President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has said that the National Health Insurance-Healthy Indonesia Card (JKN-KIS) Program can help people cover the treatment costs of several medical services, including dialysis and heart disease treatments.According to a press release received from his secretariat in Jakarta, he delivered the statement during a dialogue with the beneficiaries of the program in Tebing Tinggi city, North Sumatra province, on Wednesday.
"We should be grateful for the Healthy Indonesia Card. Have any of you used the card to get treatments for heart diseases and dialysis? All the services are free of charge, right?" he asked the beneficiaries.
He added that the government has allocated Rp46 trillion (around US$3 billion) from the State Budget to cover the medical treatment costs of the people.
"I have checked whether the huge amount of the budget disbursed by the government benefits the people or not. Note that if this (program) did not exist, people would have to incur dozens, or even hundreds, millions of rupiah for heart disease treatments," he pointed out.
Farida Nasution, one of the program's beneficiaries, said she benefited from the health program. She told Widodo that she underwent surgery free of charge using KIS.
"I had lymph node surgery at Pamela Hospital. The surgery was completely free of charge," she said.
Another local beneficiary, Sumiati, informed the President that the health program enabled her to undergo an eye examination and receive free glasses.
On the occasion, Widodo also said that the central government will expand Tebing Tinggi's Regional Public Hospital to ensure comprehensive health services and equipment for the people.
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"The Ministry of Health will distribute additional equipment (to the hospital) this year," he informed.
Deputy Minister of Health, Dante Saksono Harbuwono; acting governor of North Sumatra, Hassanudin; acting mayor of Tebing Tinggi, Syarmadani; and president director of the Social Security Administering Agency (BPJS) for health, Ali Ghufron Mukti, accompanied President Widodo during the activity.
