Kenyans urged to register with NHIF to enable actualization of UHC

Kenyans have been urged to register with the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to enable the government fully actualize the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) programme.

The UHC programme aims at ensuring every household in Kenya has access to quality health care without suffering financial hardship.

According to NHIF CEO, Dr Peter Kamunyo having Kenyans register for live membership will highly boost resource mobilization and sustainability of UHC.

Currently, NHIF has 10.6million households registered but only about 5million are active members.

“In social health insurance everyone needs to be on board. When have a scenario whereby people only pay when they have a need, this makes the fund unsustainable,” he said

Dr Kamunyo also highlighted that having the Universal Health Coverage does not mean health care services will be free.

He added that NHIF is scaling up to achieve Universal Health Coverage through an insurance model whereby every household would be able to pay a small premium get access to health care.

“The annual contribution towards Universal Health Coverage is Ksh6000. The Monthly contribution is Ksh500 which will cover the principal member, spouse and their children. It is very affordable,” he said

“The UHC will cover medical procedures such as dialysis, surgeries and even acess to mental health facilities,” he added

He also pointed out that the country is making progress and is in the final stages of seeing the full implementation of UHC.

“UHC is not an event, it is a journey and the government has been on this journey and all efforts have been going on continuously to ensure all Kenyans access to quality health care,” he stated

This comes at a time when the parliament is yet to debate on the National Health Insurance Fund (Amendment) Bill 2021 which proposes to make it mandatory for every Kenyan above 18years to pay an annual contribution of Ksh6000 or Ksh500 monthly to the NHIF.

The bill which was tabled in Parliament by Majority Leader Amos Kimunya has since elicited mixed reactions thus the delay in its passage.