Providing Health Insurance for Expats in Indonesia Through EOR

Companies in Indonesia often employ both local and expatriate staff, yet many structure medical coverage differently across roles. Local employees are already enrolled in BPJS Kesehatan, while expatriate roles are typically part of international assignments that require access to portable private healthcare. Since corporate health insurance in Indonesia is issued as a group policy linked to the employing entity, coverage normally applies to that employer’s workforce as a whole.

This raises a practical question for subsidiaries with mixed teams: can private health insurance be arranged only for expatriate employees? 

How Corporate Health Insurance Works in Indonesia 

Corporate health insurance in Indonesia is generally structured as a group policy covering an employer’s workforce rather than selected employees. 

• Issued as a group policy to the employing entity 
• Premium based on workforce profile 
• Insurers expect participation to reflect that workforce 
• Selective enrollment within one employer is limited 
• Default model: one employer, one insured population 

When the same subsidiary in Indonesia employs local and expatriate staff, they are typically treated as a single insured pool. Adding private medical coverage only for expat roles within that structure is therefore difficult in practice, especially when the expat group is small.

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Can Companies Provide Health Insurance Only for Expats? 

Yes, when expatriates are employed separately. Medical coverage insurance in Indonesia is not a mandatory employment benefit, and companies may differentiate benefits by role or assignment type. However, insurers generally align coverage with the employing entity’s workforce rather than selected individuals within it. 

Expat-only health insurance becomes workable when expatriate employees are employed through an Employer of Record (EOR). In this arrangement, expats are legally employed under the EOR and enrolled in the EOR’s corporate health insurance group, while local employees remain under the subsidiary and outside that policy. 

In practical terms: 

• The subsidiary maintains insurance for its own workforce 
• Expatriate employees are enrolled in the EOR’s health insurance 

Expat-only coverage is therefore implemented by separating the employing entity, not by selecting individuals within one company.

Why Private Health Insurance is Commonly Used for Expat Roles 

Expatriate roles in companies in Indonesia are typically structured as international assignments. Medical coverage is therefore aligned with global mobility standards and cross-border healthcare access rather than local-only systems. 

Private health insurance is commonly applied to expat employees because it supports: 

• Access to private and international hospitals 
• Higher annual coverage limits 
• Treatment without referral tiers 
• Cross-border portability 
• Integrated family coverage 

BPJS Kesehatan remains the statutory health scheme in Indonesia. Private medical coverage in expat arrangements complements this baseline by enabling private and internationally accessible care. 

Is BPJS Still Required if Expats Have Private Health Insurance? 

Yes. In Indonesia, BPJS Kesehatan is a statutory social security program rather than a discretionary employee benefit. Enrollment is tied to employment status, not to whether an employee already has private medical coverage. For this reason: 

• BPJS Kesehatan is mandatory for eligible employees in Indonesia 
• Applies to local staff and long-term expatriate employment 
• Private medical coverage is supplementary 
• Private coverage doesn’t replace BPJS enrollment 

In expat arrangements, BPJS provides the regulatory baseline, while private health insurance supports private and internationally accessible care. 

How Companies Arrange Health Insurance Only for Expats 

Expat-only health insurance in Indonesia is usually implemented by employing expatriates through an Employer of Record that maintains a separate group health insurance policy. Common structure: 

• Expatriate employees are employed through EOR 
• Expats are enrolled in the EOR’s corporate health insurance 
• The subsidiary workforce remains under its own structure 

This approach allows expatriate roles to receive private health insurance aligned with assignment needs, while local employees remain under the subsidiary’s existing framework. 

When Companies Use Expat-Only Health Insurance 

Expat-only health insurance is most relevant where expatriate roles are structured separately from the local workforce, typically through mobility or assignment-based employment models. In these situations, expats are covered by a distinct employment structure, allowing private health insurance to align with that group. Common scenarios include: 

• Multinational subsidiaries in Indonesia with mixed local and expat teams 
• Early-stage foreign entities deploying expats before full local hiring 
• Regional or mobility-based roles with cross-border assignments 
• Technical or specialist deployments for defined projects 
• Representative or support functions not integrated into local staffing 

These contexts combine assignment-based employment with separate employing entities, making expat-only health insurance workable in practice.

How InCorp’s EOR Enables Expat Health Insurance 

InCorp (an Ascentium Company) supports companies in Indonesia in structuring expatriate employment through Employer of Record (EOR) arrangements. This allows expatriate roles to be employed separately and enrolled in appropriate group health insurance coverage. 

Through EOR, companies can: 

• Employ expatriate staff in Indonesia without placing them under the local subsidiary 
• Align expat employment with global mobility policies 
• Enable expat-specific private health insurance enrollment 
• Maintain BPJS compliance for eligible employees 
• Support mixed local–expat workforce structures 

Fill out the form below to explore expat employment and health insurance structuring while keeping local workforce arrangements unchanged.

Frequently Asked Questions