NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 29 – President William Ruto has assured that the government will pay the National Health Insurance Fund cover for Kenyans not able to do so following a detailed evaluation of their circumstances.
President Ruto said efforts by the government to boost health services in the country have continued to receive support, with the focus shifting from curative to preventive healthcare.
“Those few Kenyans with no NHIF cards, the government will give you the cards and we will pay for you. We have a mechanism of evaluating those who can and cannot afford. So you can’t pretend on this one,” he said.
The Head of State expressed that the Means Testing Instrument (MTI) will help in the evaluation adding that the NHIF payments will be based on one’s income to ensure equity.
“Those with high income like governors and me will pay more because we can afford it. Instead of being called for Harambees every other time, it’s better to pay this once and reduce the Harambee cases because we can afford treatment,” Ruto noted.
The Kenya Kwanza government, in partnership with county governments, hired 100,000 Community Health Promoters to supplement the efforts of hospitals and medical staff in offering health services.
The system, dubbed Smart Primary Health Care Network, will collect, store and disseminate health data to inform critical decisions.
Health reforms
President Ruto signed the Universal Health Care Bills, which are set to support the improvement of the Universal Health Coverage plan.
The enactment of the law now means there will be greater shift in Kenya’s healthcare from curative services to preventive and promotive services.
The Head of State defended his administration’s new health laws that will see Kenyans pay more from their earnings, as his government seeks to raise funds domestically to finance the Universal Health Coverage plan.
In the new rules, the president said that no Kenyan would be turned away from any health facility, as bills would be footed by the government through the new Public Health Fund.
UHC, whose implementation has failed in the past five years largely because of financing hurdles, lack of human resources and high cost of medication and care means that every person, irrespective of where they live and their socio-economic status, has access to good quality health services.
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