TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Almost 35 percent of the 1,800 household heads employed in the informal sector in Indonesia's six provinces have no health insurance, according to the result of a research by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).

The household heads employed in the informal sector legally have clear work relations and are exempt from tax, LIPI senior researcher Dewi Harfina stated at an event held to disseminate details on the research result and media briefing on social insurance in the informal sector in Jakarta on Friday.

"They are also among the community groups seeking social protection," she remarked.

On the economic side, LIPI found two percent of them were living in poverty and eight percent are prone to poverty, while the other 25 percent are not in a state of being impoverished, she noted.

Although 25 percent of them do not live in poverty, several of them do not hold health insurance, she remarked.

The survey also indicated that each of the six provinces had different health coverage under the National Health Insurance (JKN).

"However, in general, we come to the conclusion that most people (participating in the JKN) live in urban areas," she stated.

City dwellers tend to have a higher level of participation in the JKN than villagers, with 84.1 percent, she pointed out.

Under the existing rule, each household head is required to register the other members of their family for the JKN. However, the research showed that 25 percent of household heads employed in the informal sector had registered for JKN but not all members of their family had been registered for the insurance.

ANTARA