Healthy tobacco taxes

All residents of Kediri City, East Java, Indonesia, are due to be registered into a healthcare and social security (BPJS) system that will be funded entirely by excise taxes paid by the local cigarette manufacturer Gudang Garam, according to a Tempo story.

“Every resident will own healthcare insurance by 2020,” Kediri City Healthcare Agency head Fauzan Adima was reported to have said.

The Finance Ministry’s Decree No.222/PMK.07/2017 mandates that 30 percent of the excise income is to be allocated to the national health insurance (JKN) program.

The Kediri City BPJS marketing assistant manager Budi Wusono Adi said the strategy taken by the city administration would fulfil the people’s need for affordable healthcare insurance.