One million Kenyan families have already been registered for the programme
The government has released Sh6 billion to the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) for the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) programme, Health Principal Secretary Susan Mochache has said.
Ms Mochache said that at least one million Kenyan families had already been registered for the programme since it started and that a further 220,000 would be registered this year with a target of four million families.
The PS, who was speaking at the Baolala Health Centre in Malindi Sub County, urged Kenyans to register with the national health insurer by paying Sh500 per month to access services in public and private health facilities.
She said the government was in talks with Safaricom with a view to having Kenyans make daily payments to NHIF through M-Pesa. With such an arrangement, registered NHIF members would pay only Sh17 per day.
“Since the programme started, we have registered about one million poor families. This year, we are targeting to register 220,000 and because of this, the government has set aside Sh6 billion which it has already released to the NHIF so that those registered can start getting the services,” said Mochache.
The PS said all the counties had registered families under the programme and those who piloted the programme had started benefitting. “Through the NHIF card, the beneficiaries are able to access medical services in various hospitals without paying anything,” she added.
The PS said Kenya was on course to ensure that all citizens access health care. “Many countries have taken a long time to achieve UHC, but if we continue implementing the programme at this rate, we will achieve our target of 4 million Kenyan families in record time,” she said.
Kilifi Health Executive Committee Member (CECM for Health Karisa Dadu, urged Kenyans to embrace preventive measures to avoid spending so much on medical care.
National Aids Control Council Chief Executive Officer Dr. Ruth Masha urged expectant mothers to seek medical attention to reduce the rate of mother to child transmission of HIV.
Source: MY Gov