In 2004 the Indonesian government made a commitment to provide its entire population with health insurance coverage through a mandatory public health insurance scheme. It has moved boldly already provides coverage to an estimated 76.4 million poor and near poor, funded through the public budget. Nevertheless, over half the population still lacks health insurance coverage, and the full fiscal impacts of the government s program for the poor have not been fully assessed or felt. In addition, significant deficiencies in the efficiency and equity of the current health system, unless addressed...

Over the past decade, Indonesia has implemented significant health sector reforms that include decentralizing responsibilities for service delivery, designing incentives for health providers, increasing the supply of midwives in remote areas, and analyzing demographic and epidemiological transitions causing changes in the patterns of disease prevalence. Financial protection against catastrophic expenditures has improved substantially, and legislation has been enacted to improve the quality of physician training and patient care. Despite the progress, substantial challenges remain and include...