No Longer Borne by the State, COVID-19 Treatment Will Pay for Itself

Jakarta – The government recently submitted a discourse on repealing the Implementation of Restrictions on Community Activities ( PPKM ) in early 2023. This plan also raises various questions, one of which is related to the cost of treating COVID-19.
Reporting from detikX, Wednesday (28/12/2022), the cost of treating COVID-19 patients is regulated in the Decree of the Minister of Health Number HK.01.07/Menkes/104/2020. This regulation does not explain in detail how long the cost of treating COVID-19 will be borne by the state.

However, Law Number 2 of 2020 concerning state financial policies to deal with a pandemic has strictly limited the focus on the cost of handling COVID-19 only valid until the end of 2022. In this case, the government will again limit the gross domestic product (GDP) fiscal deficit to 3% in 2023 and beyond.

An official from the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) said that the treatment of COVID-19 patients in 2023 would no longer be borne by the state. This is because the 2023 Ministry of Health budget no longer includes the handling of COVID-19 as one of the priority programs. In other words, the costs of treating COVID-19 patients in 2023 will no longer be borne by the Ministry of Health.

“The main thing is that the budget we have is beyond COVID-19. Because it is in accordance with Law No. 2 of 2022 the handling of COVID-19, right, it will be completed in 2022. Unless there is something, we can make it again. Only the current position is like that, ” the official from the Ministry of Health told detikX reporters last week.

This source said that the Ministry of Health’s budget was cut from previously IDR 178.7 trillion in 2022 to only IDR 85.5 trillion in 2023. In this latest budget, the Ministry of Health no longer includes plans to purchase vaccines, incentives for health workers, and claims for medical expenses for COVID-19 patients. 19.

That way, in the future, apart from no longer being covered for the patient, the COVID-19 vaccine will no longer be a free item. People need to pay IDR 150-200 thousand for one vaccine. However, this provision only applies to those who wish to do only the fourth and first vaccines.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health’s Director of Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases, Siti Nadia Tarmizi said, the end of the imposition of the emergency status would be marked by the revocation of Presidential Decree Number 11 of 2020 concerning the Establishment of a Public Health Emergency for Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) along with the rules and policies under it.

In other words, the COVID-19 emergency budget was also removed. The budget is used, among other things, to cover the costs of caring for COVID-19 patients, testing, vaccination, and incentives for health workers.

Therefore, according to him, the financing and treatment of COVID-19 patients will be treated the same as patients with other diseases. “If he has BPJS, yes, use it. If he has personal insurance, yes, he can,” he said, quoted from detikX.

Source: https://finance.detik.com/berita-ekonomi-bisnis/d-6485341/nggak-lagi-ditanggung-negara-perawatan-covid-19-bakal-bayar-sendiri