After long discussions within the House of Representatives and objections from the medical society, the Government finally issued Law No. 17 of 2023 dated August 8, 2023 on Health (the "Health Law"). The Health Law is over 200 pages and contains 20 chapters and 458 Articles. The Health Law took effect as of August 8, 2023.
The Health Law is an omnibus law. In other words, the Health Law revokes and combines a significant number of existing laws and regulations in the health sector, among others: (i) Law No. 29 of 2004 dated October 6, 2004, but entered into force on October 6, 2005 on Medical Practice, (ii) Law No. 36 of 2009 dated October 13, 2009 on Health, (iii) Law No. 44 of 2009 dated October 28, 2009 on Hospital, and (iv) Law No. 20 of 2013 dated August 6, 2013 on Medical Education. It is also worth noting that the Health Law expressly stipulates that the implementing regulations of the laws revoked by the Health Law remain valid for so long they do not contradict with the provisions of the Health Law.
We understand that the issuance of the Health Law is related to the Covid-19 pandemic event which brought awareness to the importance of strengthening Indonesia's national health system and the need to carry out a thorough transformation to Indonesia's national health system as an effort to improve Indonesia's public health as well as increasing Indonesia's competitiveness as a nation.
The Health Law contains provisions that support the implementation of the transformation of Indonesia's health system, among others, (i) synchronization of health management carried out by the Central Government, Regional Governments, and/or the public, (ii) strengthening the implementation of health efforts in the form of promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative, and/or palliative, by prioritizing public rights and government responsibilities, (iii) equal distribution of the Health Service Facilities (in Indonesian, Fasilitas Pelayanan Kesehatan) for easy access for the public through the development of the Health Service Facilities, (iv) availability of Medical Personnel (in Indonesian, Tenaga Medis) and Health Personnel (in Indonesian, Tenaga Kesehatan) through increased implementation of specialist/sub-specialist education, transparency in the registration and licensing process, and improvements in the mechanism of accepting Indonesian overseas graduate Medical Personnel and Health Personnel through transparent competency test, and (v) strengthening of Health Information System (in Indonesian, Sistem Informasi Kesehatan) through the Government's authority to manage and use health data through integration of multiple Health Information Systems to the National Health Information System.
Provisions on the majority of matters governed under the Health Law are to be further governed under its implementing regulations, i.e., Presidential Regulations, Government Regulations, and Minister of Health Regulations. We also anticipate that, considering the objections from the medical society with respect to certain provisions of the Health Law, it is possible the Health Law to be challenged by the medical society or other parties of interest to the Constitutional Court. We will monitor the development and will issue further updates as relevant.
We will also continue to review the changes and additions regulated under the Health Law and shall circulate follow-up newsflashes in due course.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
