Everything About Indonesia Universal Health Coverage, JKN (BPJS)

If you pay for it yourself, BPJS Kesehatan costs IDR35,000 to IDR150,000 a month (about US$1.95 to US$8.40). Foreigners who work in Indonesia for six months or more have to join. There’s no cap on what it covers, but expect long waits and few private hospitals. Here’s how the classes, costs, and rules work, and whether you should rely on it.

Indonesia has a national universal healthcare system called JKN. However, it’s more commonly called BPJS, which is the name of the government agency that runs it. 

The program was introduced in 2013 and has become one of the world’s biggest national universal healthcare programs, used by over a hundred million people. 

As an expat in Indonesia, it’s possible to enroll in this public insurance for less than US$10 a month. But should you rely on it?

In this article, we are going to break down everything you need to know about universal healthcare in Indonesia as an expat, including available options, coverage, prices, and whether you should use it. 

BPJS Kesehatan Versus BPJS Ketenagakerjaan

There are mainly two types of BPJS – BPJS Kesehatan and BPJS Ketenagakerjaan. 

The names themselves can be confusing for those who haven’t yet decided to learn how to speak Bahasa Indonesia. Despite the similarity in names, these programs are totally different. 

• BPJS Kesehatan focuses on providing healthcare coverage
• BPJS Ketenagakerjaan focuses on providing for work-related compensation, dismemberment, and death. 

In this guide, we will mainly focus on BPJS Kesehatan. 

Coverage

BPJS for healthcare coverage comes with full coverage without coverage limits, age, or pre-existing conditions. This means that as long as you have BPJS, you will receive medical services in Indonesia. 

And it’s not only for yourself, but also for your family living in Indonesia.  

Coverage of BPJS is based on your BPJS class.

Cost and Class System

BPJS for healthcare is separated into three class categories: Class I, Class II, and Class III. The rates below are what you pay each month if you sign up yourself, not through an employer. (Verified October 2026.)

The class system is changing: Presidential Regulation 59/2024 is replacing these three hospital classes with a single standard inpatient class called KRIS (Kelas Rawat Inap Standar). The regulation gave BPJS hospitals until 30 June 2025 to adopt the new room standard and said new KRIS benefits, tariffs and contributions would be set after an evaluation. We couldn’t find an official regulation that has set KRIS contribution rates yet, so the amounts below, from Presidential Regulation 64/2020, are still the official ones we can confirm. Check the Mobile JKN app or your BPJS office before you budget. You can read the official summary from the DJSN.

The two main differences between each class are

• cost per month
• the level of “comfort” you get during hospitalization.

The quality of medical treatment you get for all classes is claimed to be similar.

• Class I is the highest class. You need to pay IDR150,000 per month (about US$8.40). If you’re admitted, you get a shared room with the fewest beds of the three classes.
• Class II is the second-highest class. You need to pay IDR100,000 per month (about US$5.60). Shared rooms hold more beds than in Class I.
• Class III is the lowest class. The premium is IDR42,000 per month, but you only pay IDR35,000 (about US$1.95). The government subsidizes the other IDR7,000. Shared rooms hold the most beds of the three classes.

If you prefer to have a private room, VIP, or VVIP room, you need to pay the difference out of pocket.

You can change your class once every 12 months.

How to Use BPJS

You can’t just go to any hospital in order to use the national health care coverage. 

Normal Visit

Instead, you need to go to medical centers that are partnered with BPJS with a copy of your passport, BPJS card, and a reference letter (if you are referred from another hospital). These centers are not only hospitals, but also community health centers (Puskesmas) and clinics. 

Advertisement

In many cases, you will need to go to a small private clinic first before they refer you to a specialized medical center or a hospital. 

Emergencies

In case of emergencies, you can go to any hospital. However, many hospitals are not aware of this policy. 

There are still not many private hospitals that are partners with BPJS. 

It is said that a good number of private hospitals do not want to change their systems and facilities as required by BPJS. In addition, BPJS is known for late payment, which can be a big problem for these hospitals. 

Exclusions

There are some exclusions that BPJS won’t cover.

• Only necessary treatment: You only get medical treatment seen as suitable by your doctor. This means that you can’t get more medication or additional checkups unless the doctor thinks it’s necessary. 
• Can’t go to any hospital: You have to go to medical centers that participate in BPJS programs. The majority of them are public hospitals. 
• Disaster exclusions: BPJS doesn’t pay for disaster victims’ care while the government’s emergency-response period lasts. It also doesn’t pay during an officially declared outbreak. These exceptions can be deal-breakers for many people, considering that Indonesia is prone to earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, wildfires, and disease outbreaks, including H1N1 and malaria. 

Other exclusions are common among health insurance policies. For example, you can’t make claims for these conditions:

• self-inflicted injuries
• cosmetic and infertility treatment. Elective dental work like veneers or whitening falls under this too, so it’s worth checking which dental treatments BPJS covers and which you’ll pay for privately.
• alcohol or drug abuse. 

Disadvantages

Although the idea of BPJS program is very good, providing healthcare to everyone with a very low premium, the program itself comes with many disadvantages: 

Financial Stability 

Insurance company financial stability is a key factor for many people when they have health insurance. They want to make sure the insurance company has funds for compensation when something unexpected happens. 

However, this may not be the case with BPJS. Although it is a national insurance, BPJS has had financial problems since its introduction in 2013. 

The latest official numbers show the strain. In 2025, the JKN fund paid out IDR192.7 trillion in claims but took in only IDR176.7 trillion in contributions, and its net assets fell by IDR18.36 trillion, according to the National Social Security Council (DJSN). The council says claims have outrun income every year since 2023 and warned the fund risks a net-asset deficit in 2026 without quick policy changes.

Although the Indonesian Government has been providing additional support to BPJS funds, no one can really know what will happen in the future if the debt keeps increasing. Because of the debt, BPJS has been having problems paying bills to their partnered hospitals and pharmacies. 

What does this mean for you? 

It means there’s a possibility that these hospitals and pharmaceutical companies may take financial control by decreasing the quality of medications and healthcare. 

Since hospitals have budget limitations, it also means that they may not want to perform expensive medical procedures that might be necessary for you. 

They may even decrease the quality of meals for inpatients. 

If you rely on BPJS alone for health insurance, you should closely follow their financial status to ensure that you won’t run into unexpected problems resulting from delayed payments. 

Lack of Comfort

The aim of BPJS is to provide everyone access to healthcare without running into medical debt. To compensate for its very low premium, the level of comfort you get might not be good enough.

To give you an idea, a majority of BPJS medical centers are public organizations. They tend to be very crowded with few, if any, English-speaking medical staff. 

Unless you know how to speak Bahasa Indonesian, you should bring someone along who can. 

Also, even with the highest insurance class, you still get a shared room for hospitalization. If you want to get a private room, you need to pay for it yourself or use private insurance. 

Long Wait Times

To use BPJS coverage, most of the time you have to go to a medical center before visiting a hospital. 

These medical centers can be very crowded. So you might have to wait many hours just to see a doctor for a few minutes, especially if you live in Jakarta. 

A big reason for the long waits is the lack of doctors. World Health Organization data put Indonesia at about 5.6 doctors per 10,000 people in 2024. Neighboring Malaysia had about 22.7, roughly four times as many. 

Disaster and Disease Outbreaks

Located in the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, Indonesia is prone to natural disasters. Tsunamis, floods, earthquakes, and wildfires are all common occurrences. And there are a high number of deaths and injuries when these disasters happen. 

Unfortunately, BPJS doesn’t pay for disaster victims’ care while the government’s emergency-response period lasts.

Once that period ends, normal coverage applies again. Outbreaks work the same way. If one is officially declared, BPJS won’t pay for your care while the declaration lasts. For that gap, you need private insurance. 

Should I Use BPJS?

This depends on you. If you can speak Bahasa Indonesia, and you’re okay with the long waits and experience that only public hospitals in Indonesia provide, you can use it. 

But in order to check if it’s right for you, visit the BPJS hospital. If you’re okay with what you see, try it out. 

If not, you can get private health insurance as an alternative.

On expat forums, a common setup is to keep BPJS active as a backstop and use private insurance for everyday visits. You skip the queues but still have the cover your employer or immigration office may ask for.

How to Apply for the BPJS

Everyone working in Indonesia for at least six months needs to get both BPJS Kesehatan for healthcare coverage and BPJS for social security, which is done by your employer. 

If you are employed, the employer will take care of the application process for you and your family who are living in Indonesia.

If you work for yourself, the easiest way to apply is to go to the closest BPJS office in your area and fill out the registration form. BPJS’s rules list these documents for foreigners: a copy of your family card (kartu keluarga), a copy of your passport and KITAS or KITAP, your limited-stay visa number and work permit, and a local bank account number for the monthly auto-debit, plus a signed auto-debit form.  

If you don’t work in Indonesia, for example if you’re retired here, the rules aren’t clear. They spell out that foreigners who work here for six months or more must join, but they don’t say whether non-working foreigners can sign up. The answer can vary by office, so ask your local BPJS branch before you count on it.

Once it’s done, you will get the insurance card, which is always required when using the BPJS benefits. 

Good to know: One practical point is worth knowing if you hold a KITAS. Visa agents widely report that immigration now asks to see active BPJS Kesehatan membership when you extend a KITAS. Indonesia’s immigration office has not published an official rule that says this. Still, several relocation firms say extensions have been held up over missing or unpaid BPJS. To stay safe, keep your membership active and your premiums paid if you plan to renew your stay permit.

Paying the Premium

If you are employed, the premium is 5% of your monthly wage. Your employer pays 4%, and the other 1% is deducted from your salary. Your employer then pays the full amount on your behalf.

The wage used for this is capped at IDR12,000,000 a month (about US$670), so your own share tops out at IDR120,000 a month. (Verified October 2026.)

Otherwise, you can pay for it through Indonesian banks. You can ask Bank Negara Indonesia, Bank Mandiri, and Bank BRI to pay the premium automatically every month using the auto-debit system.

Alternatively, you can pay at convenience stores such as Indomart, post offices, and BPJS offices. 

Advertisement

The premium must be paid every month. Even if it’s a one-month delay, you are out of BPJS coverage. To activate it again, you need to pay the outstanding amount.

A penalty applies only if you need inpatient care within 45 days of reactivating. It is 5% of the estimated hospital package cost (the INA-CBG rate) for each month you were behind, counting no more than 12 months. The penalty is capped at IDR20,000,000 (about US$1,120). If you don’t need inpatient care in those 45 days, there is no penalty. (Verified October 2026.)

Mobile Application

You can download the JKN mobile application on the Google Play Store or App Store to check your medical center and the status of your payments.

In addition, you can use it as your digital BPJS card.