suahasil said.

The meeting also reviewed the latest JKN membership figures, which have reached 285 million people, with an active membership rate of 80.6 percent. Suahasil said the government would continue to improve premium collection and ensure that recipients of premium assistance are accurately targeted based on the National Single Socioeconomic Data (DTSEN).

"We are encouraging improvements in BPJS (Kesehatan) premium collection, as well as better targeting of premium assistance recipients based on the DTSEN data,” Suahasil said.

Meanwhile, President Director of BPJS Kesehatan Prihati Pujowaskito said Rp118 trillion (about US$6.6 billion) in premiums had been collected to date, while Rp132 trillion (about US$7.3 billion) had been paid for healthcare benefits. She said the resulting cash-flow gap needed to be addressed to ensure that payments to healthcare facilities could continue.

“We are grateful to the President, the government and the minister for providing a Rp20 trillion injection of funds,” Prihati said.

Prihati also highlighted the importance of increasing the number of active participants who pay their premiums as part of the mutual-assistance principle underlying the JKN program. Government budget support and stronger participation are expected to help maintain the sustainability of healthcare financing for the public.