The State Must Guarantee Funding for Treatment of Covid-19 Patients
18 August 2021 The Indonesian government has committed to covering all costs of treating Covid-19 patients as required by the constitution. Unfortunately, until now there are still many cases of patient families who are forced to pay hospitals for Covid-19 treatment costs, even up to hundreds of millions of rupiah.
PRESS RELEASE
COALITION FOR EQUITABLE HEALTH ACCESS
The State Must Guarantee Funding for Treatment of Covid-19 Patients
August 18, 2021 The Indonesian government has committed to covering all costs of treating Covid-19 patients as required by the constitution. Unfortunately, until now there are still many cases of patient families who are forced to pay hospitals for Covid-19 treatment costs, even up to hundreds of millions of rupiah.
The government's commitment to cover all the costs of treating Covid-19 patients can be found in the designation of Covid-19 as a disease that causes an epidemic in the Decree of the Minister of Health Number 01.07/MENKES/104/2020. With the issuance of this determination, referring to the provisions of Minister of Health Regulation Number 59 of 2016 concerning Exemption of Fees for Patients with Certain Emerging Infectious Diseases, financing for treated Covid-19 patients can be claimed to the Ministry of Health through the Director General of Health Services. Legal regulations clearly emphasize the state's responsibility in guaranteeing costs Covid-19 care for its citizens.
The government is obliged to cover the costs of treating Covid-19 patients regardless of the treatment method as a form of state responsibility in handling the outbreak as stated in Article 10 of Law no. 4/1984 concerning Infectious Disease Outbreaks and Article 8 of Law No. 6/2018 regarding Health Quarantine. Apart from that, Article 19 of Law 36/2009 Law on Health states that the Government is responsible for the availability of all forms of health measures quality, safe, efficient and affordable. This is mandatory in emergency situations health as a legal consequence of Presidential Decree 11/2020 concerning Emergency Determination Public health. The President also issued Presidential Decree 12/2020 concerning Emergency Status Non-Natural National Disaster. This has a derivative obligation, namely fulfilling needs basis for everyone affected by a disaster. These basic needs are certainly one of them related health.
In fact, many people still have to bear the costs of treating Covid-19 themselves which is very expensive.
First, there are still many Covid-19 Referral Hospitals that charge treatment fees to Covid-19 patients. Since the end of early 2021, LaporCovid-19 has received at least 26 reports from residents who complained about financing treatment and purchasing medicines in the hospital. For example, a reporter in DKI complained about a bill of around 600 million rupiah when his mother was being treated for Covid-19 in June 2021. Other reports were also obtained from the regions Denpasar where the family was asked by the hospital to buy Gammaraas medicine, the price was 220 million rupiah in July 2021. LBH Jakarta also received requested patient complaints paid up to 225 million rupiah by the hospital due to the period of treatment being funded government only 14 days.
These cases clearly deviate from the various legal provisions above and greatly add to them patient suffering at a very high cost. In fact, some of these hospitals is a Covid-19 referral that can claim the costs of treating Covid-19 patients to Ministry of Health based on Minister of Health Decree No. 4344 of 2021. By Therefore, it is necessary to summon, inspect and impose sanctions on the hospital violates Minister of Health Decree no. 4344 of 2021.
Requests for fees by hospitals from patients and their families need to be looked at for possible links with the Government's arrears to hospitals regarding handling Covid. As of July 6, 2021 The arrears in bills for treating Covid-19 patients to a number of hospitals amount to IDR. 2.69 trillion. As of July 9 2021, the Ministry of Finance said payments to hospitals amounted to 10.6 trillion and there are still arrears of 11.97 trillion. This arrears are also similar to Health worker incentive arrears. The government must guarantee that the arrears must be paid immediately within the shortest possible time so that the community is not harmed due to slow bureaucracy.
Second, it is still difficult for self-isolating patients to get the free medicines provided government. This is caused by a class-biased service mode that is not accessible to others do not have a digital device, are not technologically literate or do not have a quota. Condition KTPs from outside the region are also still widespread, making it difficult to access free medicine. Even worse, The cost of medicines sold on the market has also increased many times due to the scarcity of several types drug. Resident reports received by LaporCovid-19 show that residents are experiencing difficulties in getting medicines provided by the community health center during isolation independence is also caused by the exhaustion of medicine stocks at community health centers. As a result, citizens must buy these medicines at your own expense.
The spike in Covid-19 cases in mid-2021 also worsened this situation, where Many residents are forced to be treated in non-referral private hospitals for Covid-19 and have to pay your own treatment costs because the Covid-19 referral hospital is full and not can accommodate Covid-19 patients.
These things show the government's failure to fulfill citizens' right to health country and ensure citizens receive equal and easy health services reachable.
Seeing this situation, the Citizens' Coalition for Access to Health Justice is urging the government (President of the Republic of Indonesia cq. Ministry of Health) to:
- Guarantee all financing for the care of Covid-19 patients in all health facilities and self-isolation is borne by the state with a measurable, accessible and transparent system;
- Carrying out evaluations and improvements to hospitals that provide services Covid-19, a system for claiming hospital treatment costs to the government, as well as arrears in payments from the government to hospitals to ensure that all costs for treatment and care of Covid-19 patients are borne by the state and not borne by the public as required by statutory regulations;
- Regulates the provisions for making claims for financing Covid-19 treatment on health service facilities that do not collaborate with BPJS Health, and are not a reference for Covid-19, especially when cases spike, when the availability of rooms at referral hospitals is full so that patients do not have to seek treatment at any hospital;
- Call, check and give sanctions to hospitals that are still collecting fees Covid-19 treatment for patients.
Best regards,
Citizens Coalition for Access to Health Equity
LBH Jakarta, YLBH, LaporCovid-19,
Legal Aid Forum for Equality (FBHUK),
LBH Masyarakat, TI Indonesia
Contact Person:
Amanda – ReportCovid-19 (+62 85866044058)
Charlie – LBH Jakarta (+62 87819959487)
