Deputy president William Samoei Ruto has said that he will make the current National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) comprehensive so that it covers him too (as the president elect).
According to Ruto, he will establish a robust public insurance system that takes care of everyone from the lowest class all to the presidency.
“We want to come up with a health insurance that everyone ranging from Mama mboga to the president will have so that all the people are taken care of by this national insurance fund.
“This will help the poor in the society who further get weighed down by paying huge medical bills which will now be taken care of by the national government.” Said Ruto.
Ruto’s sentiments came in the wake of a recent report revealing that more than half of National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) members have stopped paying monthly contributions after the State-backed insurer paid billions of shillings for their treatment, setting the stage for a cash crunch.
The fund has disclosed that 5.7 million members or 54 percent of the 10.6 million members had stopped paying premiums by the end of last month having benefited from NHIF services, including key procedures that come with hefty bills.
NHIF chief executive Peter Kamunyo said a significant share of the dormant members stopped the monthly contributions after receiving covers worth hundreds of thousands.
Business Daily reported that the defaults is also a reflection of the struggles that households are facing in an economy that has witnessed a string of job losses in recent months across nearly all sectors as firms intensify austerity to protect their profits following effects of Covid-19 pandemic.
Workers in the informal sectors are not required to make compulsory NHIF contributions like their formal-sector counterparts.
“All these people who have ever been members have come in and consumed a service. You have someone for instance who on realising they need a hip replacement, they join NHIF, pay for a couple of months, go to hospital and get their hip replaced and then disappear,” said Mr Kamunyo.
Thus, Kenyans may breathe a sigh of relief if deputy president William Samoie Ruto establishes a functional and a reliable public health scheme.
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