Starting July 2024, Health Insurance is a Requirement for Driver's License in Aceh

Starting July 1, 2024, BPJS Health will be a requirement to obtain a driver's license in Aceh Province. This is part of a trial in Aceh Province and six other provinces namely West Sumatra, South Sumatra, DKI Jakarta, East Kalimantan, Bali, and East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). This provision is regulated in Indonesian National Police Regulation Number 2 of 2023, which is an amendment to Regulation Number 5 of 2021 regarding the issuance and marking of driving licenses. This regulation was established as a follow-up to Presidential Instruction (Inpres) Number 1 of 2022 concerning Optimizing the Implementation of the National Health Social Security Program to increase the number of JKN users.

Aceh Province has the highest health insurance coverage in Indonesia, reaching 97.72%. With this level of coverage, Aceh is considered better prepared to ideally implement this new policy. More than half of Aceh's districts have reached the RPJMN 2020-2024 target of 98% health insurance coverage. Recent data shows that besides Aceh, provinces such as DKI Jakarta (94.61%), South Papua (89.76%), West Sulawesi (89.14%), and Bali (87.28%) also have high health insurance coverage. Meanwhile, provinces such as West Nusa Tenggara (64.50%), West Kalimantan (63.88%), Maluku (61.44%), Central Kalimantan (61.16%), and Jambi (55.86%) still have lower coverage than the national average of 72.38%.

Although BPJS Kesehatan is a requirement for making a driver’s license, victims of traffic accidents are not necessarily insured by this program. BPJS Kesehatan only covers single traffic accidents that do not involve other vehicles. BPJS Kesehatan also does not cover traffic accidents caused by negligence, such as speeding or street racing, also known as ‘balap liar’, or other dangerous actions. If the accident involves another vehicle, the victim's treatment can be guaranteed by PT Jasa Raharja. Meanwhile, traffic accidents that include work accidents will be guaranteed by BPJS Employment.

By integrating BPJS Kesehatan as a requirement for driver's license renewal, the government hopes to increase public awareness and participation in the JKN program, and ensure that more people have access to health services. This step is expected to encourage active community participation in the national health insurance program and ensure broader health coverage, thus not only improving the quality of public health but also strengthening the national health system as a whole.

But on the other hand, there are concerns that this policy may become an additional burden for people who may have difficulty accessing or paying BPJS Health contributions. Thus, it is important for the government to ensure that the implementation of this policy is accompanied by good socialization and easy access to BPJS Kesehatan services. Support and ease in reactivating BPJS Kesehatan status also need to be improved to ensure this policy can run effectively without burdening the community. Based on information from the Korlantas Polri, for people whose BPJS Health is not active, the process of making a SIM can still be done, but the SIM cannot be taken until the BPJS Health status is reactivated by showing supporting documents. For those who already have BPJS, checking the status can be done through the BPJS website, BPJS Health WhatsApp service at 08118165165, or the JKN mobile application