It will soon be mandatory for all Kenyans aged above 18 years to be enrolled in the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), board chairman Lewis Nguyai has said.
All Kenyans above 18 years will be required to pay a monthly contribution of Sh500 or Sh6,000 annually to access the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in all healthcare facilities countrywide.
Mr Nguyai said the new regulation – NHIF (Amendment) Act, 2022 – will take effect before the end of the year.
The new law was signed by President Uhuru Kenyatta early this year. Once its implementation starts, all enrolled Kenyans will be entitled to outpatient and inpatient services, including maternity, dialysis, cancer treatment and surgery.
National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) board chairman Lewis Nguyai cuts a cake during the launch of a new maternity and theater wing at Outspan Teaching and Referral Hospital in Nyeri on July 8, 2022.
“The legislation gives NHIF the mandate to ensure that everyone who is above 18 years takes an NHIF cover. Within the next two weeks, we will have put the regulations in place and before the end of this year, it will be mandatory for all Kenyans above 18 years to have an NHIF cover,” Mr Nguyai said.
The NHIF boss spoke to the media at Outspan Teaching and Referral Hospital in Nyeri during the launch of a new maternity and theater wing.
“We were in the process of putting together the regulation but we were taken to court and stopped, until June 30 when we were given the go-ahead. We want all Kenyans to access quality healthcare without paying anything apart from the monthly remittance of Sh500,” he said.
The current NHIF membership is 14.3 million principal members, and 18.6 dependants, totalling 32.9 million beneficiaries. This is 69 per cent of the total population of 47 million Kenyans.
However, only 44.6 per cent (6.3 million members) are active.
Outspan Hospital executive director Dr Macharia Kiruhi said the new facility will also serve women who require caesarian section and gynecological operations.
“We have opened a new maternity wing with equipped theaters. In Central Kenya, we are the only facility that is able to conduct a colposcopy procedure (a type of cervical cancer test),” said Dr Kiruhi.
Dr Kiruhi said the inauguration of the reproductive health wing and theaters at the hospital was meant to provide quality medical care and an exemplary customer experience.
“This is in line with the Outspan commitment to maintain the highest quality in its service delivery in the region and beyond,” he said.
High Dependency Unit
He said the reproductive health wing includes a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) to handle cases of neonatal complications. It also has a High Dependency Unit (HDU) for high risk reproductive cases.
“These specialized services will ensure that the wing can handle the critical care cases for both mothers and newborns,” the hospital boss said.
The facility has a total of six operating theaters and four special theaters to handle surgical, dental and eye cases.
Mr Nguyai lauded the hospital for its efforts in enhancing UHC roll out being advocated by the government.
He said the government has allocated Sh4 billion to NHIF to ensure all expectant women access maternal services easily.
“Linda Mama programme has greatly reduced infant and mother mortality. We thank the government for allocating Sh4 billion for implementation of the programme,” Mr Nguyai said. BY DAILY NATION