A first step towards meeting Indonesia’s ambition for universal health insurance was made in
2005 with the introduction of the Health Insurance for the Poor (Askeskin) program, a
subsidized social health insurance for the poor and the informal sector. This scheme covered
basic healthcare in public health clinics and hospital inpatient care. In this paper we investigate
targeting and impact of the Askeskin program using household panel data. We find that the
program is indeed targeted to the poor and those most vulnerable to catastrophic out-ofpocket
health payments. The public health insurance improves access to healthcare in that it
increases utilization of outpatient healthcare among the poor, while out-of-pocket spending
seems to have increased for Askeskin insured in urban areas.