Taufik Darusman

The Thinker: Health Bill Passed With Little Fanfare

The House of Representatives, in one of its more laudable moves in recent times, last week passed a bill that promises to have more far-reaching implications on Indonesian society than many are prepared to believe.

If implemented, the new law will provide many Indonesians with access to medical services they were denied in the past. It also will reduce their spending on health-related bills, as more funds will be on hand to improve their quality of life. This in turn may help to prevent people from resorting to the acts of desperation we see all too often in poor societies.

In a sign of the times, the public and the media have focused their attention on House members deliberating controversial bills on anticorruption and state secrecy. And on the turf war between the police, the Attorney General’s Office and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

So much so that they have overlooked the fact that a new law on health, which supersedes Law on Health No. 23/1992, is now in force and benefits, for the first time, the great majority of the people: specifically the marginalized, disadvantaged and poor, a segment of our society whose needs have too long been ignored when it comes to providing for even basic health care needs.

And, in another sign of the times, mainstream media have relegated this legal milestone to their back pages.

In many ways, the new health law is groundbreaking in that it cuts down to size the money-making players in the health industry. For example, hospitals — both state-run and private — are no longer allowed to reject patients who lack the financial means to seek medical care.

Hence, medical personnel will think twice before turning their backs on the sick, as they risk spending two years in jail and a fine of some $20,000.

And should failure to render medical aid lead to a person becoming an invalid or dying, the punishment is 10 years in jail and a fine of about $100,000.

“The new health law leaves no room for hospitals to reject people in need of medical help because of their financial situation,” said Ribka Tjiptaning, the chairman of the health committee at the House’s Commission IX.

Another pro-poor item in the law is the government’s power to determine prices of “essential and generic” drugs. Many of these drugs are currently priced so high as to deprive the majority of our most needy from obtaining them.

While the House deserves credit for passing the revamped health bill, which the government submitted in 2002, it is noteworthy that it took them seven years to do so. A sticky issue that prevented the bill from being passed more quickly is abortion. Not surprisingly, religion-driven political parties balked at even discussing the subject.

But the bill is designed to be accepted in its entirety, and its rejection would have meant the poor would not be able to enjoy the benefits embedded in it.

Thankfully, cooler heads ultimately prevailed, with the new law allowing for abortion in specific situations.

The new health law stipulates that the state and regional budgets set aside 5 percent and 10 percent, respectively, for health care. It is a relatively low figure given the importance of a healthy mind and body in a people comprising such a large country as Indonesia.

But more important than the figures is the fact that the new health law is now in place, and making sure it works should be a national priority.

To many Indonesians, the new law is a sign of hope for a nation that so often seems to be rudderless.

Despite our country’s multitude of serious challenges, some of us can still find the time to conceptualize and pass a bill on stoning adulterers to death and lashing those inclined toward premarital sex. Perhaps worse is that the legal fait accompli, at best dubious, has left officials in Jakarta stunned and dumbfounded.

In a scene from Michael Moore’s much acclaimed “Sicko,” a documentary looking at health care in various countries, a person is seen standing by a hospital cashier. She has recuperated from an illness and is waiting, not to settle her hospital bill, but to be given money to pay for the taxi that will take her home.

It will be some time before our health law goes that far, if it ever does, but one is entitled to nurture hope, no?

Taufik Darusman is a veteran Jakarta-based journalist.

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