Indonesia's House of Representatives Passes the Health Bill: Does the Public Agree?

The Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) passed the Health Bill (RUU Kesehatan) into law on Tuesday, July 11, 2023.

What is public opinion regarding the enactment of this new regulation?

According to a survey by Kurious-Katadata Insight Center (KIC), the majority, or 53.3% of respondents, agree with the passage of the Health Bill. This breaks down to 40.6% agreeing and 12.7% strongly agreeing.

On the other hand, 28.3% of respondents disagree with the passage of the Health Bill, comprising 20% disagreeing and 8.3% strongly disagreeing.

Furthermore, 18.4% of respondents stated they did not know.

The passage of the Health Bill has drawn opposition from various healthcare professional organizations, including the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI), the Indonesian National Nurses Association (PPNI), the Indonesian Midwives Association (IBI), the Indonesian Pharmacists Association (IAI), and the Indonesian Dentists Association (PDGI).

According to the Chairman of the IDI Central Board, Muhammad Adib Khumaidi, the new regulation eliminates the government's mandatory minimum spending in healthcare, potentially leading to the privatization of healthcare services.

The procedure for drafting the regulation is also considered to lack public participation, including from healthcare professional organizations.

"Therefore, we from the Indonesian Doctors Association, along with four other professional organizations, will prepare legal action as part of our duty as law-abiding citizens, to file a judicial review with the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia," Adib said in a video statement, quoted on Thursday, July 13, 2023.

The Kurious-KIC survey involved 734 respondents spread across various regions of Indonesia, with 47.3% male respondents and 52.7% female respondents.

More than half of the respondents were from Java (excluding Jakarta) at 63.2%, followed by Jakarta (14.4%), and Sumatra (12.1%). The proportion of respondents from Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Bali-Nusa Tenggara, and Maluku-Papua ranged from 0.8% to 3.4%.

Most respondents were aged between 35-44 years (33.1%), followed by the 25-34 year age group (31.6%) and the 45-54 year age group (20.2%).

The survey was conducted from June 26 to July 3, 2023, using the computer-assisted web interviewing (CAWI) method, with a margin of error of approximately 3.61% and a 95% confidence level.